'Rocketman' Music Video: Taron Egerton Sings! (Unlike Some Other Biopic Actors)

More often than not, when an actor takes on the role of an iconic singer, they lip-sync rather than belting out the tunes themselves. Not Taron Egerton, though. The Kingsman actor is portraying Elton John in the movie Rocketman, and rather than have John's famous voice dubbed in, Egerton does all the singing himself. And he sounds great! Does he sound like Elton John? Not really. But his voice is just similar enough to work. A new Rocketman music video has Egerton performing the Elton John song "Rocket Man" below.

I'm getting sick and tired of musician biopics, specifically because they all seem to follow a pattern perfectly mocked by the underrated comedy Walk Hard. But Rocketman looks like it might be an exception. For one thing, the movie is being sold as a "musical fantasy" instead of a traditional biopic. For another, Taron Egerton is clearly giving it his all as Elton John. Egerton looks to be giving a real performance, instead of doing an impression. As Egerton previously said:

"We are making a movie called Rocketman about Elton John's formative years. Everyone thinks it's a biopic. It isn't. It's a fantasy musical so it's actually his songs used to express important beats in his life at emotional moments. He's not the only character that sings. It's going to be fun."

Director Dexter Fletcher added:

"It's a musical fantasy, not a biopic...We have Elton's songs and Elton's life story, or a part of it. And it is a fantasy version of real life. It is a true fantasy. So I am looking to create something that will entertain and inform and amaze and do many, many things. It is just literally at the beginning now."

The music video above has Egerton performing "Rocket Man', and he nails it (Side-note: why is the movie called Rocketman when the song is "Rocket Man"?). Rocketman, which also stars Jamie Bell, Richard Madden, and Bryce Dallas Howard, opens May 31.

Rocketman is an epic musical fantasy about the incredible human story of Elton John's breakthrough years. The film follows the fantastical journey of transformation from shy piano prodigy Reginald Dwight into international superstar Elton John. This inspirational story – set to Elton John's most beloved songs and performed by star Taron Egerton – tells the universally relatable story of how a small-town boy became one of the most iconic figures in pop culture.