Music & Moonshots: Elton John, Rockets, Oscars & Avatars

Frank Fitzpatrick 10/31/2024

Between 1972 and 1975, Sir Elton John achieved the impossible by releasing seven consecutive #1 albums, with three topping the charts in 1975 alone.

Last week, Elton—one of the most prolific pop artists of our time—joined us at the Academy of Motion Pictures to present Never Too Late, a new documentary and his self-proclaimed “swan song” to his performing career, for Oscar consideration.

Seeing Elton and footage of those incredible performances reminded me of the tremendous impact his music had on me during my formative years and further galvanized my commitment to leverage the power of music to positively impact the well-being of humanity.

Meanwhile, the pattern recognition system of my brain went to work connecting other meaningful dots between music, technology, and human potential.

In 1927, the year “Stardust” held the spot as the #1 hit song, Charles Lindbergh achieved another impossible moonshot: he flew the first transatlantic flight from New York to Paris.

That audacious feat is documented in Lindbergh’s Pulitzer Prize-winning book, The Spirit of St. Louis. Singularity University and XPRIZE founder Peter Diamandis credits Lindbergh’s book as his inspiration for launching the Ansari XPRIZE, which paved the way for the first private spacecraft.

A few days ago, the XPRIZE community (along with Diamandis, Erik Lindbergh, Neil deGrasse Tyson, and the Ansari family celebrated its 30th anniversary, and a long list of technological moonshots that have helped redefine what is possible and transform life as we know it.

In addition to the honor of joining the purpose-driven community of Visioneers and helping select the next XPRIZE, I was thrilled to take a drive into the future in the next-generation autonomous Moon Rover and the first commercially available solar-powered car—all while listening to the lead track (featuring Ziggy Marley) from my upcoming release, Soul Vision. It was a thrill that underscored the Detroit in my blood—a combination of music, innovation, and legacy meeting the future.”

In 2012, just 40 years after Elton released his career anthem, “Rocket Man,” and 30 years after Ziggy’s father—Bob Marley—left this world, I had the privilege to participate in another landmark event: Singularity University’s first Hollywood Executive Program at 20th Century Fox Studios. We created the program to bring together the most innovative minds from Hollywood and Silicon Valley to celebrate the marriage between the Art of Science and the Technology of Emotions.

Among the selected participants were Elon Musk, Peter Diamandis, James Cameron, Ray Kurzweil, Will.i.am, Rod Roddenberry, Jim Gianopulos, and other forward-looking creative leaders seeking to build a bridge between these two worlds.

Participants experienced deep dives into the potential impact of exponential technologies and the power of music and storytelling as potent tools to help us rewrite the future of humanity.

Other memorable experiences included an exhilarating drive around Fox Studios in the first edition of the Tesla Roadster and a private theatrical preview of early jaw-dropping clips from what would become the highest-grossing film in Hollywood—Cameron’s groundbreaking technological feat and Oscar-winning Avatar.

As an SU Labs partner and music programmer, my mission was to ensure that the attendees understood how critical music has been in our human evolution and experience, and how it can help us shape a more intelligent and compassionate society.

Among the musical experiences I used to underscore that mission, we unveiled the first immersive audio mix of Elton John’s first global megahit, “Rocket Man.” Elton’s lifelong lyricist, Bernie Taupin, cites the 1951 short story The Rocket Man by Ray Bradbury as the inspiration for his lyrics and the song title, which went on to become the theme song for Elton’s career.

This week, as Elton sings his swan song, XPRIZE commemorates 30 years of Moonshots, and Elon Musk’s SpaceX Starship is on course to complete an inconceivable 67 missions, Soul Vision celebrates 25 years of purpose-driven music and film collaborations.

“What music and moonshots are you passionate about? 

How can we each play our part in creating the Amplified Future – a world where the Art of Science and the Technology of Emotion unite to help us make the impossible possible and co-create a better future for all?

More at FrankFitzpatrick.com and AmplifiedFuture.com.