Music legend Elton John bigs up Liverpool in Red Rum Club podcast

Music legend Elton John has poured praise on the city in his Rocket Hour podcast.

The singer and pianist, who played Liverpool on his Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour in June 2022, said it was an experience even he would never forget.

He revealed: “I played at Anfield and it was one of the greatest nights of my life, because I couldn’t believe the crowd.

“The soul that Liverpool has as a city, and as people, is completely different to any other British city I have ever played in.”

And he added: “It was phenomenal. I cried.”

The top selling artist who retired from the road in July last year after what was his 49th tour bigged up the city during an interview on his podcast with Liverpool band Red Rum Club. It was pre-recorded on March 7 after the first gig of their latest tour in Glasgow.

He spoke to lead singer Francis Doran and guitarist and backing vocalist Tom Williams for the Apple Music 1 Show which was broadcast yesterday.

Elton told of his love for the city after asking the band members, who are currently touring to promote their latest album Western Approaches, what had been their inspiration.

Francis told him: “We can’t get away from those four lads from our home city, The Beatles.

“They were the screensaver to our lives; they’re the people that made us believe we could be in a band.”

It clearly wasn’t just the city that Elton was excited by.

He told the lads, who he had asked to appear on the podcast: “I love that you can feel the energy of Liverpool in your record, your songs, and the way you play them. I’m really proud of you.”

Elton went on: “I’m so impressed you have a trumpet player in the band, it adds so much to your sound, and it’s very unusual to have just a trumpet player.

“I’m just completely bowled over by the sound of your record. It’s absolutely brilliant.”

He said Francis was ‘a great singer’ – “you have a fantastic voice” – and added: “It’s so lovely to see people who have known each other and are local … Liverpool music has always been, obviously, very important.”

Red Rum Club said it had been a ‘dream come true’ to appear on Elton’s podcast, and said the tour was going really well.

Even after the first concert in Glasgow, just days after Western Approaches had been released, Francis said the feedback had been ‘unbelievable’ with fans already singing ‘every word back to us’.

Red Rum Club will end the tour with a sell-out concert in their home city, playing at M&S Bank Arena on Friday, April 5.

Francis told Elton: “That’s the light at the end of the tunnel.”

Listen to Red Rum Club on Spotify here.

Find out the latest in Liverpool here.