Shot in England from August 2018 · set in Pinner, London and Los Angeles
A life that took off from a Pinner semi, filmed without leaving England: Los Angeles is Hertfordshire with palms, Laurel Canyon is a wood near Amersham, and the Troubadour is a Berkshire car park. Cheat it to California
Hertfordshire · Buckinghamshire · Berkshire
Its designers say the film was shot entirely in the UK. Most of it was built as sets at Bray and in a warehouse nearby; for Los Angeles they found English places and changed one thing. Make the change.
Shot entirely in the UK; sets at Bray and a nearby warehouse; palms at Brookmans Park; the lights of Los Angeles added at Shardeloes; the Troubadour in the car park, with an invented sign.
A house in Brookmans Park
In England Brookmans Park, near Potters Bar, Hertfordshire
Shardeloes
In England Near Amersham, Buckinghamshire
Bray Film Studios
In England Windsor Road, Water Oakley, Berkshire
Three English places. Give each one the change the designers made, and see what it plays.
North-west London · Marylebone · Westminster
His childhood home was on Pinner Hill Road. The film’s family home is a set at Bray, made bigger than the real semi, with real 1950s wallpaper; the street outside, for the opening number, is a cul-de-sac in Hatch End. The Royal Academy of Music plays itself, and a tiled Westminster café plays the one where Elton and Bernie first sit down.
Pinner, north-west London
Reginald Kenneth Dwight was born in Pinner, Middlesex, on 25 March 1947.
His childhood home was on Pinner Hill Road.
The film’s family house was a set, built bigger than the real semi-detached house but keeping its post-war suburban core.
Its wallpaper is real period paper, found rather than reprinted, for its texture and depth.
A private house. Named by its road, never mapped; the photograph shows the corner of the road.
Hatch End, north-west London
Plays The suburban street of his childhood
The film’s opening musical number in the suburbs was shot in Oakmeade, a cul-de-sac in Hatch End.
The film was shot in Pinner and nearby, as well as in Amersham and Potters Bar.
A residential cul-de-sac of private homes. Named here, not mapped; the photograph shows nearby Uxbridge Road.
Marylebone Road, London
Plays Itself
The Academy scenes were filmed at the Academy itself, along with a scene that was cut from the film.
At 11 he won a scholarship as a Junior Exhibitor here, and went on Saturday mornings for the next four years.
The Museum is open to the public on Fridays, 11am to 6pm, free.
The Academy’s Museum is free and open to everyone on Fridays, 11am to 6pm.
Marylebone Road, London · Free · Fridays 11am–6pm
The Academy that plays itself in the film, where he went on Saturday mornings from the age of 11. The Museum is free and open to everyone on Fridays.
Plan a visit
17–19 Regency Street, Westminster
Plays The café where he meets Bernie
It plays the café where Elton and Bernie first sit down together.
It opened in 1946. The building is in an Art Deco style and the tiling inside is original.
It is also in Layer Cake, Brighton Rock and Pride.
Fevzi and Zafer Gungor took it over in 2024, after a brief closure.
A working café: walk in for breakfast or lunch, and check its hours before you go.
The real pair, in 1971. Their places outside the film, from the Château d’Hérouville to Watford, are in the Elton John World.
The set decorator’s list
Jude Farr dressed the sets. Some things came from hire companies, some were made for the film, some arrived new, and some were real things from the period. Sort the list.
A gold inlaid screen, used as a bedheadThe house in Los Angeles
The bedside lightsThe house in Los Angeles
A painting of NapoleonThe house in Los Angeles
Nine Yamaha pianosEvery set with a piano
A carpet for John Reid’s officeJohn Reid’s office
A big gold and silver sofaStudio 54
The wallpaper in the family housePinner, the 1950s
For each thing on the list, choose how it got onto the set.
Every item, its set and how it came: the hire company, Modern Props, the prop house, Yamaha’s nine new pianos, Farr’s carpet, the Studio 54 sofa and the period wallpaper.
Welwyn, Hertfordshire, AL8 7XG
Plays The English country house he shares with Renate
It plays the English country house Elton shares with Renate, gold staircase and arches included.
The house was built in 1760 and has been home to two British Prime Ministers.
Melbourne Lodge has 16 en-suite bedrooms; the two championship golf courses are the Melbourne and the Palmerston.
A private estate open to guests: book a table at Auberge du Lac, a round of golf, or a room at Melbourne Lodge.
Welwyn, Hertfordshire · 16 bedrooms
Sixteen en-suite bedrooms in the estate’s lodge, looking over the Hall that plays Elton’s English country house, the lake and the Melbourne golf course. Auberge du Lac is the restaurant by the water.
Check availability9
Yamaha pianos, sent new from the US, one of them a nine-foot concert piano and one a big silver piano for Dodger Stadium. They were not hired, the designers say, because the story is about a pianist.
Nine pianos; the concert piano; the silver piano for the Dodger Stadium sequence.
West Hollywood · Chavez Ravine · 1970 and 1975
Neither of the film’s great American nights was shot in America. Both places are still there, and still open. On 25 August 1970, a Tuesday, Neil Diamond introduced him at the Troubadour. Five years later he filled Dodger Stadium twice.
The film was shot entirely in the UK; the Troubadour set in a car park.
The Troubadour debut, its weekday and Neil Diamond’s introduction.
Elton John: Elton’s first shows in the USA, a look back (25 August 2017)Wikipedia: Rocketman (film)
Two nights at Dodger Stadium.
9081 Santa Monica Boulevard, West Hollywood
Elton made his American debut here on the night of 25 August 1970. Neil Diamond introduced him.
That was a Tuesday. The film makes it a Monday.
Nigel Olsson played drums and Dee Murray bass; they played eight shows over six nights.
The club is still open and books shows most nights.
Still a working club, open since 1957: buy a ticket for a show.
1000 Vin Scully Avenue, Los Angeles
On 25 October 1975 he played to a sell-out crowd of 55,000, and played again the next day.
He was the first pop act to play the stadium since the Beatles in August 1966.
For the film’s Dodger Stadium, Yamaha supplied a large silver piano.
Home of the Los Angeles Dodgers: go in with a ticket for a game or a concert, or take a stadium tour.
Chavez Ravine, Los Angeles
Pregame, stadium and VIP tours of the ground where he played two sell-out nights in October 1975. Times change with the fixture list.
See the tours1990 · Iver Heath
The film is told from a rehab group in 1990. He walks in still dressed for a show and tells the room his life. Those scenes were filmed at Pinewood, and it is on a bench in front of Heatherden Hall that Bernie finds him.
In life he went into treatment in 1990, at Lutheran General Hospital in Chicago, a few months after the death of Ryan White. He has called 1990 the turning point: the year he got sober and began his charity work for people with AIDS. The film’s closing cards say he had then been sober for more than 28 years.
The film’s framing in a 1990 rehab session; treatment in 1990 at Lutheran General Hospital after Ryan White’s death; the closing cards.
Wikipedia: Rocketman (film)Film and Furniture: Rocketman filmsets and furniture, an exclusive tour of the Elton John fantasy musical, by Paula Benson (31 May 2019)
1990 as the year he got sober and began charity work.
The rehab scenes at Pinewood and the bench at Heatherden Hall.
FindThatLocation: Rocketman filming locations, Pinner and beyond (25 January 2020)
If drink or drugs are a problem for you or someone close to you, the NHS lists where to get help: NHS addiction support.
Pinewood Road, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire
Plays Where Bernie finds him
Rehab scenes were filmed at Pinewood; Bernie finds Elton on a bench in front of Heatherden Hall.
More of the film was shot at Pinewood and at Shepperton.
Built in about 1865, the hall now stands in the grounds of Pinewood Studios and is used as offices, a film set and a wedding venue.
It played SPECTRE’s headquarters in From Russia with Love.
Inside a working studio, not open to visitors.
The Croisette · 1983 and 2019
The film ends on the Croisette, but not by going there: its last scene is cut into the real 16mm rushes of the 1983 video, with Taron Egerton rotoscoped into them. In May 2019 both men were in Cannes. After the premiere at the Palais, Elton played a party on the sand and Egerton joined him for Rocket Man.
The 1983 shoot at the Carlton; the rushes used for the film’s last scene.
Elton John: I’m Still Standing, restored in 4K (25 June 2019)
The premiere on 16 May 2019 and the party on the beach.
AP, via KUTV: Elton John and Rocketman touch down in Cannes, by Jake Coyle (17 May 2019)Wikipedia: Rocketman (film)
1 boulevard de la Croisette, Cannes
Rocketman had its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival on 16 May 2019, out of competition.
Dexter Fletcher and his team met the press there the next day.
The 80th festival runs from 11 to 22 May 2027.
Walk the Croisette to the steps; screenings in the Palais during the festival are by invitation or accreditation.
58 boulevard de la Croisette, Cannes
In 1983 the I’m Still Standing video began outside the Carlton and carried on along its beach and promenade. Russell Mulcahy directed it.
The film’s last scene uses the 1983 16mm rushes, with Taron Egerton rotoscoped into them.
After the premiere Elton played at a party on the beach, and Egerton joined him for Rocket Man.
The hotel’s beach restaurant is the Carlton Beach Club.
A hotel on the Croisette, with the Carlton Beach Club across the road: walk the promenade, or book a table or a room.
58 boulevard de la Croisette, Cannes
The hotel on the Croisette where the I’m Still Standing video began in 1983, the rushes the film ends inside. The Carlton Beach Club is across the road.
See the hotelCast and crew, in the film’s season
Dexter Fletcher directed from Lee Hall’s script. Taron Egerton played Elton John and sang the songs himself, with Jamie Bell as Bernie Taupin, Richard Madden as John Reid, Bryce Dallas Howard as Sheila, Gemma Jones as his grandmother Ivy and Stephen Graham as Dick James. Elton John was an executive producer; David Furnish, his husband, one of the producers.
It cost about $40 million and took about $195 million worldwide. (I’m Gonna) Love Me Again, by Elton John and Bernie Taupin, won the Oscar for Best Original Song, and Egerton a Golden Globe. In Russia, about five minutes were cut, including every scene involving drugs or homosexuality; Elton John and Paramount criticised it.
Director, writer, cast, singing, producers, budget, box office, the Oscar and Golden Globe, the Russian cuts.
10 places you can visit: 2 in London, 4 in the Home Counties and 4 in Los Angeles and Cannes. The two studios are seen from outside; Shardeloes from its footpath; Brocket Hall by booking. The Pinner road, the Hatch End cul-de-sac and the Brookmans Park house are private and are not on the map.
Pins mark public places; private homes are named but not pinned.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: building · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. The Academy’s Museum is free and open to everyone on Fridays, 11am to 6pm.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: building · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A working café: walk in for breakfast or lunch, and check its hours before you go.
Marylebone Road, London
The Academy scenes were filmed at the Academy itself, along with a scene that was cut from the film.
The Academy’s Museum is free and open to everyone on Fridays, 11am to 6pm.
17–19 Regency Street, Westminster
It plays the café where Elton and Bernie first sit down together.
A working café: walk in for breakfast or lunch, and check its hours before you go.
Stay
A lodge on the estate that plays his country house, and the hotel where the 1983 video began.
Welwyn, Hertfordshire · 16 bedrooms
Sixteen en-suite bedrooms in the estate’s lodge, looking over the Hall that plays Elton’s English country house, the lake and the Melbourne golf course. Auberge du Lac is the restaurant by the water.
Check availability58 boulevard de la Croisette, Cannes
The hotel on the Croisette where the I’m Still Standing video began in 1983, the rushes the film ends inside. The Carlton Beach Club is across the road.
See the hotelGo there
The Academy’s Museum, Dodger Stadium, and walks from the marketplace in London and Cannes.
Marylebone Road, London · Free · Fridays 11am–6pm
The Academy that plays itself in the film, where he went on Saturday mornings from the age of 11. The Museum is free and open to everyone on Fridays.
Plan a visitChavez Ravine, Los Angeles
Pregame, stadium and VIP tours of the ground where he played two sell-out nights in October 1975. Times change with the fixture list.
See the toursLondon
Live marketplace results for rock-music and film-location walks in London. None is about this film; check each itinerary.
Live marketplace results · itineraries change
Compare toursCannes
Live marketplace results for Cannes and the Riviera. None is about this film.
Live marketplace results · itineraries change
Compare toursWhat’s on
The Troubadour still books shows most nights; the festival returns in 2027.
Checking current event dates…
Take it home
The cast album, and his autobiography from the same year.
Taron Egerton and cast · 2LP, 2019
The soundtrack, sung by the cast; this double LP came out in August 2019.
Live marketplace search · listings and condition change
Find a copyElton John
His autobiography, published in 2019, the year of the film.
Find the bookDates, prices, rooms and stock change: confirm with the provider before you travel or buy. A stay or tour is described as a filming location only where the card says so.
Every place and moment behind this page, with sources.
13 of 13 places · 16 of 16 Moments
Pinner, north-west London
Born in Pinner, Middlesex.
Hatch End, north-west London
The film’s first big number is danced down a suburban cul-de-sac in Hatch End.
Marylebone Road, London
The Royal Academy of Music plays itself.
17–19 Regency Street, Westminster
A Westminster café plays the one where the two first sit down together.
Windsor Road, Water Oakley, Berkshire
The Pinner house, rebuilt bigger as a set, papered in real period wallpaper.
The club rebuilt outdoors, under a sign the real one never had.
Filming begins.
Near Amersham, Buckinghamshire
Mama Cass’s wooden house, built in a Buckinghamshire wood with Los Angeles added in the distance.
Brookmans Park, near Potters Bar, Hertfordshire
A Hertfordshire house with a pool and imported palms plays his 1980s home.
Pinewood Road, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire
The rehab scenes, and a bench in front of the hall.
Welwyn, Hertfordshire, AL8 7XG
The house Elton shares with Renate.
9081 Santa Monica Boulevard, West Hollywood
His American debut at the real Troubadour.
1000 Vin Scully Avenue, Los Angeles
Two sell-out nights at Dodger Stadium.
1 boulevard de la Croisette, Cannes
The film’s premiere, out of competition at Cannes.
58 boulevard de la Croisette, Cannes
The I’m Still Standing video is shot on the Croisette; the film finishes inside its rushes.
Elton at the piano after the premiere, with Egerton singing Rocket Man.
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