After months of filming Elton John biopic Rocketman you might assume that film star Taron Egerton is an experts in the pop star’s catalogue. But James Corden checked that knowledge on The Late Late Show with a round of “James That Tune,” asking Egerton and fellow guest Adam Scott to identify several of John’s tunes as the host (badly) played them on a keyboard.
“I will be playing Elton John,” Corden announces in the clip as he puts on a yellow feather boa and a pair of sunglasses. “That’s amazing,” replies Egerton, who plays John in Rocketman. “I will be playing Elton John songs on this keyboard,” Corden tells them. “And you will have to guess which songs I’m playing. Sounds pretty straight forward. The thing is I have, up until this point in my life, never learned to play the piano. And nor do I intend to.”
Corden kicks the game off with a questionable rendition of “Tiny Dancer,” which Egerton somehow guesses correctly. His version of “Can You Feel The Love Tonight” is less successful until Corden starts actually singing the lyrics. At one point Corden responds to the actors’ confused faces by saying, “You know what, I’ll throw you a life line and I’ll play it on guitar.” The second instrument doesn’t help much (“The thing about me and the guitar is I can’t play the guitar,” Corden says), even when the host attempts to play “Circle of Life.” Finally Egerton and Scott get one right with “Crocodile Rock.”
Rocketman, directed by Dexter Fletcher, arrives in theaters May 31. The film, dubbed a “fantasy musical, is a loose interpretation of John’s life featuring many of the musician’s songs. Bryce Dallas Howard, Jamie Bell and Richard Madden also star.
