Live @ The Rainbow

After an initial limited vinyl release for Record Store Day, an archival Elton John live show will be released digitally and on CD on July 25th, 2025. Titled "Live From The Rainbow Theatre With Ray Cooper", this performance dates back to 1977 at the iconic London venue and features a bounty of Elton’s beloved material from his career up to that point.

In May 1977, Elton John took the stage at London’s iconic Rainbow Theatre with percussion legend Ray Cooper for a 6 show residency. These performances were the first of 233 Elton and Ray only shows that would follow, and featured the live debut of deep cuts, “Roy Rogers”, “Cage The Songbird”, “Idol”, and “I Feel Like A Bullet (In The Gun Of Robert Ford)”.

May 1977 was the 1st time in five years that a full month had passed without an Elton LP or single appearing on the UK charts. It had also been 8 months since his last performance, after averaging one show every four days throughout the previous 7 years. Ticket holders expecting to see a typical Elton concert were in for a big surprise. The 1st half of the set would be Elton alone at the piano, the second half would see him accompanied by Ray Cooper, the two performers working together telepathically, harking back to the earliest days of Elton’s rise to superstardom. The stripped back performances have since been regarded as some of the finest of his career.

Elton John says, “I’m delighted that "Live From The Rainbow Theatre with Ray Cooper" will be available for my fans to enjoy. It’s an album I’m incredibly proud of, and listening back to it, I’m astounded by how great it sounds. The freedom I felt playing with just the 2 of us is something I will always remember”.