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On October 25 and 26, 1975, Elton John – the world’s biggest pop star – performed two sold-out shows in California’s Dodger Stadium. It would be the largest rock concert of its time and the first time a music act performed at the ballpark since The Beatles in 1966. In 1975, Elton John released Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy , the first ever album to debut straight at number one on the Billboard charts. A few days before the concert, he’d release another number one album, Rock of the Westies. His fame was at an all-time high and Elton John was well-known for his outlandish live performances. The biggest rock star in the world was going to stage two nights in one of America’s most beloved and famous venues. This was sure to become a significant note in the history of 20th-century music.
Photographer Terry O’Neill, by then already known as a world class photographer whose images of The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and David Bowie were considered iconic, was on-hand to capture every moment. O’Neill was given unprecedented access to document this incredible occasion and now, for the first time in book form, these photos – many of which have never been seen before – celebrate two milestone days in music history.
Days before the event, Elton John left London in trademark style. Friends, family and the next-door neighbours boarded what would become a flying back-stage, complete with a piano, from London to LAX. The build-up to the event was feverish and the world’s press was watching. Through his lens, Terry O’Neill records the exuberance, anxiety and pressure as the star readies himself for the show of a lifetime.
Through private moments as well as public ones, including Elton backstage with super-fans as diverse as Cary Grant and Billie Jean King, O’Neill creates a visual record that will forever help define this moment of time when music’s most outlandish performer overcame his personal and professional demons to create two days of performance legend all leading-up to the ultimate moment: Elton John on-stage in a Bob Mackie designed Dodger’s uniform – complete with ‘Elton #1’ emblazoned on the back, raising a baseball bat high in the air. It was a home run.
O’Neill captures all of this and more in Two Days that Rocked the World: Elton John Live at Dodger Stadium, Photographs by Terry O’Neill.Including an introduction by Billie Jean King, this incredible book will feature more than 150 photographs along with O’Neill’s own memories of the event itself. This book celebrates the story of a concert that was instantly dubbed an iconic moment in music history and John’s finest moment