“Ego”: Elton John’s self-portrait during one of his boldest musical shifts
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In March 1978, Elton John released “Ego,” a stand-alone single where Bernie Taupin’s lyrics and Elton’s music deliver a sharp critique of celebrity mythology. Outside the album format, the track arrived as a one-off release, paired with an ambitious promo film and a production approach built around the core creative team working with him at the time.
Release and reception
“Ego” came out on March 31, 1978, with “Flintstone Boy” on the B-side. The single reached #34 on the UK charts, a modest result by Elton’s standards but strong enough to draw critical attention and long-term interest among collectors. The decision to release it independently from an album reinforces its deliberate nature: a themed statement meant to stand on its own, outside the context of an LP.
Composition and arrangement
The track leans on Elton’s driving piano, supported by a solid bass line, sharp guitars, tight drums, and an expressive use of organ that gives the whole thing a theatrical, overstated edge. Bernie Taupin’s lyrics introduce a narrator consumed by self-promotion and obsessed with fame, money, headlines, and applause — a pointed caricature of the mechanics of stardom. The arrangement mirrors that attitude: everything is big, intense, and right in your face, with no room for softness. The song plays like a performance by someone who sees themselves as the absolute center of the show — not someone fighting for attention, but someone who already assumes the world revolves around them.
Sound production and performers
The recording brought together the people closest to Elton at the time. Production was handled by Elton John and Clive Franks. The musicians credited on the track include Elton John (piano, vocals, synthesizers, organ), Tim Renwick (guitars), Clive Franks (bass), Steve Holley (drums), Ray Cooper (percussion), and orchestral arrangements by Paul Buckmaster. The single runs for about four minutes.
The promo film
Before “Ego,” Elton John was already one of the first artists of his generation to invest in fully produced promotional videos — something that still wasn’t standard in the music industry of the early and mid-1970s. While most artists relied on TV appearances, live footage, or documentary clips, Elton became a pioneer by producing label-funded video pieces like “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart” (1976) and the promo version of “Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word,” shot with a white piano against a white background. “Ego” expands that phase as his third official promo video.
The film was directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg, a filmmaker with extensive experience in music productions in addition to the Let It Be documentary. He had also directed promo films for the Rolling Stones, The Who, The Beatles, Paul McCartney, Rod Stewart, and other major artists. Produced in 1978, the video for “Ego” runs for about four minutes and includes a narrative structure, featuring John Emberton as young Elton and Penny Emberton as the girl in the audience, including a scene inspired by Romeo & Juliet.
The budget was roughly £40,000 — high for that era — showing the production team’s commitment to the visual project.
The video aired on British TV in 1978, including the April 20 episode of Top of the Pops (as part of a montage/play-out) and as the closing segment of Ronnie Corbett’s Thursday Special on BBC1, giving the clip substantial television exposure at the time.
The release of “Ego” received unusually strong promotion for 1978 and was highlighted in the April 22, 1978 issue of Billboard, which mentioned the single in connection with a “movie short,” suggesting it was being pushed as a short promotional film.
https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/70s/1978/Billboard%201978-04-22.pdf.
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The Billboard note indicates that the premiere of the promo film took place the previous week in Los Angeles, at the National Theatre, with Elton John in attendance, followed by a reception at the Dillon’s nightclub. It also stated that the four-minute short would be distributed to major movie theaters across the United States, where it would screen before feature films — a clear sign of how ambitious and cinematic the project was.
Around the same period, reviews in music magazines emphasized the theatrical and unconventional nature of “Ego,” including comments that the piano arrangement evoked silent-film soundtracks — a direct parallel to the aesthetic of the promo film. These elements solidify “Ego” as Elton John’s third official promo video and as one of the earliest attempts to merge pop music with theatrical, cinema-style distribution in his early videography.
Artistic meaning and legacy
More than a commercial release, “Ego” endures as an artistic statement — an internal critique of the very celebrity system inhabited by the person performing it. For that reason, the track holds a unique place in Elton John’s discography, resurfacing in reissues and frequently appearing in discussions about rarities and the shaping of Elton’s public persona in the transition from the 1970s to the 1980s. Its importance isn’t tied to chart performance, but to the clarity of its gesture: an artist using his own platform to deconstruct the myth that surrounds him.
Song origins: the track began as an instrumental during the Blue Moves sessions (1976), and Taupin later added the lyrics; the material therefore has roots in earlier sessions.
Critical interpretations: most of the press treated “Ego” as a self-reflection — a commentary on Elton’s own public image, which was exaggerated, theatrical, and sometimes chaotic. Nothing in the period documentation suggests it was aimed at another artist, and both Elton and Taupin consistently described the song as personal, ironic, and autobiographical.
PDFs and photos with references to “Ego” — Elton John (1978)
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