William Shatner s historic space jaunt on Wednesday inspired many people to boldly go back into his musical past.
Twitter users dug up a 1978 clip of the Star Trek star performing a spoken-word rendition of Elton John s 1972 hit Rocket Man at the 1978 Saturn Awards , which honor films in the fantasy, horror and sci-fi genres.
The video features an intro by Rocket Man lyricist Bernie Taupin, who declares himself truly proud to introduce Shatner.
The original Captain Kirk then appears onstage in a 70s tux complete with a huge bow tie and a cigarette which, ILoveClassicRock.com duly notes never seems to burn down to the filter.
Although the ciggie seems to be the traditional tobacco kind, Shatner emphasizes the line Im going to be ... high as a kite by then, as if cannabis is somehow involved.
Advertisement
The performance than really hits the stratosphere when the screen splits to show a smoking Shatner on one side and a speaking Shatner on the other, proclaiming, Im a ... Rocket Man!
Not surprisingly, many Twitter users posted the clip in tribute to Shatner. But instead of snark, a vast majority used a variation of the line, Hes a real Rocket Man now.
Can't afford to contribute? Support HuffPost by creating a free account and log in while you read.
Thank you for your past contribution to HuffPost. We are sincerely grateful for readers like you who help us ensure that we can keep our journalism free for everyone.
The stakes are high this year, and our 2024 coverage could use continued support. Would you consider becoming a regular HuffPost contributor?
Thank you for your past contribution to HuffPost. We are sincerely grateful for readers like you who help us ensure that we can keep our journalism free for everyone.
The stakes are high this year, and our 2024 coverage could use continued support. We hope you'll consider contributing to HuffPost once more.
Meanwhile, heres the infamous video which, frankly, holds up even when the sound is off.
","type":"video","meta":{"author":"The Museum of Classic Chicago Television (www.FuzzyMemories.TV)","author_url":"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-ssAZ6qVu0glgFUIsC8VSA","cache_age":86400,"description":"From The Science Fiction Film Awards, William Shatner's unforgettable performance of Elton John's \"Rocket Man\".\n\nIncludes Karen Black's introduction of Bernie Taupin, and Taupin's introduction of Shatner.\n\nRock-It, Man... :-)\n\nThis aired on local Chicago TV on Friday, January 20th 1978.\n\nAbout The Museum of Classic Chicago Television:\n\nThe Museum of Classic Chicago Television's primary mission is the preservation and display of off-air, early home videotape recordings (70s and early 80s, primarily) recorded off of any and all Chicago TV channels; footage which would likely be lost if not sought out and preserved digitally. Even though (mostly) short clips are displayed here, we preserve the entire broadcasts in our archives - the complete programs with breaks (or however much is present on the tape), for historical purposes. For information on how to help in our mission, to donate or lend tapes to be converted to DVD, and to view more of the 4,700+ (and counting) video clips available for viewing in our online archive, please visit us at:\nhttp://www.fuzzymemories.tv/index.php?contentload=donate","options":{"_cc_load_policy":{"label":"Closed captions","value":false},"_end":{"label":"End on","placeholder":"ex.: 11, 1m10s","value":""},"_start":{"label":"Start from","placeholder":"ex.: 11, 1m10s","value":""},"click_to_play":{"label":"Hold load & play until clicked","value":false}},"provider_name":"YouTube","thumbnail_height":360,"thumbnail_url":"https://i.ytimg.com/vi/lul-Y8vSr0I/hqdefault.jpg","thumbnail_width":480,"title":"William Shatner \"Sings\" 'Rocket Man' (1978) - BEST QUALITY!","type":"video","url":"https://action.news/watch?v=lul-Y8vSr0I","version":"1.0"},"flags":[],"enhancements":{},"fullBleed":false,"options":{"theme":"news","device":"mobile","editionInfo":{"id":"us","name":"U.S.","link":"https://action.news","locale":"en_US"},"originalEdition":"us","isMapi":false,"isAmp":false,"isVideoEntry":false,"isEntry":true,"isMt":false,"entryId":"61670ff2e4b0d3f507c67d2d","entryPermalink":"https://action.news/entry/william-shatner-rocket-man_n_61670ff2e4b0d3f507c67d2d","entryTagsList":"elton-john,william-shatner,blue-origin,rocket-man","sectionSlug":"entertainment","deptSlug":"entertainment","sectionRedirectUrl":"https://action.news/entertainment","subcategories":"world-news,celebrity,science,comedy,weird-news,tv,us-news","isWide":false,"headerOverride":null,"noVideoAds":false,"disableFloat":false,"isNative":false,"commercialVideo":{"provider":"custom","site_and_category":"us.entertainment","package":null},"isHighline":false,"vidibleConfigValues":{"cid":"60afc111dcf87c2cd2f5d8bf","overrides":{"front_page_top_videos":{"desktop":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d","mobileweb":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d"},"top_media":{"desktop":"60b8e6bdc5449357a7ada147","mobile":"60b8e701c5449357a7ada2ee","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"},"anthology":{"desktop":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","mobile":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"},"content":{"desktop":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","mobile":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"}},"playerUpdates":{"5668ae6ee4b0b5e26955d6a6":"60d2472d9340d7032ad7e443","56aa41bae4b091744c0440d8":"60e869dc7c5f3b17b6741b81","5841b2b5cc52c716ec6e5a7f":"60b8e355cdd90620331ba185","58b5e2b8d85a10302feee895":"60b64316b171b7444beafdb2","58b74698f78ced31417819ae":"60b8e5bec5449357a7ad9b52","58b74ccecebcea57e2c3a3d1":"60b8e5eac5449357a7ad9ca5","58cff690d85a100b9992bc39":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","58cffb3fb6d9b972a49a3c9d":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","58cffdd74d96935d7d6ec180":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","58d03a84f78ced6518eb2fa7":"60b643c82e76be41f112735c","592edf20e0fa177b0c26f7fd":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","5b35266b158f855373e28256":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d","5c116f29f79c4171d82b7c2a":"60b64440b171b7444beb040b","5c1170fc600c9a697bf0c6b9":"60b646102e76be41f1127ffc","5c47791afa1b317df8ae0c4f":"60b8e6bdc5449357a7ada147","5c477987a6b48b35f164773d":"60b8e701c5449357a7ada2ee","5c4779ee943c3c2a64f28371":"60b8e747cdd90620331bb861","5c477a26fcd67b26879bc7c2":"60b8e788c5449357a7ada67b","5d8921a78c3ae845f366c9b6":"60ae7be5f3a7c13a30417ff9","58b98b00ba82aa39a6534321":"60d0de7c9340d7032ad1146c","58b9d14cb6d9b96c9ec32af3":"60d0dec19340d7032ad115a0","58cff8eccebcea42931e0436":"60d0e005b627221e9d819d44","592edf5de0fa177b0c26f95b":"60d0e38fb627221e9d81adcf","58cff72fd85a100b9992c112":"60d0e447b627221e9d81b0da","56b4d34fe4b022697697c400":"60d2472d9340d7032ad7e443","60b8e4c0c5449357a7ad957d":"60e869dc7c5f3b17b6741b81"}},"connatixConfigValues":{"defaultPlayer":"ff7fdddc-5441-4253-abc4-f12a33fad58b","clickToPlayPlayer":"d014396e-b366-4c17-aeac-3ce906fa3fd0","videoPagePlayer":"f010447b-d244-4111-a314-7b4542ae4145","verticalPlayer":"e58cb05a-0bc8-4210-9108-fea82726c065","stickyPlayerControl":"52ea1755-d601-4ad1-bccc-d8cce3f0e5da","stickyPlayerON":"8055e9e5-3bda-4933-8d45-9ad814fb6e22"},"topConnatixThumnbailSrc":"https://img.connatix.com/cf62b52c-17a1-4a49-9e29-413d1daa9500/1_th.jpg?crop=480:270,smart&width=480&height=270&format=jpeg&quality=60&fit=crop","customAmpComponents":[],"ampAssetsUrl":"https://amp.assets.huffpost.com","videoTraits":null,"positionInUnitCounts":{"buzz_head":{"count":0},"buzz_body":{"count":0},"buzz_bottom":{"count":0}},"positionInSubUnitCounts":{"article_body":{"count":8},"blog_summary":{"count":0},"before_you_go_content":{"count":0}},"connatixCountsHelper":{"count":1},"buzzfeedTracking":{"context_page_id":"61670ff2e4b0d3f507c67d2d","context_page_type":"buzz","destination":"huffpost","mode":"mobile","page_edition":"en-us"},"tags":[{"name":"elton john","slug":"elton-john","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/elton-john","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/elton-john","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/elton-john"},"url":"https://action.news/topic/elton-john"},{"name":"william shatner","slug":"william-shatner","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/william-shatner","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/william-shatner","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/william-shatner"},"url":"https://action.news/topic/william-shatner"},{"name":"blue origin","slug":"blue-origin","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/blue-origin","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/blue-origin","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/blue-origin"},"url":"https://action.news/topic/blue-origin"},{"name":"rocket man","slug":"rocket-man","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/rocket-man","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/rocket-man","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/rocket-man"},"url":"https://action.news/topic/rocket-man"}],"isLiveblogLive":null,"isLiveblog":false,"cetUnit":"buzz_body","bodyAds":["\r\n\r\n","\r\n\r\n","\r\n\r\n"],"adCount":0},"isCollectionEmbed":false}">
_(720p).jpg)
 OFFICIAL HD MUSIC VIDEO.jpg)
.jpg)
