William Shatner’s Late 1970s Rendition Of Elton John’s ‘Rocketman’ Is Finding New Life After He Blasted Into Space

“And I think it’s gonna be a long, long time” could be a way to describe William Shatner’s wait to actually head into space (at age 90) after his (for all practical purposes) lifelong run as forever Captain Kirk of Star Trek fame. And on this fine Wednesday morning, William Shatner actually made good on his reputation by blasting into space (for real) on Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’ anatomically-shaped rocket. The pop-culture institution and three other passengers finally ended up on the New Shepard vessel, in which they glided into the very edge of space before making a safe touchdown on planet Earth.

Following Shatner’s return to civilization, CNN reports that he grew very emotional after his sub-orbital journey (which included a few minutes of weightlessness). He told Jeff Bezos, “What you have given me is the most profound experience I can imagine.” And it seems that Shatner fans, as well, are feeling similarly. In fact, this day has seen Shatner’s late 1970s Saturn Awards rendition of Elton John’s “Rocketman” go viral. Decades later, the clip’s still as funny and bizarre as ever while featuring a smoking, tuxedo-adorned Shatner — multiple versions of him, even — doing the spoken-word thing. Can we consider this “singing”? Probably not. “Dancing,” though? For sure.

The clip began to heavily circulate during blast-off time, and for good reason.

Congrats to William Shatner, and welcome back to civilization.