Astronauts might prefer Corvettes, and tech titans love a Tesla, but when it comes to musicians the Rolls-Royce Phantom has been the preferred ride for artists as diverse as Marlene Dietrich, Sir Elton John, John Lennon, and 50 Cent.
Drummer Keith Moon famously drove his into a pool on his 21st birthday and John Lennon had his hand-painted with floral side panels and his Libra star sign. Over eight generations and 100 years the Rolls-Royce Phantom has been consistently chosen by some of the most creative and influential figures in musical history.
Indeed, the connection between Rolls-Royce and the world of popular music is almost as old as the recording industry itself. Long before icons like John Lennon, Elvis Presley and Pharrell Williams wrote themselves into Phantom’s story, artists including Duke Ellington, Fred Astaire, Count Basie, Ravi Shankar, Edith Piaf and Sam Cooke all travelled by Rolls-Royce, recognising the brand as the definitive symbol of success and artistry.
Personalities for whom the term ‘music mogul’ was created, including Brian Epstein, Berry Gordy and Ahmet Ertegun, were also among the marque’s most notable owners.
Of all models, Phantom is the Rolls-Royce most closely associated with the world of music. Over eight generations and 100 years the Phantom has been consistently chosen by some of the most creative and influential figures in musical history.
To mark the occasion of the Phantom’s 100th birthday, Rolls Royce has gone back through its archives to assemble a virtual who’s-who of musical royalty that once owned “the most magnificent, desirable and effortless motor car in the world”.
Marlene Dietrich: ‘Falling in Love Again’
Fresh from her breakout role in The Blue Angel, and having introduced the world to what would become her signature song, Falling in Love Again, Marlene Dietrich travelled to California in 1930 to begin filming Morocco. Her welcome was as dramatic as her screen presence: at Paramount Studios, she was greeted not only with flowers, but with the gift of a green Rolls-Royce Phantom I. Morocco earned Dietrich an Academy Award nomination – and her Phantom also took its share of the spotlight, appearing in the film’s closing scenes and publicity images.
Elvis Presley: ‘All Shook Up’
In 1963, at the height of his fame, ‘The King’ bought a Midnight Blue Phantom V with a host of Bespoke features. In what may have been an early version of in-car karaoke, the features included a microphone, a writing pad in the rear armrest – ready for flashes of inspiration – along with a mirror and clothes brush to ensure Elvis was always ready to make an entrance. The original mirror-polished paint famously attracted the attention of Elvis’s mother’s chickens, which would peck at their reflection in the coachwork, leading to the car being refinished in a less reflective Silver Blue.
John Lennon: ‘Love Me Do’
In December 1964, John Lennon rewarded himself for The Beatles’ A Hard Day’s Night by commissioning a Phantom V. The car was entirely black, including the windows, bumpers and hub caps; it also boasted a cocktail cabinet and a television, as well as a refrigerator in the boot.
In May 1967, just before Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band was released, the Phantom was resprayed yellow, then hand-painted with swirls of red, orange, green and blue, with floral side panels and Lennon’s star sign, Libra, completing the motor car’s new persona.
Legend has it that a woman who, on seeing Lennon’s repainted Phantom driving down London’s Piccadilly, shouted, “How dare you do that to a Rolls-Royce!”
When the car sold in 1985, it reached US$2,299,000, almost 10 times the reserve price. It was both the most expensive piece of rock ‘n’ roll memorabilia at the time, and the highest price ever achieved for a motor car sold by auction.
Lennon also purchased a white Phantom V in 1968 to coincide with the launch of the White Album and to mark a new phase of his life with Yoko Ono. This was characterised by his wearing white clothes, decorating the interior and exterior of his Berkshire home in bright white, and pursuing a distinctly minimalist aesthetic.
Lennon paid £12,000 – equivalent to the price of a sizeable house at the time – to have the motor car transformed to white inside and out, and had it fitted with a sunroof, Philips turntable, 8-track player, telephone and television. It would later appear in the Beatles film Let It Be, as well as Performance, which starred Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger.
Liberace: ‘I’ll Be Seeing You’
Flamboyant and multi-talented, Liberace was the world’s highest-paid entertainer in the 1950s and ‘60s thanks to his TV shows and long residencies in Las Vegas. Among the extravagances that earned him the soubriquet ‘Mr Showmanship’ was a 1961 Phantom V covered in tiny mirror pieces that he would use to drive on stage during his long-running residency at the Las Vegas Hilton.
Sir Elton John: A ride for the ‘Rocket Man’
Sir Elton John would later take inspiration from his musical hero Liberace by owning several Phantoms. In 1973, en route to a concert in Manchester in his white Phantom VI, Sir Elton saw a newer example in a showroom window. He instructed his chauffeur to stop, bought the car, and used it to complete his journey to the venue.
Later, he would update the Phantom with a bespoke audio system that was so powerful that the back windscreen had to be strengthened to prevent it from shattering when the volume was turned up.
Sir Elton also owned a Phantom V, for which he commissioned a striking pink-and-white exterior paint finish and matching interior. Following a tour of the USSR, where he was paid in coal, rather than cash, Sir Elton was unable to pay his musicians. Instead, he gave the Phantom to his percussionist, Ray Cooper, in lieu of a cash fee.
Keith Moon: ‘Won’t Get Fooled Again’
Legend has it that, while celebrating his 21st birthday, the gifted but fatefully self-destructive drummer of The Who plunged his Rolls-Royce into the swimming pool at the Holiday Inn in Flint, Michigan, creating one of rock ‘n’ roll’s most enduring legends.
Accounts of what really happened that night differ wildly. In an interview with Rolling Stone in 1972, Moon stated the car was a Lincoln Continental belonging to another hotel guest. Other party guests maintain that no car ended up in the pool at all. Regardless, the myth is so potent that it has become the definitive image of rock ‘n’ roll indulgence.
To mark Phantom’s centenary and the motor car’s place in rock ‘n’ roll mythology, Rolls-Royce brought legend to life by submerging a retired prototype destined for recycling in a swimming pool. The chosen location was Tinside Lido in Plymouth, England, which served as a backdrop to a photograph of The Beatles taken while filming The Magical Mystery Tour.
21st century hip-hop stars
The rise of hip-hop during the 1990s led to Rolls-Royce becoming the most name-checked brand in song lyrics by 2016.
In 2004, Pharrell Williams and Calvin ‘Snoop Dogg’ Broadus Jr, famously featured a Phantom VII in the 2004 music video for ‘Drop It Like It’s Hot’, which topped the US Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks.
Curtis ‘50 Cent’ Jackson appeared in the TV series Entourage in a Phantom VII Drophead Coupé, while Tha Carter II by Dwayne ‘Lil Wayne’ Carter – which was certified 2× Platinum in the US – is one of many albums to feature Phantom on its cover.
The genre has also played a key role in popularising one of the marque’s most distinctive features: Starlight Headliner. The phrase ‘stars in the roof’ – and its variations – recurs in rap lyrics and has become a suitably poetic shorthand for Rolls-Royce ownership.
