Elton John & Stevie Wonder Drop Nostalgic ‘Finish Line’ Video: Watch

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"This song really makes me feel very proud of who I've become, proud of working with someone like Stevie," John said.

 

Elton John and Stevie Wonder

 

“Well goodness,” Elton John shouts. “To go out with Mr. Wonder on piano, Stevie Wonder on the piano. Alright let’s do this!”

The 74-year-old legend closes his nostalgic “Finish Line” music video with a vintage clip of a much younger Elton performing for a cheering crowd alongside a much younger Stevie Wonder. More clips of the generation-defining artists laughing, talking and performing are interspersed in the video between feel-good snippets that look like they were taken straight from your dad’s old video camera. There are shots from random weddings, soccer games, graduations and birthday parties, providing a heartwarming kaleidoscope of life’s best moments — with some shots of frontline healthcare workers to serve as a reminder of who is working to protect those moments during the pandemic.

“Finish Line” is a standout track from John’s 2021 album The Lockdown Sessions, which also features Dua Lipa (on the Hot 100 top 10 hit “Cold Heart (Pnau Remix)”), Charlie Puth, Miley Cyrus, Brandi Carlile, Eddie Vedder, Nicki Minaj, Young Thug and Stevie Nicks. Both the “Your Song” artist and Wonder virtually sat down with Billboard in October to talk about the collaboration and, more specifically, what the gospel-infused tribute to love and salvation after tough times means to them.

 
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“I’ve been through so many down periods in my life. I’ve battled alcoholism and drugs and I’ve been 31 years sober now,” John told Billboard. “Of course, I’m going to feel good by hearing this song because I have had redemption and I have now a wonderful life and I lead a good life. … This song really makes me feel very proud of who I’ve become, proud of working with someone like Stevie.”

It’s also deeply personal for Wonder, who was originally supposed to just play harmonica but was convinced by John to lend his voice as well to “Finish Line.” “I remember a teacher said to me, ‘You know, Stevie, you’ve got three strikes against you … you’re blind, you’re Black and you’re poor,'” he said. “She was saying, ‘You should just stop doing this music thing … because you’ll end up making potholders.’ I knew that that wasn’t going to happen, but I went into the restroom and I cried and [said], ‘God, this is what I’m supposed to do’ … I told my mother the story when I got home and she said, ‘Baby, baby, you will never make no d— potholders’ and I said, ‘I know, mama.’”

Watch Elton John and Stevie Wonder’s blast from the past music video below: