I guess he was right the first time when he said "50". 2026 is the 53rd Saturn Awards, and Rocket Man wasn't written (or at least wasn't recorded) 60 years ago.
I remember seeing him perform Rocket Man on that show’s original broadcast. (So I am definitely dating myself!) It’s easily found on YouTube. Folks laughed then, but he has since had Grammy nominations for his 1976 album and audio books.
I saw it too. I was twelve and thought the performance (and multiple Shatners) to be weird.
Here is Baird Searles' review of the evening in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction.
https://archive.org/details/Fantasy_Science_Fiction_v054n06_1978-06_Lenny_Silv3r/page/111/mode/2up
Thanks for posting that review! My weren’t they snarky about Close Encounters? Fun to read about the author’s deteriorating notes during Shatner’s performance— remember a time before streaming? DVR’s? VCRs! Every viewing was a single chance to see the show unless it came around as a repeat in the summer.
I was 11 and disturbed that my boy Shatner was smoking a cigarette! I knew Rocket Man well and was also um… confused… by the interpretation, but hey at least it was different! (My Kirk-Shatner bias has been firmly entrenched since 1974.
