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Elton John Connected Michael Stipe and Andrew Watt for ‘Rooster’ Theme

After 35 years, Elton John broke his own rule, sharing Michael Stipe’s number with Andrew Watt. This led to their collaboration on the theme for "Rooster."

Variety Music·Jun 12, 2026·via Variety Music

Elton John Connected Michael Stipe and Andrew Watt for ‘Rooster’ Theme

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Jun 12, 2026 11:25am PT

A ‘Fool’s’ Tune: How an Elton John Introduction Sparked Michael Stipe and Andrew Watt’s ‘Rooster’ Theme Song

By Clayton Davis

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Clayton Davis

Chief Awards Editor

byClaytonDavis

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Singer-songwriter Michael Stipe has known Elton John for more than 35 years. In all that time, he had never once given Stipe’s personal phone number to anyone, especially a musician. Then he decided to break the rules. “He gave my number to Andrew Watt , who texted me and said, ‘I have an idea,’” Stipe recalls.

The idea was for the opening title song of “ Rooster ,” the HBO dramedy starring Steve Carell as a college writer-in-residence who slides back into his own student-era restlessness. The series, created by Bill Lawrence and Matt Tarses, needed roughly 30 to 45 seconds of music to play between episodes. Watt and Stipe wrote an entire song anyway. Thus was born the theme, “I Played the Fool.”