Elton John - Healing Hands

What this video is

Released in August 1989, 'Healing Hands' arrived at a pivotal cultural moment: the twilight of the MTV Golden Age, when big-budget music videos were still the dominant medium for artist visibility. The song's soul and gospel influences — inspired by the Four Tops' 'Reach Out, I'll Be There' — reflected a broader late-1980s mainstream trend of blue-eyed soul revival. Elton John was simultaneously navigating a…

Why it matters

As the lead single from Sleeping with the Past, 'Healing Hands' represents Elton John's deliberate return to classic soul and R&B roots at a moment when synth-pop was giving way to more organic sounds. The video, directed by Russell Mulcahy, encapsulates the peak of cinematic music video craft and…

The director

Russell Mulcahy is an Australian-born director who rose to prominence in the late 1970s and 1980s as one of the most influential and prolific music video directors of the MTV era. He directed landmark videos for Duran Duran, Queen, Elton John, Kim Carnes,…