Tammy Faye's support for LGBTQ+ community inspired Elton John to make musical about her: 'I loved her for that'
Elton John is sharing what inspired him to make a Broadway musical about one of America's most famous televangelists Tammy Faye Bakker, who died in 2007.
In an interview with "Good Morning America," the Grammy winner, who composed the music for the new show, said he admired Bakker's support for the gay community.
"She took a chance," he said. "It was pretty remarkable for someone in the religious community."
"No one else in the evangelical community was very gay friendly at all," he added. "They, well, totally hated us. She stood out. And I loved her for that."
John specifically remembers the moment that Bakker, who was the co-founder of the televangelist program The PTL Club with her then-husband Jim Bakker, invited Rev. Steve Pieters on the show in 1985.
During her groundbreaking interview with Pieters, Faye was moved to tears as Pieters opened up to her about what it was like living with HIV/AIDS.
"She won me over when she did that," John said.
The new musical, which is titled "Tammy Faye," is one of several adaptations of Faye's story. In 2021, Jessica Chastain starred in the Academy Award-winning film, "The Eyes of Tammy Faye," alongside Andrew Garfield, which was about her rise and fall.
In the Broadway musical, it will tell the story of Bakker and how she "stole the country's heart," according to a synopsis for the musical.
The synopsis for the musical says that it will be set in the 1970s and follow Bakker and her husband as they "build a nationwide congregation that puts the fun back into faith."
A part of Bakker's personality that will be showcased in the musical is her love for make-up and fashion, which has been described in the past as flamboyant.
Actress and musician Katie Brayben, who has starred in Netflix's "Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story" and "The Alienist," and will take on the role of Bakker on Broadway, said achieving Bakker's look took "a long time in hair and makeup."
"That was so much part of her," Brayben said. "But also, that's the perception of who she is."
But while John loved the way Bakker looked, he said that the musical isn't about that, but rather about who she was.
The musical's lyricist, Jake Shears of The Scissor Sisters, said Bakker was a "very emotional person."
"She was always wondering if she was good enough," he added.
"I think what we do in this musical is we show the kind of private life as well," Brayben said. "And the private sides that you might not know of her and her family."
John said Bakker's son watched the show and was "thrilled" about it.
"He wants his mother's legacy to be true," he said.
Shears added, "I remember the night he came. He just -- he just cried and cried.
"He felt like he got to see his mom one last time," Shears continued. "And that to me felt like probably the most gratifying thing of this whole process."
"I want people to walk out of the theater thinking, 'God, she was okay… she was a wonderful woman. We might have misjudged her,'" John said.
"I want them to leave the theater with a smile on their face," he added.
