Forget backup dancers and flashy jewellery. For a certain echelon of musical genius, the ultimate accessory has always had four wheels and a Spirit of Ecstasy gracing the hood.
As the Rolls-Royce Phantom prepares to celebrate its 100th birthday in 2025, we’re taking a look back at its surprising and star-studded career not on the road, but on the stage, screen, and album covers of music history. It’s a partnership that began almost as soon as sound could be recorded, with legends like Duke Ellington and Edith Piaf understanding that a Rolls-Royce wasn't just a car—it was a statement.
But the Phantom, in particular, became the model of choice for those who liked to rewrite the rules.
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The Canvas on Wheels
The stories are as varied as the artists themselves. In 1930, a green Phantom I was part of a Paramount Studios welcome package for a newly arrived Marlene Dietrich, and it promptly landed a supporting role in her film Morocco.
Then there was Elvis Presley’s 1963 Midnight Blue Phantom V, a mobile preparation station complete with a microphone for impromptu sessions and a clothes brush to ensure “The King” was always camera-ready. The car’s original mirror-finish proved too enticing for his mother’s chickens, who would peck at their own reflections, leading to a strategic repaint.
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Elvis Presley's 1963 Phantom
But no one challenged convention quite like John Lennon. His 1964 black Phantom V was the picture of sleek sophistication—until 1967, when he unveiled a psychedelic transformation. Repainted a radiant yellow and hand-decorated with swirling, colorful patterns, it became a rolling emblem of the “Summer of Love.” The public reaction was… mixed. One woman was so affronted she reportedly swatted the car with her umbrella, demanding, “How dare you do that to a Rolls-Royce!” History proved Lennon’s taste was prescient; the car later sold at auction for a figure that would make any rock memorabilia collector blush.
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The unmistakeable John Lennon Phantom
From Vegas to Hip-Hop
The Phantom’s flair for the dramatic found a perfect home in Las Vegas with Liberace, whose mirror-covered Phantom V would make a grand entrance right onto the stage. His flamboyant style inspired a young Elton John, who once famously bought a new Phantom on a whim during a drive to a concert.
The tradition didn’t fade with time; it evolved. With the rise of hip-hop, the Phantom found a new audience. It cruised through the video for Pharrell Williams and Snoop Dogg’s “Drop It Like It’s Hot,” became a meme thanks to 50 Cent’s appearance on Entourage, and graced the covers of albums like Lil Wayne’s Tha Carter II. The car’s signature Starlight Headliner even wove its way into rap lyrics, becoming a poetic symbol of success.
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The cars once owned by Liberace
The Myth in the Pool
And then there’s the legend that perhaps defines the car’s rock-and-roll mythology: The story of The Who’s drummer, Keith Moon, and a Holiday Inn swimming pool. While the exact details are lost to a haze of rock legend—was it a Rolls? Was it even pushed in?—the story persists with such vigor that the car in the tale is always a Rolls-Royce.
So potent is the myth that Rolls-Royce itself recently played along, submerging a Phantom body shell in a British lido to commemorate the anecdote, blurring the lines between fact and fabulous fiction.
Through eight generations, the Phantom has been more than just a car. It has been a sanctuary for songwriting, a beacon of success, and for music’s most inventive minds, the world’s most luxurious blank canvas.
Colin Windell for Colin-on-Cars in association with
proudly CHANGECARS
