What is a legacy? Is it a gold record on a wall, or is it the way a younger artist’s voice trembles when they try to hit one of your notes? For Laura Nyro, the Bronx-born visionary who basically invented the "confessional singer-songwriter" blueprint, legacy has always been a complicated, shimmering thing.
She died in 1997. She was only 49. But in 2025, her name suddenly surged back into the cultural conversation. Why? Because Elton John and Brandi Carlile decided to open their collaborative powerhouse album, Who Believes in Angels?, with a sprawling, six-minute-plus epic titled The Rose of Laura Nyro.
It isn't just a song. Honestly, it’s a reckoning.
The Song That Refuses to Be Background Music
When the track first dropped in April 2025, it caught people off guard. You've got this long, synth-heavy instrumental intro that feels like a nod to the psychedelic space rock of the early 70s. It’s moody. It’s dense. It feels like waking up in a foggy New York City alleyway at 6 a.m.
That’s intentional.
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The lyrics, penned by the legendary Bernie Taupin along with Elton, Brandi, and producer Andrew Watt, are a fever dream of Nyro references. It mentions the "foggy Hudson" and "thorns adorn her baby grand." It’s poetic as hell. They even weave in "Eli’s Comin’"—the title of one of Laura's most famous tracks—like a ghostly chant in the background.
Why the "Rose" Metaphor?
Nyro’s music was always a contradiction. It was beautiful, but it had teeth. It was "The Rose" because it was fragrant and delicate, yet it grew out of the concrete and had thorns that could make you bleed if you weren't careful.
The song captures that "pale and purple cushion" vibe of her later work, mixing it with the raw, "stoned soul" energy of her peak years. If you listen closely to the bridge, you can hear Elton’s piano channeling that specific, erratic rhythm Laura was known for—those sudden tempo shifts that would make a metronome have a nervous breakdown.
A Ghost in the Brill Building
A lot of people today don't realize that Laura Nyro was the secret engine behind some of the biggest hits of the 60s and 70s. She wrote "Wedding Bell Blues." She wrote "Stoney End." She wrote "And When I Die."
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But she didn't always want the spotlight.
- The 5th Dimension turned her soul-folk into pop gold.
- Three Dog Night made "Eli's Comin'" a radio staple.
- Barbra Streisand took "Stoney End" to the top of the charts.
Meanwhile, Laura was back in Connecticut or New York, drifting away from the "industry" side of things. She was more interested in the "eternal feminine" and social justice than in being a pop star. This is exactly what the The Rose of Laura Nyro tries to honor—the artist who stayed true to her weirdness while the rest of the world tried to sand her edges down.
What Elton John Knows That We Don’t
Elton has been vocal about this for decades. He’s said point-blank that he idolized her. You can hear it in his early stuff if you know where to look. That "out-and-out audacity" he talks about? That's the Laura Nyro influence.
By naming the opening track of his 2025 album after her, he isn't just saying "thanks." He’s making sure that in 2026 and beyond, a 19-year-old kid discovering Brandi Carlile will hear that name and go down the rabbit hole.
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They’ll find Eli and the Thirteenth Confession.
They’ll find New York Tendaberry.
And their lives will probably change.
Actionable Steps: How to Experience the Nyro Revival
If the Elton and Brandi track has you curious, don't just stop at the tribute. You need the source material.
- Listen to "The Rose of Laura Nyro" first. Pay attention to the way the piano mimics a heartbeat. That’s Andrew Watt’s production leaning into the "live" feel Laura loved.
- Queue up the "Original Three." Start with Eli and the Thirteenth Confession (1968). It is the quintessential Nyro record. Move to New York Tendaberry for the dark, moody stuff, then Christmas and the Beads of Sweat for the R&B influence.
- Watch the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival footage. It’s famous because she supposedly got booed (though history says that’s mostly a myth she believed). Seeing her perform "Wedding Bell Blues" at twenty years old explains everything you need to know about why she’s a "rose" with thorns.
- Read the lyrics to "The Rose of Laura Nyro" while listening. Look for the Easter eggs: "Stoney End," "Central Park," "Lafayette." It’s a treasure hunt for music nerds.
Laura Nyro wasn't just a songwriter. She was a weather system. The fact that the biggest names in music are still trying to capture her essence thirty years after she left us proves that some flowers never actually lose their petals.