Elton John prom look spurs La Salle-Peru student’s viral TikTok video, 2.8M views and counting

When Abbi O’Malley suggested her brother Max Wertz attend his senior prom at La Salle-Peru High School dressed as Elton John, Wertz thought she was joking.

“I just thought ‘that’d be insane,’ but then I realized she was being serious and thought ‘let’s do it,’” he said.

His prom night look went viral, with more than 2.8 million views after Wertz posted a video on TikTok.

The video opens with Wertz in a plain T-shirt and glasses lip syncing the first verse of “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road,” but as soon as the song begins to hit the chorus, the shot abruptly changes to Wertz on prom night decked out in head-to-toe pearls, rhinestones, feathers, and of course, bejeweled glasses.

The video quickly gained the attention of millions, thousands of whom went to the comment section to send praises and compliments his way.

One person wrote, “Like the way my jaw hit the floor.” Another commenter said, “I hope the prom appreciates this absolutely genius.” As another said, “he is the moment.”

Her biggest dream was to go to one of his concerts, so that was another big reason why I dressed as Elton to honor my mom.

—  Max Wertz, senior at La Salle-Peru High School, talking about his mother

Wertz grew up listening to 1970s tunes his mother Stacy Wertz would play on trips in the car. Elton John was her favorite.

“She was a huge Elton John fan before she passed,” Max said. “Her biggest dream was to go to one of his concerts, so that was another big reason why I dressed as Elton to honor my mom.”

When it came to choosing one of John’s signature looks, Wertz said he and his sister had a few in mind but ultimately decided on the “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” because it was a look they both remembered and Lady Gaga did a version of it during her tribute performance at the Grammys.

“He really came into his own this year, being so confident,” O’Malley said. “I wanted something that was more Max. This was kind of the perfect look.”

O’Malley hand-created the look. The base jacket and shoes were purchased, but the rhinestones, pearls and feathers were all sowed or glued on the outfit. She said she worked on the project every night for a least an hour for two weeks.

The shoes took the longest to create as each rhinestone and pearl was individually glued.

Wertz said the look was a hit with everyone, but a surprise. Some of his close friends knew about the shoes but didn’t realize he would, “actually go that far” and assumed his shoes would be the biggest part.

“People were coming up to me, especially at the promenade, and complimenting me and noticing right away that it was Elton John,” he said. “So, I knew me and my sister’s goal had been met.”

People’s reactions to his prom night look didn’t surprise Wertz. In fact, when his video went viral he said he “kind of expected it.”

“Elton John is iconic,” Wertz said. “Everybody knows who he is. I wanted that video to be popular to honor my mom. That’s my No. 1 thing. I don’t want to sit here and say I didn’t know like everyone else who says that with their popular videos, I knew it was going to be popular.”

Wertz said the first person to have a big reaction to the viral video was Superintendent Steven Wrobleski.

“He was so excited about it,” Max said. “He was telling me he watches it every day, because it’s so iconic, I guess. He was like my No. 1 supporter.”

Wrobleski said he was going to miss Wertz’s presence in the building and his ability to be confident and himself.

“When you meet someone who is so talented and so confident in themselves, it’s impossible not to gravitate towards that,” the superintendent said.

Wertz plans to nurture his talents by attending Columbia College in Chicago to study fashion merchandising and marketing with a minor in social media studies.

“While I’m in school I hope to gain more of a status and hopefully gain more followers because I do want to inspire people to be themselves and it would be really cool if I could have the platform to do it,” he said.

You can follow Max Wertz at @max.wertz on TikTok and Instagram.