Tomorrow would have been Keith Moon’s 79th birthday. The Who’s drummer is remembered not only for his music but also for one of rock’s most famous stories—the claim that he drove a Rolls-Royce into a swimming pool. Whether or not it actually happened, the image became legend.
To mark the Phantom’s centenary, Rolls-Royce recreated the scene. A retired Phantom shell was lowered into the Tinside Lido in Plymouth, an Art Deco pool with its own musical history—The Beatles were photographed there in 1967 while filming Magical Mystery Tour.
Phantom and Music Icons
From its earliest days, the Phantom has been tied to musicians. Jazz greats like Duke Ellington and Count Basie traveled in Rolls-Royces, setting a precedent later followed by rock and pop icons.
- Marlene Dietrich arrived in Hollywood in 1930 and was given a Phantom I, which appeared in the film Morocco.
- Elvis Presley bought a Phantom V in 1963. It came with bespoke features including a microphone and writing pad, and was later resprayed silver-blue.
- John Lennon owned two Phantom Vs. One was repainted in psychedelic colors before the release of Sgt. Pepper’s; another was transformed entirely in white, reflecting his minimalist period with Yoko Ono.
- Liberace drove a mirrored Phantom V onto Las Vegas stages as part of his shows.
- Sir Elton John owned multiple Phantoms, including one with a powerful sound system and another in pink-and-white, which he later gave to percussionist Ray Cooper.
The Keith Moon Story
Accounts differ about what happened on Moon’s 21st birthday. Some say a Lincoln Continental went into the pool. Others insist no car at all. But the myth stuck, and in popular memory the car was always a Rolls-Royce Phantom. That reputation for excess cemented the Phantom’s place in rock history.
Phantom in Hip-Hop
The Phantom’s connection to music didn’t end with classic rock. Since the early 2000s, it has become a fixture in hip-hop culture. A Phantom VII appeared in Snoop Dogg and Pharrell’s 2004 video for Drop It Like It’s Hot, while Lil Wayne featured it on the cover of Tha Carter II. References to Rolls-Royce’s Starlight Headliner—“stars in the roof”—are now common in rap lyrics.
A Century in Music
For 100 years, the Phantom has been associated with creative figures across genres and generations. From Dietrich and Elvis to Lennon and Lil Wayne, the car has remained a symbol of success and self-expression. The recreation at Plymouth is less about solving a myth than acknowledging the Phantom’s role in music history—a legacy that shows no signs of fading.