Love Song
As the British leg of the Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour proceeds, Selfridges-Corner-Shop’s focus is on the star. So fans can explore Elton’s archive and shop for limited edition merchandise . . . even a reboot (pun intended) of the boots Elton wore as the Pinball Wizard in the 1975 movie, Tommy. And that’s not all. Elton is planning an appearance at the store on 5 April. He has also signed a hundred gold copies of the 50th anniversary edition of Honky Chateau. They were sold, first come, first served, on Friday. In fact, this is the only physical retailer offering the limited-edition gold LPs.
However, not everyone is happy with the organisation of the event. A lot of genuine fans complained that Selfridges administered this all wrong as they started to already hand out wristbands to people queuing the previous night.
Some of these people who were granted wristbands early managed to list them on eBay for a thousand pounds or more!
Another collection–with slogans like ”The Bitch is Back” and pictures of Elton–is being offered by Oxford-Pennant, which is based in Buffalo, New York. This celebrates Elton’s U.S. tour, concluded last year, and consists of flags, pins, patches and banners.
You’ll recall that The-Webster in Los Angeles, California, previously feted Elton and his final U.S. tour. They teamed up with Universal Music‘s Bravado to offer goods like eyewear and clothing.
Now that Elton has just celebrated his birthday, there have been more tributes.
Taron-Egerton marked Elton’s big day by posting a video of himself. He was rehearsing Your Song, trying to get into character for his Rocketman role. The actor wrote of his love for the ”little minx,” and called himself ”Blodwyn Campervan,” a drag name he received from Elton.
Another salutation came from Gary Osborne. He sang ”happy birthday” on this website’s latest podcast. Gary is known for co-writing gems like Part-Time Love and Little Jeannie.
GoldDerby marked the occasion by releasing a list of Elton’s best songs, ranked from worst to best. That’s certainly a different take, if a bit strange.
Happy 76th birthday to Sir Elton John: 25 greatest songs ranked worst to best [PHOTOS] https://t.co/wMSiTnF0to
— Gold Derby (@GoldDerby) March 25, 2023
We prefer American-Songwriter, who came up with Elton’s most unforgettable five live moments, ranging from California’s Troubadour Club to Russia’s Rossiya Concert Hall. Of course, there are more than five, aren’t there? And while Dodger Stadium in 1975 was cited, we think Elton’s return in 2002 qualifies as well.
A compilation of favourite videos is another idea, although Elton has said he doesn’t like to do them. I’m Still Standing is one of the liveliest. This hit means a great deal to Martina Navratilova. She told TalkTV‘s Piers-Morgan that Elton sang it to her when he played Paris in the eighties during the French Open. Then she heard the song (she had selected Elton John as some of the music she wanted to hear) while receiving treatment for two types of cancer. We are glad to learn that she has since been declared cancer-free.
When it comes to the world of Elton John, there are still surprises after all these years. That goes for our man as well.
Just before the release of the expanded Honky Chateau, Bernie Taupin explained how Rocket Man, one of its most successful tracks, originated. It was inspired by Ray Bradbury‘s volume of short stories, The Illustrated Man. It included a story called The Rocket Man, about how astronauts in the future ”would become an everyday job.”
Elton says he didn’t know that. He found Rocket Man an easy song to write a melody for. Being about space, ”it’s quite a spacious song.”
Concert footage from another Honky Chateau cut, Mona-Lisas-and-Mad-Hatters, has been released. It was shot in February 1972 at the Royal Festival Hall in London, England.
Some might be surprised to learn that plans for Elton’s final tour actually began back in 2015 . . . three years before his announcement. Ray Winkler, who was involved with the stage design, told the-guardian that he started out with biscuits and fruit on a table, imagining the biscuit was Elton’s piano.
900 hours at the piano! Designing Elton John’s final tour – in pictures https://t.co/Y0IVkcNl84
— The Guardian (@guardian) March 22, 2023
Ray said that Elton normally plays stage right. But they put a motor underneath so he could travel stage left.
An edible version of a piano was presented to Elton over the weekend, when he turned 76. This also featured a cartoonish version of Elton-John at the keys, accompanied by a reproduction of David Furnish (who had the brainstorm) and their two boys. David also gave Elton sprigs from acorns off an old tree by their driveway. It involved a lot of planting: Elton should eventually wind up with a hundred oak trees!
Elton called it ”a magical day.” He also thanked friends and admirers for sending flowers and ”beautiful messages.”
