On Friday evening, Elton inducted Bernie Taupin into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
He sang Tiny-Dancer, and said they climbed mountains they didn’t know they could climb. Many were surprised and happy when Elton announced they had just finished their new album.
Bernie said they had–and still have–a musical marriage. He also referenced Jann Wenner by declaring he was honoured to be part of this evening with other ”articulate” artists. When asked why only white men were interviewed for his book, The Masters, the former Rock & Roll Hall of Fame director and co-founder of Rolling Stone magazine said that female and black musicians weren’t articulate enough.
Bernie’s speech included tributes to notables ranging from John Huston to Peggy Lee. And he recommended that the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induct ”genius” Merle Haggard.
Billboard thought his ”roast” of Wenner was one of the night’s best moments, as was the In Memoriam segment where Elton joined Sheryl Crow, Brittany Howard, and Chris Stapleton for a rendition of The-Weight, in honour of Robbie Robertson.
Elton and other stars performed The Weight, in homage to The Band‘s drummer Levon Helm, at the 2013 Grammy Awards.
The night after the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame event, Elton and Davey Johnstone were recognised at the Specsavers Scottish Music awards. Elton got the Specsavers Global Artist trophy, which was accepted on his behalf by Davey, himself the recipient of the Sir Reo Stakis Foundation Special Recognition Award. Elton sent a message of congratulations and called his friend ”the best guitarist to come out of Scotland.”
It sounds like some wonderful, though not necessarily ”crazy nights” (to quote Elton’s 2016 album).
During the Wonderful Crazy Night tour, one of the opening acts was Foy Vance. And you may recall that Elton was an Executive Producer on The-Wild-Swan, Foy’s third album. So the Irish musician called on Elton when he decided to celebrate the 10th anniversary of his song, Guiding Light. Ed Sheeran and Keith Urban are on board too. Foy was going through a difficult time in his life when he wrote the song. He discovered that ”music lit up the darkness” and that melody reminded him to ”keep going.” The release date is 16 November.
The following day, Dolly Parton‘s Rockstar sessions will be out. This includes a guest appearance from Elton, who joined Dolly for Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me. So hopefully that’s part of the preview coming to select movie theatres right before Rockstar‘s release.
Elton is also among the guests on the Rolling Stones‘ new Hackney Diamonds album, as Elton-Blog-42 mentioned. Last week, the disc was #1 in Australia and the UK. The making of Hackney Diamonds is to be the subject of a TV documentary called The Stones: Still Rolling, according to Variety.
Elton and Bernie will continue to roll as long as it’s fun–which it still is. When Bernie appeared on National Public Radio last month, he told Peter Grosz as much.
During NPR‘s 28 October episode, when asked about his rural upbringing, the 73-year-old compared Lincolnshire, England, to America’s Idaho. ”Very flat and lots of potatoes,” he chuckled.
The lyricist was then asked about ”burny toppings,” an obvious reference to his name.
Elton has referred to his old home in Georgia as ”the Rolls-Royce of condos in Atlanta.” It was initially a 2,500-square-foot duplex before being expanded, over the years, to 13,500 square feet. In September, Elton announced he was selling the Park Place on Peachtree property for five million dollars. It went for quite a bit more–$7.225 million, as reported in the Wall Street Journal. What’s more, it was all paid in cash!
Another home, owned by Elton and David Furnish, features in the new book, Star Style: Interiors of Martyn Lawrence Bullard. Elton and David are seen in one of the photos, shot in Los Angeles, California.
For more on stars and style, check out future Elton Blogs!
