Elton attended the U.S. premiere of his Never Too Late documentary, as anticipated, last week. But he surprised many with an impromptu performance of Tiny Dancer at the New York Film Festival.
People magazine reported that Elton joked about his various operations and health issues at the event. ”There’s not much of me left, but I’m still here,” Elton quipped.
We are reminded of the exercises Elton started–both for his bad knees and as a way of staying active during Covid. He took to his pool, and in classic crab fashion, walked sideways. That doesn’t sound easy, but he managed to walk up to six miles a week.
A longtime friend of Elton’s has been dealing with health issues–Molly Meldrum. Last year, he mooned the audience at one of Elton’s concerts. But lately he has been out of the public eye. In fact, he wasn’t at the Royal Australian Mint‘s launch of a coin honouring his Countdown TV programme, which ran from November 1974 to July 1987. Countdown guests included Elton, who once spoke about the importance of staying fit on a physically grueling tour. Then nearly 35 years old, he was playing tennis a lot–up to four or five hours a day!
Tana Douglas would know about keeping active, as she used to be a roadie. Her 2021 book, Loud, recounted her experiences with AC/DC, Elton, and others. At the 2 October Australian Women in Music Awards, she won the Live Production Touring category.
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Tana, who was also an electrician, told ej.w about how one of Elton’s Jump Up concerts lived up to its name.
The gig was held at Colorado’s Red Rocks Amphitheatre, where ”in the front-of-house, we found a rattlesnake!”
The venue was challenging, too, because it was built into a canyon, so they had to go ”way uphill,” in order to load and unload equipment.
A Douglas documentary will follow. And EJ fans will love to see one about Bernie Taupin–also in the works.
In August, Taupin took part in his buddy Rodney Crowell‘s songwriting workshop. Among those in attendance was songwriter Jaimee Harris, who told the Elton Blog that she tends to find inspiration behind the wheel. So she was delighted when Bernie shared a similar story. The 74-year-old said that when he first came to America, he used to go on road trips for ideas.
More recently, Bernie posted his feelings about Kris Kristofferson. He thinks the loss of the 88-year-old (who died on 28 September) leaves a hole in not just country music but music in general.
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Another songsmith Bernie rates highly is Randy Newman . . . ”a political lightning bolt” for addressing issues such as poverty, war, and issues of inequality. So Bernie was the perfect person to contribute a blurb for the new Robert Hilburn book, A Few Words In Defense of Our Country: The Biography of Randy Newman.
Bernie calls Robert’s writing ”addictive and definitive,” and is to appear at a Writers Bloc evening in Beverly Hills, California, on 21 October, with Hilburn. They will be joined by journalist Randy Lewis. Copies of the book will be available for purchase.
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The event costs $25, but ej.w has teamed up with the Writers Bloc to offer fans a chance to nab free tickets: Just write to reservations@writersblocpresents.com, and say eltonjohn.world sent you!
