Elton John was one of Clive Davis’ A list interviewees tonight on his Zoom gala for the Grammy Museum.
I haven’t even mentioned yet all stars in the ‘green room’– including Carly Simon, Dionne Warwick, John Fogerty, Sam Moore, Valerie Simpson, Dionne Warwick, Berry Gordy, Carole Bayer Sager, Randy Jackson, Nikki Haskell, Aaron Neville, Martina Navritilova, Peter Asher, Josh Groban, Nile Rodgers, Gayle King, Melba Moore, Lorna Luft, Desmond Child, Suzanne Somers and Alan Hamel, Rickey Minor, and so on and on.
Back to Elton. In an eloquent interview, really one of the best I’ve ever seen or heard with Elton, he talked about his farewell tour. It was supposed to end in 2022, but now Elton says because of the pandemic he’ll probably finish in 2023.
He said to Clive, “I don’t want to schlep anymore.” I thought it was the title of a new hit with Bernie Taupin! Elton has been touring since 1968. I know what he means.
Elton spoke about rap and hip hop being as important as jazz as a new music language, and why he keeps guesting on new artists’ records. He just stays eternally young. It’s very important to him to keep introducing new artists on his Apple radio show. His wise advice: “Keep your eyes open and keep listening to music you don’t understand.”
About his own music: Clive played a gorgeous orchestral video of Elton singing “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me.”Elton said that it’s a hard song to sing, but it’s one of his favorites.
Clive asked him what it was like to make 8 hit albums in 5 years back in the 70s. Elton summed it up: “When you have the momentum it’s hard to stop.”
So glad he didn’t!
