Elton John: Encyclopedia II - Elton John - 1980s onwards

Elton John - 1980s onwards

On 13 September 1980 Elton John performed a free concert to a huge audience on The Great Lawn in Central Park in New York City, within hearing distance of his friend John Lennon's apartment building. A few months later Lennon would be murdered and Elton mourned the loss in his 1982 hit Empty Garden (Hey Hey Johnny).

Elton John's biggest 1980s hits included, among others, I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues, I'm Still Standing, Nikita, and a 1986 live recording of Candle in the Wind which he recorded during a concert with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra although the orchestra did not take part in the song. The song, which was a tribute to Marilyn Monroe, was originally recorded in 1973 on his Goodbye Yellow Brick Road album.

The 1991 film documentary Two Rooms described the unusual writing style that John and Bernie Taupin use, which involves Taupin writing the lyrics on his own, and John then putting them to music, with the two never in the same room during the process.

In 1991, John's Basque won the Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Composition.

In 1992, John performed Bohemian Rhapsody and The Show Must Go On with Queen at the Freddie Mercury Tribute concert, an AIDS charity event held at Wembley Stadium, London. In September of the same year, he performed November Rain with Guns N' Roses for the 1992 MTV Video Music Awards at the Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles, CA.

Elton John was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. He and Bernie Taupin had previously been inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1992.

Elton John was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1995.

In September 1997, Taupin altered the lyrics of Candle in the Wind for a special version mourning the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, and John performed it at her funeral in Westminster Abbey. A recorded version, Candle in the Wind 1997, then became the fastest selling single of all time, eventually going on to sell over 30 million copies worldwide, with the proceeds of approximately £55 million going to the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund. John would later win the Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for the single.

Elton John was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II on 24 February 1998, granting him the title of "Sir".

He continues to release new material to commercial success, and tours extensively, despite being fitted with a pacemaker in July 1999. His face-to-face tours with fellow pianist Billy Joel have been a fan favourite throughout the world since the mid-1990s. Elton also has a multi-year contract to perform at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas. The show, entitled The Red Piano, is a multimedia concert featuring massive props and video montages created by David LaChappelle.

John dueted with Eminem on the rapper's Stan at the Grammy Awards of 2001. This went a long way towards absolving Eminem of charges of homophobia and thus paving the way for Eminem's greater mainstream acceptance.

In 2001, John was booked to appear on an episode of the BBC topical panel show Have I Got News For You but withdrew with just hours to spare. He was replaced by a look-alike - a taxi driver from Colchester called Ray Johnson, who was credited by the show as "Ray Elton John Son". Johnson also appeared "as" Elton in Never Mind the Buzzcocks' December 20th, 2005, as part of a line up. However, it was obvious that the show had booked Johnson rather than John himself.

He achieved yet another #1 single in the UK, being featured on 2Pac's posthumous song Ghetto Gospel in 2005, from the rapper's album, Loyal to the Game. The song sampled Indian Sunset from John's 1971 album, Madman Across the Water.

On 2 July 2005, John performed at the Live 8 concert at Hyde Park in London.

In July of 2005, Madame Tussauds made a 227 lb. statue of Elton John, to his measurements. It took more than 1,000 hours to complete. John is currently sandwiching a two-year world tour, some venues of which are new to Elton, with his regular appearances at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "1980s onwards", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki