A MUSICAL MASTER TAKES AN EXTENDED VICTORY LAP AROUND THE GLOBE TO CROCODILE ROCK WITH FANS ONE LAST TIME

BY JON DOMENICK PHOTO BY DAVID LACHAPELLE

Born Reginald Kenneth Dwight in Manchester, England, Elton John has earned a place among history’s great musical minds. A recent and moving holiday commercial, entitled “ e Boy and the Piano,” depicts some life evolutions experienced by the 71 year old, from prodigy to superstar, and beginning with the gift of a piano from his mother and grandmother.

John embarked on another emotional journey in September a “long goodbye” in the form of a Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour, a three year musical sojourn stopping in March at Newark’s Prudential Center, Madison Square Garden, and the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Capping 50 years of live performances, the tour includes over 300 shows on five continents.

Sir Elton has racked up 38 gold records and 31 platinum and multi-platinum albums, over 50 Top 40 hits, and sales of over 300 million records. Since his first tour in 1970, he has logged more than 4,000 live performances.

He still rocks sparkly eyeglasses and spangled costumes, but don’t expect the physical feats we witnessed in the 1980s, when John’s piano, bench and all, hydraulically rose from the stage and spun 360 degrees with him attached. However, the new production still promises to take audiences on “a musical and highly visual journey.”

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“It’s time to come off the road so I can fully embrace the next chapter of my life,” John wrote on his website. “Performing live fuels me. I’m ecstatic and humbled to continue to play to audiences across the globe. I plan to bring the passion and creativity that has entertained my fans for decades to my final tour.”

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The multi Grammy Award winning icon’s successes and charity work led to a knighthood bestowed by Queen Elizabeth in 1998, a year after he released his top selling single “Candle in the Wind.” He’s the founder of the Elton John AIDS Foundation, and has accumulated a vast list of awards and honors. Highlights include induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame (with longtime collaborator Bernie Taupin), membership in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, a Kennedy Center Honor, and the Harvard School of Public Health AIDS Leadership Award. He also has three Oscar nominations (winning in 1995 for “Can you Feel the Love Tonight”) and a Tony Award for Best Original Score for Elton John and Tim Rice’s Aida.

John’s triumphs in musical theater garnered Tony Awards as well, including Best Musical for Billy Elliot, The Lion King (the world’s highest grossing stage show), and Lestat.

It’s been “a long, long time” since the artist sat down at a piano at age three, astonishing his family by playing Waldteufel’s “ The Skater’s Waltz” by ear, but the sun hasn’t gone down on him yet.

Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour
March 2, Prudential Center / 25 Lafayette Street,
Newark / 973.757.6000 prucenter.com / eltonjohn.com