Elton John has been on his farewell tour for four years. The pop icon will retire in a few months. Before that, the 75-year-old played in front of the US President in the White House – and joked about the equipment.
British pop legend Elton John has played a concert in the White House garden. In front of around 2,000 guests of honor, 75-year-old John sang world hits such as “Your Song”, “I Am Still Standing” and “Rocket Man”. The evening, themed “A Night When Hope and History Rhyme,” was hosted by US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden.
It was “the icing on the cake” for him to play here, said John, who has been on a farewell tour since 2018 that is scheduled to end in July 2023. “What a dump here!” John said in greeting before sitting down at the piano for his 40-minute performance in a sparkling black suit and orange-tinted glasses on his face. The White House behind him was illuminated, in front of it stood a military band in full regalia.
The US government had invited activists, especially for LGBT rights, nurses and teachers to the concert. Also in attendance, according to the White House, were Afghan Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai and former tennis player and activist Billie Jean King.
US President Biden told John his music “changed our lives”. At the end of the performance, he awarded the singer the National Humanities Medal. “I’m never flabbergasted, but now I am,” said the visibly touched John at the presentation of the medal, with which the US government honors personalities whose work has promoted understanding of the humanities. John himself expressed the wish that the US would again be able to “overcome the political divide”.
John’s Farewell Yellow Brick Road global farewell tour kicked off in September 2018 in the US state of Pennsylvania and is scheduled to end in Sweden in July next year. The 75-year-old was named the most important solo artist on Billboard’s 2019 list of the greatest musicians of all time – and third overall after the Beatles and the Rolling Stones.
