Friday, October 21, 2005

Yet another benefit...

Elton John will perform at a benefit gala for the tenth anniversary of the New York Restoration Project and founder Bette Midler's sixtieth birthday in New York City on October 31st. Sting will also be honored at the event for his environmental work. The NYRP, which reclaims and restores city gardens and open spaces, is also conducting an online auction, through November 8th, with chances to record with Faith Hill in her studio and go backstage at a Dave Matthews Band concert.

A proposal? or an admission?

“I’ve always wanted to marry Elton John.”
Singer Barry Manilow at the Society of Singers’ annual Ella Awards (Reuters, Oct. 10)


Elton looking a little retro at the Ella Awards...

Wednesday, October 19, 2005

A slew of charity releases....

Elton John will be featured on several charity release during the months of October and November. "Hurricane Relief: Come Together Now" is a compilation album to be released on November 22 featuring Coldplay, Fats Domino, Barbra Streisand, Dave Matthews Band, James Brown and many others. Elton's contribution is a live version of "I'm Still Standing" which Elton reportedly recorded in New Orleans.
The second charity release is a tribute to the late DJ John Peel. Elton will sing and play piano on a cover of the Buzzcocks hit "Ever Fallen in Love," alongside The Who's Roger Daltrey and Led Zeppelin's Robert Plant. The song was debuted on October 10 over all BBC radio stations and will be released as a CD single on November 21 in the UK.

And finally another charity single release "Tears in Heaven" to raise money to help the victims of the Asian Tsunami and Hurricane Katrina for Save The Children. The song was originally written by Eric Clapton as a tribute to his four-year-old son, Conor, who died in 1991. Sharon Osbourne is behind the project, which also features Mary J Blige, Gwen Stefani, Pink, Phil Collins, Rod Stewart and Andrea Bocelli.

Monday, October 17, 2005

"Elizabethtown" opens in 3rd place

Bolstered by a strong musical soundtrack and some mixed reviews, Cameron Crowe's latest film "Elizabethtown" opens in 3rd place taking in $11 million dollars. "The Fog" and "Wallace and Grommit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit" opened in first and second place respectively. Crowe's fascination with Elton John continues with the tune "My Father's Gun" being featured prominently in the film. Previously Crowe has used Elton's "Tiny Dancer" and "Mona Lisas And Mad Hatters" in his semi-autobiographical film "Almost Famous." Some reviews can be found here.

Elton on "Inside The Actor's Studio"

Bravo is running "Inside The Actor's Studio" with Elton John. At first glance it seems a bit odd to see Elton on this show however other musical artists have been featured, Billy Joel for example. The show offers not much new information for any of us die-hard fans but probably would prove interesting to the casual music fan. One interesting segment is Elton demonstrating the differences in chord structures on a piano as opposed to on a guitar. And Elton composing a song to a page from a book has to be seen to be believed. Bravo will be re-airing "Inside...." with Elton on the following dates;

October 16 11AM, 8PM
October 22 11AM
November 18 3PM
November 20 11AM