Elton John
There are some superstar recording artists... many, in fact, who are not yet on my DRAHoF list of favourite recording artists. It's a personal preference list... with a little over a hundred artists on it now.
One of those superstars, tho, who I am now inducting.... is Elton John.
There's no doubt he is one of the giants of songwriting and performance over the past several decades. He's one of those that should be on any list of great recording artists... not one of my favourites but for a lot of reasons he is now being added to my DRAHoF list.
Along with lyricist Bernie Taupin, he's written many great songs since 1967... When he was at his height of popularity in the '70's, I was too young to really be a fan, but I often remembered his songs on the radio... so he was a part of my childhood memories. One song that sticks out in my memory was "The Bitch is Back" which a friend's mother disapproved of saying that word shouldn't be on the radio. "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting" was another one, "Benny and the Jets"... very popular in that time period, obviously.... but ultimately, not my thing.
I am not a big fan of his flamboyant stage persona from that time period. His bisexuality or homosexuality does not do much for me, but that's not really my business. Gathering info from Wikipedia, I see that he was married to some women at various periods in the '70's and '80's, came out as bisexual in 1976 and has been openly gay since 1988.
Not a huge fan of his lifestyle as far as drug-taking and all that from the early days, but recognise that he has been "on a journey" in his life and has done a lot of good for charities, etc, particularly around gay issues.
A few controversies are mentioned in Wikipedia... including in October 1983 when he broke the United Nations' cultural boycott on apartheid-era South Africa by performing at Sun City. More recently, in 2010, he performed at the fourth wedding of conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh for a reported $1 million. Eleven days later, he performed in Israel... significant because of other then-recent cancellations by other performers in the fallout surrounding an Israeli raid on Gaza Flotilla the month before. In his introduction to that concert, John said that he and other musicians should not "cherry-pick our conscience".... Well, I don't know a lot about these instances but I question some of the things he has done.
There was a recent biopic, Rocketman, about John's life from his childhood through the 1980s, which I did not see. I'm interested in seeing it at some point, but it's not the highest thing on my to do list.
I guess what I'm ultimately saying is that I like Elton John enough to be inducted to this DRAHoF list... but he's obviously not one of my very favourite artists for various reasons... this includes something from several months back that he sought a press injunction for, apparently, involving a hot tub escapade... But, again, I'm no expert on his life and should not judge as it really is not my business.... except for the purposes of including him on my "list".
Another incident (info from Wikipedia) shows him standing up for his beliefs: In 2013, he resisted calls to boycott Russia in protest at the Russian gay propaganda law, but told fans at a Moscow concert that the laws were "inhumane and isolating", and he was "deeply saddened and shocked over the current legislation".
Elton John is closely associated with AIDS charities, raising large amounts of money and using his public profile to raise awareness of the disease. He's been knighted, and I of course agree he's done a lot of good things throughout his life... including writing some good songs.
One of those superstars, tho, who I am now inducting.... is Elton John.
There's no doubt he is one of the giants of songwriting and performance over the past several decades. He's one of those that should be on any list of great recording artists... not one of my favourites but for a lot of reasons he is now being added to my DRAHoF list.
Along with lyricist Bernie Taupin, he's written many great songs since 1967... When he was at his height of popularity in the '70's, I was too young to really be a fan, but I often remembered his songs on the radio... so he was a part of my childhood memories. One song that sticks out in my memory was "The Bitch is Back" which a friend's mother disapproved of saying that word shouldn't be on the radio. "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting" was another one, "Benny and the Jets"... very popular in that time period, obviously.... but ultimately, not my thing.
I am not a big fan of his flamboyant stage persona from that time period. His bisexuality or homosexuality does not do much for me, but that's not really my business. Gathering info from Wikipedia, I see that he was married to some women at various periods in the '70's and '80's, came out as bisexual in 1976 and has been openly gay since 1988.
Not a huge fan of his lifestyle as far as drug-taking and all that from the early days, but recognise that he has been "on a journey" in his life and has done a lot of good for charities, etc, particularly around gay issues.
A few controversies are mentioned in Wikipedia... including in October 1983 when he broke the United Nations' cultural boycott on apartheid-era South Africa by performing at Sun City. More recently, in 2010, he performed at the fourth wedding of conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh for a reported $1 million. Eleven days later, he performed in Israel... significant because of other then-recent cancellations by other performers in the fallout surrounding an Israeli raid on Gaza Flotilla the month before. In his introduction to that concert, John said that he and other musicians should not "cherry-pick our conscience".... Well, I don't know a lot about these instances but I question some of the things he has done.
There was a recent biopic, Rocketman, about John's life from his childhood through the 1980s, which I did not see. I'm interested in seeing it at some point, but it's not the highest thing on my to do list.
I guess what I'm ultimately saying is that I like Elton John enough to be inducted to this DRAHoF list... but he's obviously not one of my very favourite artists for various reasons... this includes something from several months back that he sought a press injunction for, apparently, involving a hot tub escapade... But, again, I'm no expert on his life and should not judge as it really is not my business.... except for the purposes of including him on my "list".
Another incident (info from Wikipedia) shows him standing up for his beliefs: In 2013, he resisted calls to boycott Russia in protest at the Russian gay propaganda law, but told fans at a Moscow concert that the laws were "inhumane and isolating", and he was "deeply saddened and shocked over the current legislation".
Elton John is closely associated with AIDS charities, raising large amounts of money and using his public profile to raise awareness of the disease. He's been knighted, and I of course agree he's done a lot of good things throughout his life... including writing some good songs.