- Music
- 24 Mar 17
The 'Your Song'-singer celebrates his birthday in LA, raising money for two worthy causes, his AIDS Foundation and the ULCA Hammer Museum.
Tomorrow, on March 25, Elton John’s birthday will be celebrated on a fund-raising gala, taking place at the Red Studios in Los Angeles. Along with his 70th birthday, the English pop legend will also celebrate his 50-year song-writing partnership with Bernie Taupin. Rob Lowe will serve as a host while the gala dinner will feature performances by Lady Gaga and other surprise guests.
The celebration benefits two of the causes Elton John passionately supported during his career: ending the global AIDS epidemic and the support of art in all its forms.
Elton, who was heavily involved in the fight against AIDS since the late ‘80s, established the ‘Elton John AIDS Foundation’ in 1992, one of the initiatives benefiting from tomorrow’s fund-raising gala.
The other part of the raised money will support the exhibitions and programs of the UCLA Hammer Museum, a museum which provides a span from classic to contemporary art as well as supporting encounters with art and ideas.
But as well as his philanthropy and social involvement, Elton John will look back on a more than impressive career. He can be described as one of the most iconic figures in pop culture, having achieved over 250 million record sales worldwide and 58 Billboard Top 40 singles in the US. His tribute song to late Princess Diana 'Candle In The Wind' went on to be one of the best selling songs in the history of the UK and US single charts.
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Elton has not only successfully written and composed music for his records, but also contributed to stage and screen pieces, such as Billy Elliot: The Musical, and the Disney animated classic The Lion King.
The singer has already played in over 80 countries all over the world and collected 6 GRAMMYS, 2 Brits and one Oscar during his career.
On reaching his 70th year of his life, Elton says: "I'm interested in moving forward all the time, with what I create, my collaborations, and also with discovering the work of other people. I think age is immaterial, provided we keep our minds alive by being open to new things. I can be as excited by a new artist who plays me their demo as I am by a new record of one of my musical heroes. I can be excited by playing a new city I've never played before, or revisiting somewhere I know well and seeing how it's changed. Life is a constant state of flux for us all, and I like to embrace that. I also feel very happy to use my position to bring attention to injustice in the world, and to try to help where I can. At this time in my life I'm the happiest I have ever been."
For 50 years of his life and career he has worked with the English lyricist and poet Bernie Taupin, in which they collaborated on more than 30 albums.
On his work with Taupin, Elton comments: "It's the same excitement now as when we first started. That this year marks the 50th anniversary of my partnership with Bernie Taupin is mind boggling for me because it seems like only yesterday that I met him. It's an amazing achievement to stay with one person for 50 years on a creative basis, in an industry where that doesn't really happen very much."
Bernie Taupin says of Elton, "It's been an unconventional partnership and while we pretty much patented the two-rooms technique I'd venture to say you'd be hard pressed to find a couple of songwriters more in sync with each other and their craft".
Elton John will also be on tour this year, stopping on several destination in Europe, including a concert in Cork in June.