After winning at the Golden Globes, it wasn’t a huge surprise that Sir Elton John and Bernie Taupin picked up the Oscar for Best Original Song for I’m Gonna Love Me Again.

This was a song written for the Rocketman soundtrack – the biopic celebrating Elton’s life and career.

Looking through the list of winners from last night’s Oscars ceremony, it looks like Sir Elton is the only winner who has talked publicly about identifying as LGBTQ, so it was great to have him waving the rainbow flag on behalf of us all.

This is the second Oscar win for Sir Elton. He also won the award in 1995 for Best Original Song for Can You Feel The Love Tonight from The Lion King. Bernie Taupin is a first-time winner.

Elton John receives highest honour from The Queen

Sir Elton John has received the highest acknowledgement in a new year honours list.

Recognising his achievements and a career that spans more than five decades and record sales of over 300 million, Sir Elton was awarded the Companion of Honour.

Also notable is Sir Elton’s charity work – he’s supported 23 different charities, including the Elton John AIDS Foundation.

As a Companion of Honour, Sir Elton becomes one of only 64 people – apart from the monarch – who can hold the honour at any one time.

Can we expect new music from Elton John and Bernie Taupin?

Having announced that he’s retiring from touring, Elton John has embarked on a three-year farewell tour. It’s a grandiose and ambitious undertaking from one of the biggest stars of the music world.

But the good news is that Elton is clearly far from being done with music.

Both Elton and Bernie Taupin have confirmed that they’re working on new songs – as always, Bernie writes the lyrics and Elton creates the music.

There’s also plans for more live performances – not touring, but a theatrical residency where Elton can showcase his enormous back-catalogue of hits.

Insights from Elton’s Memoir – Me

One of the big revelations of the memoir is Elton’s brush with death following treatment for prostate cancer – The Guardian reveals that the singer was close to death after contracting an infection. Elton was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2017 and opted for surgery rather than chemotherapy.

But the real gift from the book’s PR push was the interview coordinated by Alexis Petridis in which celebrities submitted questions to Sir Elton.

“Writing a song like that’s a bit like having a wank, really…” explains Elton, responding to a question from Bob Dylan about Tiny Dancer. “You want the climax to be good, but you don’t want it to be over too quickly – you want to work your way up to it. Bernie’s lyric took such a long time to get to the chorus, I thought – Fuck, the chorus had better be something special when it finally arrives. And it’s ‘here I come’, literally.”

“Eminem bought me and David matching cock rings when we got married…” says Elton, responding to a question from Eminem about whether or not his wedding gift had been used. “That was his gift. It’s very him, as is this question. I call him up every couple of months, and every time he picks up the phone he says the same thing: Hello, you old cunt, how are you? Justin Timberlake says the same thing, actually.”

Read the full interview in The Guardian

Life after Marriage for Elton and David

Having begun their relationship in 1993, Elton John and David Furnish were among the first couples in the UK to enter into a Civil Partnership when that option became available to same-sex couples in 2005.

In 2014, when the UK embraced marriage equality, Elton and David were married on the anniversary of the date of their Civil Partnership.

The couple have two sons – Zachary and Elijah.

Elton says that he’s written his autobiography for his sons – he wanted to create document that they could read after he’s gone, a book that would tell the unvarnished truth.

“I want them to know that their dad was being honest…” Elton told the BBC. “And he made something of his life after a few hiccups along the way.”

It was Elton’s sons that also prompted him to give up touring.

“My kids were only going to grow up once…” writes in his memoir. “Music was the most wonderful thing, but it still didn’t sound as good as Zachary chatting about what had happened at football practice.”

Let’s take a look at their Instagram to see the family moments that Elton and David are sharing with the world.

Comments