Sir Elton John gives major update on live shows after quitting touring
HAVING secretly finished recording his 32nd album this month, Sir Elton John has confirmed he will be playing the songs live.
In his new book, Farewell Yellow Brick Road: Memories Of My Life on Tour, Elton says: “I’ve been clear with my fans that while the Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour is the culmination of my touring career, I still plan to perform live.
“What this will entail I don’t know yet.”
My money is on an intimate residency in London, so watch this space.
Elton’s book, which is out now, is written almost entirely in diary form.
Across 240 pages he talks about some of the biggest moments in his career, including performing with Pete Doherty, who was “stoned out of his mind”, and singing at Live Aid in 1985.
“I hated the entire show except for Queen,” Elton writes. “Backstage, however, I had a ball. I decorated my own little area and set up a barbecue.
“I made sure there were seats for everyone so that other people who were playing could come and sit down and chat.
“Freddie told me: ‘We killed them. You, on the other hand dear, you looked like the f***ing Queen Mother. Where did you get that absolutely awful hat?’
“Freddie was right about the hat.”
The more up-to-date part of Elton’s diaries also reveal his fury at Brexit and how it has affected rising music stars in our country.
He writes: “Not all musicians had my privilege and my stature.
“A lot of younger artists couldn’t afford the extra fees and paperwork now needed to tour in Europe.
“One of Britain’s greatest and most successful exports has been its music.”
Christina still spot on after 25 years
CHRISTINA AGUILERA celebrated the 25th anniversary of her debut album this week – and she’s barely aged a day.
The American singer has always owned the fact that she loves a bit of Botox, and she looks bloody good for it.
She put on a show in West Hollywood to mark the milestone of her first self-titled release and wore a leopard print bodysuit with a huge furry jacket.
Christina also unveiled a Spotify film in which she performs tracks from the 1999 album, with a little help from her friends.
In the film, available now, she sings her 1999 hit What A Girl Wants with Sabrina Carpenter, and gets Machine Gun Kelly to play guitar on Genie In A Bottle.
It’s well worth a watch.
Slimming jabs a fail for James
WEIGHT-loss jabs are the new trend for every celebrity and their dog – but few will admit it.
So hats off to James Corden, who confirmed he did try to shed a few pounds with Ozempic.
But unlike the army of shrinking stars around him, James, below, said it wasn’t effective as his struggle with his weight is in his mind, not his stomach.
He revealed: “I tried Ozempic and it won’t be surprising to you, when you look at me now, that it didn’t really work.
“I was like, ‘Nothing about my eating has anything to do with being hungry’.
“All this does is make you feel not hungry.
“You are looking at someone who’s eaten a king-size Dairy Milk – one you give someone for Christmas – in a carwash.
“None of that was, ‘I’m so hungry’. It’s something else.”
Welcome to the club, James.
Raye’s dash so Worth It
RAYE returned to the UK to perform at a special gig for her fans, fresh from singing at Millie Bobby Brown’s secret wedding in Italy over the weekend.
She played a free concert for O2 Priority’s Gig series and belted out hits including Genesis and Worth It.
Despite her crazy schedule, Raye, was on top form and told the crowd at the O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire in London: “I used to sit in my room and listen to Destiny’s Child, Black Eyed Peas and Nelly Furtardo and imagine that one day my life would be just like this.
“Thank you O2 for having us. I needed this.”
Raye’s celebrity fans were also out in force, as I spotted Ncuti Gatwa, Jessie J, Paloma Faith and Maisie Williams in the crowd.
Stones summer UK gigs?
THE ROLLING STONES could join other superstars rocking the UK next summer, says Isle Of Wight festival boss John Giddings.
Beyonce, Dua Lipa, Shakira and Oasis are already performing live and the legendary band may follow suit.
Chatting to me at the IOW 25 exhibition at London’s O2, John said: “I have heard rumours. I think it is going to be a busy year.”
John revealed that he was one of the few people who knew about Noel and Liam Gallagher’s reunion and said he was sworn to secrecy.
He said: “I knew it was going to happen a long time ago and I didn’t even tell my wife. I was doing something and I came across it by accident.”
Sadly John conceded he couldn’t get the brothers to play his festival, which includes Sting and Stereophonics as headliners next year.
“I can’t afford them,” John said with a laugh. It would cost too much.
“I think they realised they had one chance to fulfil everybody else’s dream with this tour.”
Spencer’s marathon effort
SPENCER MATTHEWS looked happy as Larry to be back on home soil after running 30 marathons in 30 days in the Jordanian desert.
He raised more than £511,000 for Global’s Make Some Noise charity in aid of small and local good causes.
Still in trainers and shorts, tanned Spencer was joined by his wife Vogue Williams for a trip out in London.
The day before he finished the challenge, Spen told us he couldn’t wait to get back to the UK for some home comforts because his camp – with no running water or air-con – was dire.
He said: “The marathon has actually become my favourite part of the day because the rest of it is at the best of times pretty grim.”
Seeing as he ran almost 800 miles, that’s saying something.
Capital makes first move
CAPITAL FM is among the radio stations that have changed Kesha’s hit TikTok to remove the line about P Diddy.
I was listening to the station this week and heard the edit – and I’m pleased Capital has made the move.
Kesha has confirmed that she is re-recording the track to erase Diddy for good, as he waits to face trial on a string of allegations in the US.
I have no doubt he will be erased from playlists across the world if he is found guilty.
Jack’s getting intimate
FANS of Jack Savoretti are in for a treat as he has announced an run of intimate shows at the start of the next year.
He will play songs at ten of his favourite venues across the UK, starting in the Isle of Man on February 24.
The Bada Bing, Bada Boom singer, who will perform that song with Miles Kane on The Graham Norton Show this Friday, will also play at towns and cities including Sheffield, Bath, Oxford and Gateshead.
lANOTHER day, another record for Taylor Swift.
Her 2021 single All Too Well (Ten Minute Version) (Taylor’s Version) has now surpassed 900million streams on Spotify.
That means with just one track, Taylor has clocked up a staggering nine billion minutes of streaming around the world.
She returns to the stage next month to kick off the final leg of her Eras Tour in Florida, so I expect those streams to just keep on rising.
MOST booty calls involve a drunken lover texting you from the pub.
But Madonna‘s ex, supermodel Jenny Shimzu, has revealed her hook-ups with the Queen of Pop were a lot more jet-set.
Jenny said: “You’re not going to say no to Madonna in the Nineties.
“You’d get a phone call like, ‘Hey, can you meet me at my Paris show, you’re in Europe right?’. So I’d be like, ‘Yeah, I’m just finishing Prada. Right after Prada I’ll catch a plane over’. And I would.
“I’d go over to her hotel, to the Ritz, at like four in the morning, have sex, and then fly back to Milan.”