Pages tagged “elton john”

The Paste staff is slowly trickling back into the office after our holiday trips, and I think I can safely speak for everyone when I say that, if we're not completely happy to be home, then at least we're thrilled to be off the roads for a bit. Not that Atlanta traffic is much better, but hey, better the snarled, congested, crazy-making concrete devil you know, right? In tribute to coming home from the holidays, and in celebration of all the travels 2009 will bring, here are nine great songs about roads. Listen to them all on the last page, and leave your own favorites in the comments.

Us music geeks love making Top 5 lists. It helps us deal with and understand this big scary world. Writer Nick Hornby understood this when he wrote the novel High Fidelity. As did John Cusack and director Stephen Frears when they made the movie version. Today, in Paste's List of the Day, we divulge our Desert-Island All-Time Top 5 Most-Memorable Top 5 Lists from the film version of High Fidelity.

Supergroups can be a tricky beast. Sometimes, they bring out best in everyone involved. Other times, they're an experiment best left in the lab. Either way, the allure of so much star power in a single place can often be too much to resist. So despite our best efforts to raise a cynical eyebrow on this one, it looks, well, kinda fun: Mick Jagger is angling for a star-studded collaboration with David Bowie and Elton John for the 2012 Olympics in London.

What should one expect from a show that opens with the new soul of neo-soul and closes with glitzy Brit-pop royalty? Classy-good times, no doubt. Mark your calendars, then, because Jamie Lidell will open a handful of shows for Elton John this December, on the heels of an extensive tour.

What do you suppose Elton John tastes like? Your guess is as good as ours, but those wacky ice creamateers, Ben & Jerry, decided to honor John with their newest flavor.

Do you love musical tributes to film? If so, you may be in luck, as Elton John, Beyonce and Carrie Underwood are headlining Movies Rock, a two-hour music-and-film show that, despite its name, seems to lack any actual rockage. Must be an editorial oversight.

The performance will air Dec. 7 on CBS, with highlights including Fergie and Jennifer Hudson singing the music to Live and Let Die and Goldfinger. Richard Beckman, president of Conde Nast Media Group, who's one third of the trifecta of companies funding this thing, said in a press release, "We wanted to create an extraordinary show that would pay tribute to the indelible impact music has on film." Somehow, this translates to a scantily clad Fergie dancing on a stage.

Of the non-pop act variety, John Williams will perform a medley of his scores, which include Star Wars and nearly every film Steven Spielberg has ever made. Elton John will also play music from animated movies.

Movies Rock will be supplemented by a magazine, also titled Movies Rock, edited by Vanity Fair's Graydon Carter. Bill Murray will be on the cover.

Related links:
Press release for the show on Variety
Paste on the recent Elton John documentary
CBS.com

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When he's not publicly asking for his record label to drop him, preparing for another tribute treatment or doing any other number of things that iconic music personalities do, Elton John gets lonely. That may or may not be true, but last night at the O2 Arena in London, the Rocket Man decided to keep the company of the one and only Prince.

After together performing a rendition of The Beatles' "The Long and Winding Road," Prince embraced John and announced to the crowd, "You know who it is - Sir Elton John!" Earlier in the evening, John had received a round of applause simply for being at the show.

The gig was a part of Prince's humongoid 21-day residency at the arena, and found the purple enigma also covering Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy" and Led Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love." Here's hoping Prince has a covers album in the works.

In related news, Prince is threatening to sue the whole damn Internet, and a new Elton John documentary will be released next Tuesday, Sept. 18.

Related links:
EltonJohn.com
3121.com
YouTube: T. Rex, Elton John and Ringo Starr - "Children of the Revolution"

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There have been so many tributes to Elton John and Bernie Taupin over the years, one might assume that the flamboyant showman and his lyricist were either dead or dying. Thankfully, neither is true, and in the spirit of 1991's Two Rooms album (which featured artists such as Sting, Eric Clapton, and The Who covering the duo's tunes), 20 artists will gather at New York's Carnegie Hall on October 10 to celebrate John's perennial popularity and philanthropic spirit.

Music For Youth, an outreach program of the UJA Federation of New York, will benefit from the shindig, which is slated to feature Joss Stone, Aimee Mann, Shawn Colvin, Roger McGuinn, Brendan Benson, the Pernice Brothers and Page McConnell from Phish, amongst others. Each performer will sing one song, and an inevitable all-star jam will likely close the evening.

For tickets and a complete list of artists, visit the links below.

Related links:
MusicForYouth.org
CarnegieHall.org
EltonJohn.com

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You’ve been losing trivia nights ever since Pop-Up Video and Behind the Music went off the air, haven’t you?

Well, here’s a tidbit you can use to impress your friends: Reginald Dwight is the name behind the myth, the man and the geometrically-inclined-sunglasses-wearing Sir Elton John.

Someone Like Me, a new documentary about the knighted rocker, is chock full of everything they warned us about during high school assemblies — drug addictions, depression and tantrums. A lesser man would have caved years ago.

But after 60 years and over 200 million in album sales, John just keeps on providing ripe tabloid and interview material. Look for the film—and his cah-razy specs—come September 18.

Related links:
Web.EltonJohn.com
Paste's 100 Best Living Songwriters
Farm Aid

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Saying “I’m 58 and I don’t care anymore,” Elton John has publicly demanded to be dropped by his record label, Universal Music Group. During a November 1st, 2006, concert at the Nassau Veteran’s Memorial Coliseum in New York, John ranted at the crowd about what he sees as Universal’s lack of interest in promoting his most recent album, The Captain and the Kid.

Universal has yet to publicly respond.

John’s The Captain and the Kid was released on September 12th, 2006.