Elton John

Elton John Cancels Performances Due To Respiratory Infection

24 May 2012 15:52:19 EDT

Singer hospitalized after falling ill during Sunday's 'Million Dollar Piano' show in Las Vegas.
By Brendan Dempsey

Sir Elton John checked into a Los Angeles hospital on Wednesday with what is reportedly a "serious respiratory infection." As a result, the singer has been forced to cancel three of his upcoming "Million Dollar Piano" shows scheduled for this weekend in Las Vegas.

The five-time Grammy-winning artist began to feel ill during a performance of his "Million Dollar" show on Sunday. His condition worsened throughout the week, and he checked into Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles at 6:00 a.m. Wednesday. After a number of tests and antibiotic treatment, doctors released John and advised him not to perform for seven days.

In a statement released on John's website Thursday (May 24), the singer said: "It feels strange not to be able to perform these 'Million Dollar Piano' concerts at The Colosseum. I love performing this show and I will be thrilled when we return to The Colosseum in October to complete the eleven concerts soon to be scheduled. All I can say to the fans is sorry I can't be with you. I hope to see you soon at this wonderful theatre at Caesars Palace."

The singer is set to kick off a summer tour in Europe, beginning with a June 1 stop in Germany.

Those holding tickets for any of the canceled performances will be able to exchange their tickets or get a refund at the original point of purchase.

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Justin Timberlake Closer To Playing Elton John In Biopic?

23 Feb 2012 08:17:29 EST

John's husband said that Timberlake is on board as soon as a director is nailed down.
By Gil Kaufman

A month ago, word was that Justin Timberlake was #1 on Elton John's wish list to portray the "Benny and the Jets" singer in an upcoming biopic. Now, it sounds like JT is all but signed up for the role, but is awaiting word on a director before he fully commits.

According to E! Online, John's husband and producing partner, David Furnish, said the two music stars have been in serious discussions about the project.

"We're searching for a director," Furnish said. "It's important we all share the same vision ... Elton and Justin have had conversations about it. Justin also says he has to feel comfortable with the director and the director has to be comfortable with Justin. The chemistry is really important. There's no race to make this. We're just going to take the time to make it right."

Timberlake, who popped up on last weekend's "Saturday Night Live" portraying a different musician — Grammy winner Bon Iver — was reportedly eyed  by John for the role in his biopic after the pair collaborated in the David LaChapelle-directed 2001 clip for John's "This Train Don't Stop Here Anymore."

Timberlake did a dead-on impression of John in that video and has since proven on "SNL" and the big screen to be an excellent mimic and thoughtful actor. Plus, you know, he can sing, so it's possible he could even credibly croon John's songs in a movie to give it that extra bit of believability.

The script for the John biopic is being written by "Billy Elliot" writer Lee Hall, but a director has not yet been announced. John, who has enjoyed one of the most colorful, outrageous and hit-filled careers in pop history, has said that the movie of his life will not be the usual soft-focus look back.

"It's going to be a surreal look at my life, and not just a factual look at my life, more in the manner of a 'Moulin Rouge!' " John said in January. "I just don't want it to be a normal biopic because my life hasn't been like that. And it only goes up to when I go into rehab in 1990. It starts with me going into rehab and ends when I come out."

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Oscar's Best Song Category: Why Only Two Nominees?

24 Jan 2012 17:39:36 EST

Complicated voting rules shut out songs by Elton John, Lady Gaga, Mary J. Blige and Pink.
By John Mitchell

Tuesday morning's (January 24) announcement of the 2012 Oscar nominations delivered plenty of surprises. Michael Fassbender ("Shame"), Albert Brooks ("Drive") and Charlize Theron ("Young Adult") were overlooked in the acting categories, while Melissa McCarthy ("Bridesmaids"), Rooney Mara ("The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo") and Max von Sydow ("Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close") scored surprise nominations. But perhaps no category was more head-scratching than Best Original Song.

Despite the fact that a short list of 39 tracks were eligible for nomination, only two were named — "Man or Muppet" from "The Muppets" and "Real in Rio" from "Rio" — leaving tunes from Elton John and Lady Gaga, Pink, will.i.am, Zooey Deschanel, Elvis Costello and Mary J. Blige shut out of the competition.

Many Oscar-watchers were left wondering why the Academy would opt away from the traditional five contenders in favor of just two little-heard songs. Well, a closer look at the Oscar rule book shows it's probably less a case of choosing to nominate only two songs than it is simply a case of a single song scoring enough points to secure a nod, and then bringing its closest competition along for the ride.

Oscar nominations are arrived at using a very complicated weighted system in which members of the Academy, voting exclusively for members of their own branch (i.e. actors chose the acting nominees, directors vote for directors, etc.), rank contenders in order of preference. From there, a "magic number" is determined that relies on the number of ballots cast for a category, along with a specific mathematical equation. Ballots are tallied and contenders are eliminated through several rounds in a process that tabulates factors like first-place mentions and so on. Once a contender reaches the magic number, they are an Oscar nominee. (The folks over at EW's PopWatch break down the selection steps in great detail.)

So this is how the nominees are determined — with one exception: Best Original Song. In 2009, when the Academy opted to up the number of Best Picture nominees to 10 (the voting body has since altered that number), it also changed the rules for Best Original Song. As Billboard points out, members of the Academy's music branch now "assign each song a numerical score between 1 and 10, and if no song receives an average of more than 8.25, there are no nominees. If only one song tops the threshold, as clearly happened here, the next highest vote getter secures a nomination as well."

This year's Best Original Song category boils down to this: either Bret McKenzie's "Man or Muppet" or "Real in Rio" by songwriting trio Sergio Mendes, Carlinhos Brown and Siedah Garrett secured a score of 8.25 or better, earning a nomination and pulling the #2 vote-getter into the fray. Simply put, members of the music branch didn't award any other song, including John and Gaga's duet "Hello Hello" or Blige's "The Help" track "Living Proof," a score high enough to secure a nomination.

But lest you think that this means the category is all but locked, think again. While selecting the Oscar nominees is an intensely mathematical process, picking the winners is much easier. Once the nominations are decided, every member of the Academy can vote in each category and the nominee that receives the most votes wins. Easy enough. And since actors are the largest voting block of the Academy— and would have had nothing to do with the tracks selected to contend for Best Original Song — it's anyone's game.

See the complete list of Academy Awards Nominations.

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Elton John's Husband Backtracks On Madonna Statements

20 Jan 2012 10:36:33 EST

David Furnish says his comments about Madge's Golden Globes win were 'blown way out of proportion.'
By Jocelyn Vena

Consider that Elton John/Madonna score even, for now. After John's husband, David Furnish, made some off-the-cuff comments about Madge's Golden Globes win last weekend, he is issuing a statement about it, offering up a mea culpa of sorts.

"Wow! What a tempest in a teapot. My comments regarding The Golden Globes have been blown way out of proportion," he said on his Facebook page. The trouble started when the Queen of Pop nabbed the trophy for Best Original Song for her "W.E." track, "Masterpiece," and Furnish had some choice words for her at the time. She had been up against John and his "Gnomeo & Juliet" track, "Hello Hello."

"Madonna. Best Song???? F--- off!!!" he wrote on Facebook at the time. "Madonna winning Best Original Song truly shows how these awards have nothing to do with merit. Her acceptance speech was embarrassing in its narcissism. And her criticism of Gaga shows how desperate she really is." (Gaga is godmother to Furnish and John's son.)

Well, with nearly a week behind him, it seems that Furnish has changed his tune. "My passion for our film 'Gnomeo & Juliet' and belief in Elton's song really got my emotional juices going," he said. "But I must say for the record that I do believe Madonna is a great artist, and that Elton and I wish her all the best for next week's premiere of the film 'W.E.' "

With that feud behind her, Madonna now seems poised to redirect the attention back to her many forthcoming projects, including the February release of "W.E," which she wrote and directed, her Super Bowl performance, her music video for her M.I.A./Nicki Minaj-assisted "Gimme All Your Luvin," as well as the spring release of her album M.D.N.A.

Were David Furnish's comments about Madonna justified? Sound off below!

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Elton John Wants Justin Timberlake To Play Him In Biopic

03 Jan 2012 14:42:55 EST

'It's going to be a surreal look at my life,' John tells the L.A. Times of movie in the works.
By Jocelyn Vena

Elton John is currently working on a biopic based on his over-the-top life, and he even knows who he'd want to play him in the flick, should it all pan out. In an interview with the L.A. Times, the singer opened up about hoping to cast pop star-turned-actor Justin Timberlake.

"We have a director on board, and then it's just going to be a matter of getting the script exactly the way we want it. Lee Hall has written a script — he wrote 'Billy Elliot' — and then we'll start trying to cast and plan," he explained in the interview.

"I've got a wish list of people. #1 on my wish list is Justin Timberlake," John said, saying Timberlake's portrayal of him in the 2001 music video for "This Train Don't Stop Here Anymore" was "superb."

With some big decisions still up in the air, John does confirm that plans for the plot and story are a bit more solid. "That would be a jukebox musical in earnest, maybe with a couple of new songs," he explained. "You never know. Because it's going to be a surreal look at my life, and not just a factual look at my life, more in the manner of a 'Moulin Rouge!' I just don't want it to be a normal biopic because my life hasn't been like that. And it only goes up to when I go into rehab in 1990. It starts with me going into rehab and ends when I come out."

John admitted that he had attempted to get the director of "Moulin Rouge!" for his own film. "We tried to get Baz [Luhrmann], but Baz is so busy," he said of the "Great Gatsby" director. "We can't announce it yet, but we have got someone on board that we're very excited about."

The movie would mean that fans would get to see Timberlake sing again. Since heading to Hollywood, the singer hasn't done much of it, but has continued to rack up more and more acting gigs and even recently took a job at MySpace.

Would Justin Timberlake be a good fit for the Elton John role? Sound off in the comments!

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Lady Gaga Reveals Elton John Duet For Next Album

21 Nov 2011 09:32:01 EST

'I played him a song that I wrote and he really loved it,' Gaga says on U.K. talk show.
By Jocelyn Vena

Lady Gaga is wasting no time in working on her follow-up to Born This Way. Half a year after she dropped the chart-topping album, she is already crafting the sound for the next one. Over the weekend, Lady Gaga appeared on British talk-show host Alan Carr's "Chatty Man" and teased what fans should expect for her follow-up to BTW.

"My next duet, I believe, will be with Elton," she said. "I'm already working on my next album, and I played him a song that I wrote and he really loved it. I don't want to give anything [else] away!"

Of course, Gaga and Elton have quite a backstory together. The two recorded the track "Hello Hello" for the "Gnomeo and Juliet" soundtrack, and Gaga is godmother to Elton's son, Zachary.

In addition to the chat, Gaga also cooked up some chicken Milanese and performed her latest single, "Marry the Night," in a bright pink dress and giant pink hair bow. Her performance was uncharacteristically simple, with Gaga simply sitting at a piano. Last week, she teased the video for the clip, which includes a nearly two-minute-long monologue about the nature of sanity and art.

In other Gaga news, there was recently a shake-up in Gaga's camp when creative director Laurieann Gibson departed. For anyone who hasn't been paying attention for the last couple years, Gaga explained just how important the people who work with her are.

"To explain really what it's all about, me and my friends travel the world together and what we do, we all lay around in bed and we write down every idea that we have," she said. "It's quite honestly the greatest dream of my life. We get to make art for the whole universe."

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Lady Gaga Is Godmother To Elton John's Son, Singer Confirms

22 Apr 2011 09:51:33 EDT

'There's a real simple person under there who loves her parents,' Elton says of Mother Monster.
By Jocelyn Vena

He said as much while hosting "Saturday Night Live" earlier this month, but now Elton John has officially confirmed that Lady Gaga is his son's godmother. In an interview with Barbara Walters that was teased during "Good Morning America" Friday morning (April 22), the British music superstar, with his husband David Furnish by his side, opened up about his decision to name Gaga godmother to their son, Zachary.

"Yes, yes she is. When you get to the real person under there, there's a real simple person under there who loves her parents," he explained.

Furnish added, "Zachary's going to inherit an incredible musical legacy from his father one day, and she will be a good person to guide him through the ins and outs of the music business, 'cause she sure knows everything about the business now."

Talk of Gaga's involvement in Zachary's life began to surface earlier this year, but the couple wasn't in a hurry to confirm the reports. In a February interview, Furnish wouldn't confirm or deny whether Gaga was the godmother.

"We haven't publicly confirmed that yet but your sources are very good!" he said. "I prefer not to comment on it because we are going to make a statement about godparents later on."

When John hosted "Saturday Night Live" on April 2, he joked about Lady Gaga being his son's godmother. "For those of you concerned that we are unusual parents, do not worry. It's not like we are the only two people involved in the child's life. His godmother is Lady Gaga. That's true, that's not a joke ... which is ironic because I've always said that Mars ain't the kind of place to raise your kids. And Gaga loves Mars. She says Mars has good schools and great discos."

Elton was at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York this week to promote "The Union," a Cameron Crowe documentary about John's Grammy-nominated collaboration with fellow music legend Leon Russell.

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Elton John Marvels As 'The Union' Opens Tribeca Film Fest

21 Apr 2011 13:37:31 EDT

'We can't believe our luck,' Elton tells MTV News at red-carpet premiere of Cameron Crowe musical documentary.
By Eric Ditzian

Ten years on, the Tribeca Film Festival is going on as strong — and as unpredictable — as ever. Last spring, the fest kicked things off in midtown Manhattan with the premiere of "Shrek Forever After." This time around, Tribeca returned to its roots, settling into the Winter Garden at the World Financial Center (just steps from Ground Zero) for the debut of "The Union," Cameron Crowe's documentary about the Grammy-nominated musical collaboration between Elton John and Leon Russell.

"We can't believe our luck," Elton told MTV News Wednesday on the red carpet as paparazzi flashbulbs popped around him.

Joining the music legend on the carpet were Martin Scorsese, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, Anna Kendrick, Rainn Wilson, Denis Leary, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Zoe Kravitz, ?uestlove, David O. Russell and others. Elton himself confessed he was initially nervous to invite Crowe's cameras into the recording studio, but was very happy with the results and the opportunity to debut the film in New York.

"I've never had a song filmed when I'm writing it, but Cameron's such a friend, I trusted him," he told us. "New York City is my favorite place to play. I've played 62 shows at Madison Square Garden, I've played at Radio City, Central Park, Shea Stadium, Fillmore East. It's been a very important city in my musical career and probably the most exciting city in the world."

"The Union," then, provides a singular window into Elton's artistic process, and folks like ?uestlove couldn't wait to see what it was all about. "The '70s icons that we worship, they came before the information age," the Roots drummer told us. "Now, you can watch Kanye make beats, but I would love to see how Elton collaborates. Who does the music, who does the lyrics, how that all works out."

And as the celebs glided down the red carpet on their way inside the theater, many couldn't help but marvel at how the festival, born in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks, continues to thrive a decade later. "People forget that after 9/11, this neighborhood was devastated," Denis Leary told us. "People were afraid to come down and some people were moving out. [Robert] De Niro and [festival co-founder] Jane Rosenthal brought people back down. They brought culture back down and real spirit, which is much to their credit."

For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com.

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Foo Fighters, Helen Mirren Set For 'Saturday Night Live'

22 Mar 2011 15:54:08 EDT

Elton John also will host 'SNL' for the first time in April.
By Gil Kaufman

It's hard to think of anyone who could offer advice to someone as critically acclaimed and rewarded as British acting icon Dame Helen Mirren. She is, after all, halfway to her EGOT (winning an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony award), but when the Oscar-winning star of "The Queen" takes the stage for the first time April 9 as the host of "Saturday Night Live," she'll have some help from a group of "SNL" veterans.

She'll be joined by six-time musical guests the Foo Fighters, who will be promoting their upcoming album, Wasting Light, which hits stores just a few days later. The Foos are still riding high and in the running of MTV's Musical March Madness, trying to retain their #1 ranking as they face off against Disturbed in the second round.

Vote for your favorite bands now over on the Newsroom blog.

Mirren will be promoting her upcoming remake of "Arthur," which stars Russell Brand as the title character memorably portrayed as a shambling, careless drunk by the late Dudley Moore in the 1981 version.

She won't be the only Oscar winner to grace the "SNL" stage next month either: Fellow British entertainment royalty Sir Elton John will both perform and host the show on April 2, marking his first musical visit to "SNL" since 1982.

John will be joined by his musical pal and creative partner Leon Russell, and the pair are expected to highlight cuts from their acclaimed joint album, The Union. John inducted Russell into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last week, and both artists have been enjoying a bit of a musical renaissance thanks to the album.

What songs do you want to hear the Foo Fighters and Elton John perform on "SNL"? Sound off below!

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Elton John Reveals What He Would Have Changed About 'American Idol'

24 Jan 2011 18:59:06 EST

'Let's have bands, let's have songwriters, let's change the format a little,' he tells MTV News of what he would have shaken up as a judge.
By Kara Warner

Now that "American Idol" has kicked off its 10th season with a bright, shiny new group of judges, it's almost hard to remember that chaotic time over the summer when the fate of the panel was in limbo — back when Jessica Simpson, Justin Timberlake and Elton John were all rumored to be in consideration.

When MTV News caught up with Sir Elton recently as he promoted the upcoming animated film "Gnomeo & Juliet," for which John composed original songs, we asked if he'll be making any appearances on "Idol" this season.

"I don't know if you'll see me on this season," he said. "But you won't see me judging, obviously! But I don't know if I'm going to be on it. They've always been very, very generous to the AIDS Foundation," John said of the "Idol Gives Back" charity show. "I'm very, very grateful. They've been helpful to us. I don't know if I'm going to be on or not. I can't answer that question."

With regard to fellow Brit and former "Idol" judge Simon Cowell's "X Factor," however, John brightened a bit when we asked what he thinks of it and how well it will do in the U.S.

" 'X Factor' is going to be a huge show," John said. "It's going to be huge, because you can have bands on there, and that's one thing I wanted to change, if I had been on 'American Idol,' " he revealed. "Get away from the solo stuff. Let's have bands, let's have writers, let's have songwriters, let's change the format a little, and that's why 'X Factor' is going to do so well, because it's a different lineup. You can have bands and groups. That's more interesting I think."

Get your "Idol" fix on MTV News' "American Idol" page, where you'll find all the latest news, interviews and opinions.

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