I don’t have a cite handy nor will I look for one but if someone takes it upon themselves to look, they will see that for a period of 25-28 years or so he had a single in the top 40 EVERY YEAR. That staying power doesn’t happen from an untalented artist. So you may not like his music, but you have to respect the man’s talent. 99.9999999% of the population will never even touch anything remotely close to the success that this man has had.
Love him or hate him, he is a fucking great entertainer to the masses. Sometimes (though my Eminem hating, Britney cringing self is loathe to admit it) the reason that artists appeal to the masses is because they are talented, whether or not some people don’t like them. Saying that though, Eminem or Britney won’t ever come close to reproducing his staying power. Think either of them will be entertaining like Elton into their fifties?
The man has TALENT. So do the other two I brought up. But that staying power, that mass appeal across generations is what makes Elton a SUPERSTAR no matter what you think of his music.
I saw Elton in concert last year. I was 26 and surrounded by people from ages 15 to 70+. And everyone had a great time, and Elton put on a hell of a show, selling out at $125/ticket. He is not in my top 10 of favourites, but i say again, he is a gret fucking entertainer. Period.
I don’t like a lot of Bernie Taupin’s lyrics. The song Rocketman leaps to mind. I really like the music though. Also Levon. I know Cecil wrote a column about who Alvin Tostig is, but I’m still not satisfied. It just seems stupid to me.
I like Elton John. I think he’s got a great melodic sense as a composer. I love to play his songs on an accoustic guitar and I love to sing them. he’s a very good singer and he’s a great pianist. You can’t right hit after hit after hit the way Elton has done for thirty years if you don’t have any talent.
Elton John and Billy Joel are playing in Birmingham, Alabama on February 21st! swoon
Unfortunately, I can’t afford the ~$100 for a ticket, although even if I could it’s probably already sold out.
Rats.
On the brighter side, I had my first MRI today, and the technician handed me a set of headphones to wear during the procedure to reduce the noise - then said “I hope you like Bob Seger.” Sure enough, I listened to Bob Seger the entire time!
I was chatting to a guy the other day who recruits for a major company here, and he remarked that he has noticed, over the years, a marked reduction in the area of unbiased critical thinking among those he seeks to recruit.
My point? If you can’t see the talent in Elton John, even if you do hate his music, there’s something wrong with you.
Elton John must be musically talented to gain so many fans, even if his music is not to my taste. What annoys me, however, is that more than any other celebrity (here in the UK, at least) he is constantly in the media inflicting his sometimes-outrageous, more often just plain annoying, views on anything and everything. You just can’t get away from it sometimes. Now I’m not sure if this is his fault or the media’s, but the things reported/quoted of him and the frequency with which they appear in the media, bugs me to hell.
Someone once told me he did a lot of work for charity, however, and we never seem to hear about that in the media. I guess that could offer some perspective.
The trick is to ignore it and concentrate on whomever you do like.
Nah, compared to the real media whores (Posh Spice, Beckham, Catherine Zeta Jones, the other idiots Heat magazine thrives on) Elton’s not even in the top 20 of annoying UK media celebs.
Heh, well he has been about a lot longer than them so I’m talking about marathon media attention. I doubt those you mention will stay in the spotlight for half the time.
I’m not sure if that is a compliment or criticism of Elton!
