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| Photo Credit: AP. |
WASHINGTON (AP) — “God bless you, let’s have some music,” said Elton John.
With that,
the White House South Lawn was transformed into a musical lovefest Friday night
as John played a farewell gig to honor everyday “heroes” like teachers, nurses
and AIDS activists. But as it turns out, the event was also to honor the
75-year-old British songwriter — President Joe Biden surprised him with the
National Humanities Medal for being a “tidal wave” who helped people rise up
for justice.
John seemed
almost overcome by the accolades, telling the audience of 2,000 people: “I
don’t know what to say. ... I don’t know how to take a compliment very well but
it’s wonderful to be here amongst so many people who have helped my AIDS
foundation and my heroes, that ones that work day to day on the front line.”
He said he’d
played some beautiful venues before, but the stage in front of the White House,
beneath a massive open-air tent on a perfect autumn night, was “probably the
icing on the cake.”
He kicked
off the show with “Your Song,” his first big international hit.
The intimate
guest list included teachers, nurses, frontline workers and LGBTQ advocates,
plus former first lady Laura Bush, civil rights advocate Ruby Bridges,
education activist Malala Yousafzai and Jeanne White-Ginder, an AIDS activist
and mother of Ryan White, who died from AIDS-related complications in 1990.
Biden and
first lady Jill Biden talked about the British singer’s activism, the power of
his music and his all-around goodness. The event was dreamed up and paid for by
A+E and the History Channel.
“Seamus
Heaney once wrote, and I quote, ’Once in a lifetime, the longed-for tidal wave
of justice can rise up, and hope and history rhyme,” Biden said. “Throughout
his incredible career, Sir Elton John has been that tidal wave, a tidal wave to
help people rise up and make hope and history rhyme.”
The night,
in fact, was called “A Night When Hope and History Rhyme,” a reference to the
poem Biden quoted by Ireland’s Heaney.
Sir Elton —
he was knighted in 1998 by Queen Elizabeth II — has sold over 300 million
records worldwide, played over 4,000 shows in 80 countries and recorded one of
the best-selling singles of all time, his 1997 reworking of “Candle In The
Wind” to eulogize Princess Diana, which sold 33 million copies.
John
punctuated the hits Friday with emotional tidbits of his history, including a
shoutout to Laura Bush and former president George W. Bush for his
administration’s emergency plan for AIDS relief, and a story of how a dying
Ryan White and his mother pushed him into advocacy in the first place, and
helped him get sober.
“I wouldn’t
be here talking tonight,” he said. “They saved my life.” He then dedicated
“Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me” to Ryan.
Despite the
presence of plenty of lawmakers, the political speak was kept to a minimum,
except for when John said, “I just wish America would be more bipartisan on
everything.”
It was his
first White House gig since he performed with Stevie Wonder at a state dinner
in 1998 honoring British Prime Minister Tony Blair. John is on a farewell tour
that began in July after performing for more than 50 years.
The show
came together after A+E Networks and the History Channel asked the White House
and John if they’d be up for a collaboration honoring “everyday history-makers”
as well as John himself.
It’s not
clear whether the show will be broadcast. John has worked with A+E in the past
on his global HIV/AIDS charity, the Elton John Foundation, which has raised more
than $525 million to combat the virus around the world.
John is
sticking around to play a sold-out show at Nationals Park Saturday.
The
president and first lady are big fans. Biden wrote in a 2017 memoir about
singing “Crocodile Rock” to his two young boys as he drove them to school, and
again later to son Beau before he died of cancer at age 46.
“I started
singing the lyrics to Beau, quietly, so just the two of us could hear it,”
Biden wrote. “Beau didn’t open his eyes, but I could see through my own tears
that he was smiling.”
John played
the song Friday, saying someone told him Biden used to sing it to his little
boys. “I can’t imagine him singin’ it,” John quipped before suggesting the
president come up on stage. He did not. But the whole crowd did do the
“La-La-Las” from their seats.
Biden’s
predecessor, Donald Trump, was also a fan of John. He tried to get John to perform
at his 2017 inauguration but John declined, saying he didn’t think it was
appropriate for a Brit to play at the swearing-in of an American president.
The White
House insisted Friday’s show wasn’t an effort to troll Trump, who has praised
John in his books and has often featured John’s music — including “Rocket Man”
and “Tiny Dancer” — in his pre-rally playlists over the years. Trump nicknamed
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un “rocket man” for his record of test-firing
missiles.
John played
both Friday, to thunderous applause.