"I love going out and playing. I’ve never loved playing so much as I do now. I’m just going back to do some dates with my band, then I go off and do six dates completely on my own, and then I go back to Vegas to do a show which is completely different to anything we’ve done before, and then I’m going on the road again with Billy Joel again next year—so that’s the fourth different thing—and then I may go on the road with Ray Cooper again—so that’s the fifth different thing—and then I’ve got an orchestral thing up my sleeve. So that’s six different kinds of shows I can do. And I just really, really, really enjoy it. I suppose it’s because I’m totally happy with my personal life, totally happy travelling. Everything in my life is pretty much the most balanced it’s ever been. I’ve been going to places I’ve never played before—Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Abu Dhabi. This year I played my fiftieth state. I’ve got so much energy and so many things on the go. I want to do another Vegas show."
- Our poppa, Sir Elton John, on his touring and what drives him, in the new issue of GQ
Elton John just hosted his 16th annual Advanta World Team Tennis Smash Hits event this past weekend. The money raised will be used to help those with AIDS in the South.
“Forty six percent of AIDS cases are now being reported in the South," Elton said on Sunday at the Kennesaw State University tennis court. "We are distinctly aware of the problems here and the South will continue to be a priority for the foundation. “All of the money raised here today will stay here in the Atlanta market and in Georgia.”
Our Poppa is so great!
Joining Elton to help out in this great event were several star players and celebs, including Andy Roddick.
Up for auction to raise money for the benefit was an hour session of private tennis tutoring with Roddick.
And, in an attempt to get a higher bid, the recently engaged Andy said he'd take off his shirt during the session.
That got the bid up to $11,000!
Then, he said he'd do the lesson FULLY nude.
That got him a final $15,000 from one very luck female fan.
But, seriously, Roddick is definitely worth more than $15k naked!!!!
An Elton John film musical starring Ben Stiller as a gay, HIV/AIDS positive Broadway queen.
No joke!
Poppa Elton recently revealed to GQ that this a project that he has in the works:
"It’s about a guy on Broadway who is gay, has HIV and AIDS, and has to go back and face his wife and his kids that he left. It’s very funny… No, it’s very funny. The premise doesn’t sound funny, but it is. All right?"
We mentioned on Wednesday that Brad Pitt gave $100,000 to fight the passage of Proposition 8, an amendment that would outlaw gay marriage in California.
Pitt's donation was the biggest A-list donation the campaign has seen to date.
It's hard to believe that newlyweds Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi have not given a penny to the cause, as claimed by a new report. Rosie O'Donnell and Elton John have failed to donate too.
Geoff Kors, the executive director spearheading the effort to fight Prop 8 said, “We have raised a record $11 million to fight Prop 8. Unfortunately, the other side has raised $16 million and is raising money at a feverish pace. We need to catch up and match them dollar for dollar. With an expected 13 million voters and the most expensive media markets in the nation, it takes tens of millions of dollars to get your message out. If we can get our message out at the same rate as they can, I believe we will win. But if they continue to have more resources, it will be very difficult for us to prevail.”
In addition to celebs, LGBT entertainment power players like Desperate Housewives creator Marc Cherry are 'missing' from the donor rolls.
Let's all step up to the bat to fight for equality and donate!
English trainwreck Lily Allen has taken to her blog to express what we read as guilt and shame for her deplorable behavior at the GQ awards earlier in the week.
She should be feeling like crap for getting wasted on stage (when she was hired to be a presenter) and telling her co-host, rock icon Sir Elton John, to eff off during a presentation!
Lils described her emotional state as 'dying inside' and also wrote that she 'feels like killing' herself, although this statement was later removed.
In an earlier post, the spoiled celebrity spawn wrote, 'Was he upset? I'm worried now, was I mean?'
We assume she was wondering about Sir Elton!
Says Allen:
i , now it's all died down i'm saying my side of what I can't believe is considered to be a story.
Elton john and I are friends. I was honoured when Elton asked me to present the GQ awards with him this year in association with Elton's AIDS foundation. Not only was it for a good cause but who would say no to Elton.
I'm not defending my drunkeness because i don't need to, i'm 23 it was an awards ceremony i drank the free champagne, how awful of me.
Trying to create a feud on the other hand, and trying to make me out as being some rude little girl with a drink problem is just unfair, Elton and I exchanged jokes and there were no hard feelings at all, infact neither of us gave it a second thought. It's sad that an evening enjoyed by all had to ruined by some bitter journos again.
Alfie and Jamie had never been engaged, Jamie and I are the best of friends and I was just winding Alfie up , he's my little brother and that's what siblings do. Jamie wasn't pissed off with me, if she was i would have known about it, believe me.
This isn't meant to be a place for me to respond to journalists, but I am very grateful I have this page, if i didn't then i would have absolutely no voice when it comes to this stuff.
All these showbiz journalists are just bullies when it comes down to it. I have felt really very bullied this week.I realise that when i first started this job I slagged a few people off when I probably shouldn't have and I have been opinionated about some things, but i haven't said a bad word about anyone for a long time, even when I have wanted to, even when people have tried to start feuds and said horrible things about me when they'd never even met me, when they'd based an opinion on me because of something they'd read. It's hurtful, but it's fine if you want to print a picture of me and say how awful I look, how much weight i've put on or how terrible my choice of clothes were that day. In my opinion it's still a form of bullying and if anyone spoke to any of my friends like that to their faces i'd want to kill them. But character assasination is another thing it's just not needed.
I turned up and presented an awards ceremony for charity, i drank some champagne and went home for 12.30 and again I've been made to feel like a bad friend and an embarassment to my fans and the people who support me. I shouldn't have to defend myself when i've done nothing wrong.
And by the way, to all the photographers waiting outside my house. I won't be leaving for a while, all my friends have gone to Bestival and i've got enough food and fags to last me till wednesday, so you might as well fuck off and find somebody else to make miserable.
Looks like Lily's going to be laying low for a while. She failed to show up at Mark Ronson's birthday bash on Thursday night. She also said that she's not attending this weekend's Bestival festival.
