Credit: Far Out / Raph Pour-Hashemi
When it comes to socialising in the music industry, Elton John has it down to an art form. He might be almost 80 and sober by now, but even still, stories of his parties are mythologised.
At the end of each Grammy night, a cast of artists decamp from the ceremony straight to John’s house. The same went for the hours following his 2023 Glastonbury set as the star was helicoptered straight to his Harrow home, with a host of big names following soon after for a lavish party.
It’s the one habit he’s never shaken off. After his early career was spent smothered by addiction, John is now over 30 years sober. His partying has changed a lot from the days when he’d wake up from a big weekend to find that he’d bought a train or something like that, but still, the artist clearly loves to be the host, and mostly, he loves to socialise.
At any given event, the cast is guaranteed to be eclectic as John has always made a point of not only inviting big names, but bringing up-and-comers into the fold too. His guest lists are broad, encapsulating many genres, but it’s simply reflective of how John likes to operate.
Even backstage at shows and festivals, he’s always made a point of mixing and mingling with other artists, leading to some friendships across lines of musicality that wouldn’t be expected to be crossed. In this case, it led to a friendship between John and a heavier, grungier rock legend that wouldn’t necessarily be an expected friend. But once they met, mutual admiration transformed into a connection.
“Eddie Vedder is one of the nicest people I know, and we got to know each other from times I’ve spent performing in Hawaii, where he has a place,” John said after meeting the Pearl Jam leader.
The two artists’ music couldn’t be more different, existing in opposing stylistic realms, but none of that means anything when it comes to a good conversation or a nice person, so despite it all, both are fans.
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“I love his music and Pearl Jam are brilliant,” John said, clearly able to get into the world of darker tunes, and about Vedder’s side, he said, “He’s a big fan, so when he left me a note in my dressing room one day saying how much he’d like it if I wrote some music to his lyrics, I jumped at the opportunity. I actually wrote two! I wrote one for him and one for me.”
When it comes to John’s collaborations now, this seems to be an essential. Born from socialising with the musical crowd, he only seems interested in working with people he actually gets along with, happily attaching his star name to their work if he believes they’re good not just musically, but of heart too. Vedder passed that test, and so they collaborated on ‘E-Ticket’ and ‘Picture’, with John saying, “It was such a lovely thing to do for such a good person”.
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