I have been a fan of Elton John’s for as long as I can remember. Rocket Man, Your Song, Tiny Dancer, and Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me are some of my absolute favorites. When I heard he was booked to play at Rush Limbaugh’s wedding, I was impressed that he bucked the popular trend held by liberals today by refusing to define himself by his politics.
Sir Elton has shown backbone once again when he refused to cave to political pressure from other liberal musicians and artists who canceled their Israel concerts as a show of solidarity with the Palestinians. But he didn’t stop there. Not only did he keep his performance, but he announced while on stage during the concert that the cancellations were not going to stop him from performing in Israel:
British musician Elton John delighted Israelis by giving a concert in Tel Aviv after a string of cancelations by other world-famous artists.
The singer resisted a growing wave of calls from pro-Palestintian activists to boycott the concert and played to nearly 50,000 screaming fans.
Elton John told the crowd that nothing could have stopped him from coming. He said musicians spread love and bring people together and do not, in his words, “cherry-pick” their conscience – an apparent swipe at the artists who have canceled concerts in Israel.
Among those who canceled events in recent weeks were Elvis Costello, The Pixies, and Santana.
When he was asked about playing at Rush Limbaugh’s wedding, he said, “[l]ife is about building bridges, not walls.” Evidently, that is not just a line to him; he lives it. How refreshing.
I think I’ll download a few Elton John songs onto my iPod this weekend.
