Watch Stevie Wonder, Lady Gaga and Ryan Adams Perform at Elton John’s 70th Birthday Party
No one throws a party quite like Elton John — and that holds true when the party in question is being held in his honor.
The veteran hitmaker turned 70 on March 25, and ushered in his next decade with an all-star affair at Red Studios Hollywood, inviting a lengthy list of celebrities whose ranks included actors like Neil Patrick Harris, Rob Lowe and Jon Hamm, as well as fellow musicians such as Stevie Wonder, Ryan Adams and Lady Gaga — all of whom performed Elton-centric numbers at the event.
In the video above, Wonder and Gaga can be seen delivering a duet rendition of Wonder's "Happy Birthday," with the lyrics retrofitted in John's honor. At another point during the evening, Adams offered a solo acoustic version of John's classic single "Rocket Man," which the two have performed together in the past.
John seemed in good spirits before the party, reflecting on turning 70 during an interview with Beats One's Zane Lowe. "Some people don’t like birthdays, they don’t like celebrating, they don’t want to know about them, and I’ve always enjoyed my birthday," he told Lowe. "Seventy sounds so archaic, doesn’t it?” John told Lowe. “When I was growing up, 70 sounded like the end of the world. But things have changed — you’re only as old as you feel inside."
Looking over his life at 70, John pointed out that 2017 serves as an important milestone in a number of ways — including marking five decades with his songwriting partner Bernie Taupin. "It’s a great year this year," he added. "It’s the 25th anniversary of the AIDS foundation, 50 years of Bernie and me and 70 years of me. It’s nice to celebrate things. Life is fabulous."
Taupin spoke with the Daily Mirror before the party, insisting that neither he nor John have any plans to retire. "Good lord, no. I will retire when they put me in the grave — it’s the same for Elton," he told the paper. "We enjoy what we do. We always have. We have the same enthusiasm now as we did when we started out in 1967."
John starts another round of concerts on April 22 in California. Check out all the current dates available for Elton John tickets.
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