More than half a century of successful music and 74 years of life adorn Elton John, but it was not all said in a career that, when it seemed to be coming to an end (he announced his retirement from the stage), has made his umpteenth conquest, the Generation Z, who has brought it back to number 1 with their latest album.
Until the irruption of "Easy on me" Adele, there at the top of the British list ruled until a few days ago his "Cold heart", recorded alongside the ubiquitous Dua Lipa and conceived as a danceable reinterpretation with DJ and producer PNAU of their late 1980s hit "Sacrifice".
Like that song, revived through time, born artist Reginald Kenneth Dwigh (Middlesex, 1947) has managed to stay connected with the times since his first hit with "Your song" in 1970, either in alliance with talents like that of his inseparable lyricist Bernie Taupin from the beginning or with masterpieces beyond the musical (such as "Rocketman", your recent "biopic" 2018).
Winner of five Grammy Awards and as many Brit, as well as two Golden Globes and two Oscars, the early 70s were his shuttle setting fire to his piano with ballads like "Candle in the wind", rock classics like "Bennie And The Jets" or hits for the dance floor like "Don’t Go Breaking My Heart".
Every time his flame seemed to waver, the Briton hit a new whip, like "I’m still standing" in the 80s, whose title was already a declaration of intentions, or its version in the 90s of "Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me" with George Michael.
Those years were also those of the BSO of "The Lion King" and, once again, showed that he knew how to adapt his repertoire to events when he transformed "Candle In The Wind" in an epitaph for her friend Lady Di and, second, in the most successful single of all time.
His songs did not stop ringing for the new millennial generation thanks to allies such as "boy band" Blue, which he reinterpreted by his side "Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word", While "Your song" was revitalized as part of the soundtrack of "Moulin rouge".
More recently, both "Rocketman" like his alliance with Lady Gaga on the subject "Sine From Above" They put him back in the spotlight, although it had been close to 20 years since he hadn’t achieved a number 1 in his country, since Ashley Beedle’s remix of his 70s song "Are You Ready For Love", so this reconquest of the musical space is a milestone.
Everything fits in "The Lockdown Sessions" (Universal Music), the title of this latest album in which he has drawn an overwhelming roster of allies as intergenerational as his own career, from Stevie Nicks and Stevie Wonder to Miley Cyrus and Young Thug, through Eddie Vedder, Gorillaz, Nicki Minaj or the aforementioned Dua Lipa.
Together with them he works approaches to soul music, to "country" melodic (with artists like Brandi Carlile), rock (piano version of "Nothing else matters" Metallica through) and disco music, a mix so bizarre that it would have been incongruous for any other artist, but not for him.
His profile as a champion of the LGTBQ + cause is represented in that fan, with invitations to Rina Sawayama (to sing "to the family that one chooses" in a vindication of the hyper-sweetened ballad of the 90s) or Olly Alexander, the singer of Years And Years, remaking (again) the gay Pet Shop Boys anthem he performed for the series "It’s a Sin" on the scourge of AIDS.
Along these lines, no one better to pick up his witness than Lil Nas X, another of the collaborators, who comes from scandalizing the most conservative sectors with his visibility of sexuality and non-heteronormative aesthetics. And so, Elton John scores the same with one more icon of Generation Z.
"Overall, the stylistic game of spinning the bottle in ‘The Lockdown Sessions’ feels attuned to the world of Spotify beyond the genres of 2021, as Elton continues to advance his musical universe.", has written about the album a medium like New Musical Express.
Even in a less passionate review like Rolling Stone’s, it is agreed that "Even if this project probably won’t add to Elton’s great canon of classic songs, it remains a shining testament to his enduring pop seriousness.".
Be that as it may, it has been a surprise as a result of the pandemic’s halt, which brought to a halt what should be his farewell tour (which will resume in 2022) and proves once again that you never have to lower your guard with Elton John. The ‘Rocketman’ is still standing.
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