Elton John is among the latest to join the chorus of tributes paid to David Bowie, honouring the influence and 'mystique' of the late, great, rock icon.
Speaking of his sadness at the news of Bowie's passing this week following losing his 18 month battle with cancer, Sir Elton opened up about The Thin White Duke at a SiriusXM Town Hall taping in he US, reports Billboard.
"There are so many incredible words written about him in the last couple of days," Sir Elton told rock journalist David Fricke. "It's so wonderful. We all know how inspiring he is. We all know that his music stands. We don't have to say anything about the music: It speaks for itself. He was innovative, he was boundary-changing, and he danced to his own tune -- which in any artist is really rare."
He continued: "But what I loved about him towards the end was his incredible privacy during what must have been 10 years of incredible bad luck with illnesses, heart attacks, cancer, whatever," he continued. "He kept it private in an age we're living in with Twitter when everyone knows everything about everything -- he kept it to himself. He made two albums without anybody knowing he was making them. He had treatment for his illnesses without anyone knowing or anyone saying anything. And that is the mystique of the man, because we know David Bowie the figure, the singer, the outrageous performer, but actually, we don't know anything about him -- and that's the way it should be in music and should be in any art form whatsoever."
Speaking of the impact of Bowie on his early career, Sir Elton said: "If it wasn't for David Bowie, I would never have found my original producer Gus Dudgeon and Paul Buckmaster, who arranged the first three albums for me," he said. "Because when I heard 'Space Oddity,' I thought it was probably the most incredible record I'd ever heard and for a long time after that point. And the production and the arrangement of that song, I said, 'Whoever did that, I really want to work with them.' And so I got in touch with Gus Dudgeon and Paul Buckmaster, and we made the Elton John album together and many more albums, so I've got David to thank for that."
Meanwhile, friends and collaborators Placebo have also paid tribute to Bowie, as has Queen's Brian May, producer Tony Visconti, Eurythmics icon Annie Lennox, Arcade Fire, as well as the likes of Foo Fighters, Iggy Pop, Kanye West, Brian Eno and many more.
Elton John's upcoming tour dates are below. For tickets and information, visit here.
Elton John will play:
Fri June 10 2016 - LINCOLN Showground
Sat June 11 2016 - LEICESTER County Cricket Ground
Tue June 14 2016 - LIVERPOOL Liverpool Echo Arena
Sun June 19 2016 - EXETER Westpoint
Sun June 26 2016 - WOODSTOCK Blenheim Palace
Wed July 06 2016 - HENLEY ON THAMES River and Rowing Museum
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