By Oyintari Ben
On the White House lawn, Sir Elton John performed for Joe Biden and roughly 2,000 supporters as part of his farewell tour, breaking down in tears when the President presented him with a medal.
Mr Biden introduced the celebrity and said: “Our family adores his music, just like many Americans do. It’s obvious that Elton John’s music has influenced our way of life.”
The president claimed in his book from 2017 that he sang Crocodile Rock to his son Beau when he was a young child and once more when he was fighting cancer.
At the concert on Friday, Sir Elton also performed songs, including Tiny Dancer, Rocketman, and Your Song.
The concert, which honoured what the White House referred to as “daily heroes,” was attended by nurses, teachers, emergency response personnel, and LGBTQ activists.
The 75-year-old singer described the performance as the “cherry on top” of his long career.
Elton had previously rejected to perform at the inauguration of former president Donald Trump. However, he seemed pretty at home on Friday.
Additionally, he received a surprise when president Biden gave him the National Humanities Medal.
Sir Elton responded with tears, “I’m flabbergasted. “This is something I will treasure.”
He said, “I don’t know how to receive a compliment very well. But it’s lovely to be here among many supporters of my AIDS foundation and my heroes—those who toil tirelessly in the field.”
The former first lady Laura Bush was in the audience when Elton gave shout-outs to people like former president George W. Bush for his administration’s strategy to combat AIDS.
Since its founding in 1992, the singer’s organization has raised more than £400 million to help fight the virus worldwide.
A Washington, D.C., performance is scheduled for this Saturday as part of Elton’s farewell tour, which will take him throughout the country into mid-November.
At the end of the year, he will travel to Australia and New Zealand before arriving in Europe in March 2023, where dates include nine days at London’s O2 Arena.
