President Joe Biden, first lady Jill Biden and about 2,000 fans on Friday basked in a performance at the White House by musical legend and activist Elton John.
The British singer is currently on a lengthy farewell tour in the United States. John performed his hit songs such as “Rocketman” , “Your Song”, “Tiny Dancer” and others. He had been singing and playing piano from an open air structure set up at the White House’s South Lawn. The singer’s performance at one point moved President Biden to tears.
“Like so many Americans, our family loves his music,” Biden said when introducing the singer. “It’s clear Elton John’s music has changed our lives.”
John, who declined to play for former President Donald Trump’s inauguration, agreed to perform for the Bidens as one of a handful of mainstream celebrities who are returning to the White House after years of avoiding it.
His performance was part of a celebration to honour people the White House called everyday heroes: nurses, emergency and mental health workers, teachers, LGBTQ+ advocates and activists.
John said playing at the White House was “icing on the cake” after a career of performing in beautiful venues. In between songs he spoke of his fight against HIV/AIDS and praised former President George W. Bush, a Republican, for his efforts to combat AIDS in Africa through the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) program.
Former first lady Laura Bush was one of the guests at the performance. John noted that the fight against AIDS in the United States had support from Republicans and Democrats.
“I just wish America could be more bipartisan,” he said.
At the end of the evening, Biden moved John to tears by surprising him with the National Humanities Medal.
“I’m flabbergasted,” John said. “I will treasure this.”
It was an honour to perform @whitehouse and be presented by President @JoeBiden with the National Humanities Medal for my contribution to music and the work through @EJAF to end AIDS!
We’ve reached over 100m people with HIV and we couldn’t have done it without our supporters❤️ pic.twitter.com/YiZM8eUQme
— Elton John (@eltonofficial) September 24, 2022
The performance was paid for by A&E Networks and The History Channel, which is part of A&E, and will air at a later date. A&E Networks is a joint venture of Disney-ABC Television Group and Hearst.
The performance was called “A Night When Hope and History Rhyme,” drawn from a poem by Irish writer Seamus Heaney. Biden regularly quotes Heaney and is an aficionado of Irish sayings and poetry.
Biden has a special relationship with John’s music. He wrote in his 2017 memoir “Promise Me, Dad: A Year of Hope, Hardship and Purpose” about singing “Crocodile Rock” to his son Beau as a child and again as an adult when Beau was dying from cancer. John included that song in his playlist on Friday.
