Elton John discussed the iconic singer he knew wouldn’t sing again.
The legendary pianist himself belongs to a higher class of musicians than almost anyone else.
And even though the music scene has changed a lot since he and Bernie Taupin started making music, many of the best parts of his songs were about trying to show the world strange chords that the pop world might otherwise never have given a chance.
But even though he was a unique pop star, the only reason he got there was to see what the other legends before him could do when they were in the spotlight.
John has always been a hardcore rock ‘n’ roll fan when he first heard Elvis Presley, but many of the greatest musicians of his day had much more to offer than a lot of stage moves over rock ‘n’ roll songs.
The Hakuna Matata hitmaker was a fan of The Beatles and The Rolling Stones and what they had done when they began to venture outside the realm of traditional rock.
And let’s not forget the singer-songwriter scene. John and Taupin were both big fans of the likes of James Taylor and Laura Nyro, and when they first started painting their masterpieces, you can hear the more serious stories in their songs.
But even at a time when the blues was the biggest genre in the world, Nina Simone was a very different force.
Elton John was lucky enough to see Simone when she was alive, but even as he saw that kind of brilliance before him, he quickly realized that this was the kind of music that no one else could have made. He said: ‘We were going to do a tribute to George Harrison and Nina had done a great version of ‘Here Comes the Sun’. I said, ‘I don’t care how much of a handful she is, if we get her, we’ll never see anything like this again.’ She may have done one or two shows after that, but when I saw her that night I knew she wouldn’t be performing much more.
