Elton John: Elton John's ball raises big bucks

Sir Elton John's annual White Tie and Tiara Ball raised more than £5.6 million for charity.
Lots included a car transformed into an artwork by Damien Hirst, which clocked up £350,000 for the (EJAF) Elton John Aids Foundation.
Almost 700 VIPs, including Elizabeth Hurley, Lily Cole, David Walliams, Sharon and Kelly Osbourne, Peter Andre, and Lady Gaga, attended the glitzy bash at Sir Elton's home in Windsor last night.
Kerry Katona was also spotted at the event, sealing her current comeback by wearing a glamorous strapless white gown to the A-list party.
The candyfloss pink paint splattered Audi A1 car, described as "fully driveable and road legal", was snapped up by an unnamed bidder.
As part of the same lot, the car was auctioned with a 6ft diameter canvas spin painting, which Hirst completed at the same time.
Sir Elton previously described the car as "one of the most exciting auction items we have ever had for White Tie".
The A1 car will not be seen on UK roads until November.
Lady Gaga, who performed at the event, Tweeted after last night's bash: "What a brilliant evening with wonderful friends.
"Thank you to everyone who donated to the Elton John Aids Foundation. What a magical stage X."

why he sang at Rush Limbaugh's wedding, Elton John explains

When news started circulating that Elton John serenaded Rush Limbaugh and his blushing bride at their current wedding, people were just a bit confused. The conservative talk show host is vocally opposed to gay marriage, and John is openly homosexual.

Now the Rocket Man vocalist's husband, David Furnish, is coming clean about his partner's decision to perform at the affair."It turned out to be a genuinely sincere invitation...Elton said, 'Life is about building bridges, not walls,'" he told the news outlet. That's definitely a kindhearted take on the situation, and we have to give praise to John for taking such a bold initiative. In fact, Furnish goes on to further explain his husband's good natured actions to the news source."And may be if I can make a nice impression," he quoted John as saying, "people might change their perspectives on life."Maybe Limbaugh can repay the favor if John and Furnish ever decide to renew their wedding vows? We would love to hear his version of Candle in the Wind.

Elton John Shunning

At the radio star Elton John performed Rush Limbaugh and Kathryn Rogers last Saturday. Significant controversy surrounds the fact that the openly gay John serenaded the openly conservative Limbaugh. But a hush greeted John's current adventure in Islamofascist homophobia.
Elton John's appearance reportedly earned him $1 million. Such fees routinely underwrite an excellent cause: the Elton John AIDS Foundation. But the newlyweds barely had begun honeymooning before the hue and cry erupted:
"We're experiencing greed, a lot of greed, and people doing things for money," Joy Behar noted on June 7's "The View." "I wonder if it would be OK with everybody if Elton or somebody had gone down to perform during apartheid South Africa, you know, or the Ku Klux Klan, if they had a lot of money."
Yes, Limbaugh opposes same-sex marriage and has said obnoxious things about gay people. Yet Zev Chafets, author of Limbaugh biography "An Army of One," noted on WSJ.com: "In an interview last summer, (Limbaugh) told me that he regards homosexuality as most likely determined by biology, considers other people's sex lives to be none of his business, and supports gay civil unions."
John, 63, also favors civil unions rather than gay nuptials. "Heterosexual people get married," he told USA Today in November 2008. "We can have civil partnerships." Since 2005, John has been civil partners with David Furnish, 47.
Compared to today's clamor, the whole world was napping as John faced not a seven-figure check, but rejection when he tried to play a private May 18 concert in Egypt.
"How do we allow a homosexual, who wants to ban religions, claimed that the prophet Issa (Jesus) was gay, and calls for Middle Eastern countries to allow gays to have sexual freedom?" huffed Mounir al-Wasimi, boss of the Egyptian Musician Union. He then scotched the gig by John, whom he called "a symbol of homosexuals in the world." (For his part, John told Parade Magazine last February: "Try being a gay woman in the Middle East. You're as good as dead.")
Contrast the publicity these two situations generated. Cairo incident during the first week, the words "Elton John," "Egypt," and "concert" yielded just 18 mentions in Nexis's news database. Meanwhile, during the equivalent period, "Elton John" and "Limbaugh" produced 87 references, or roughly five times as much. Respective Google hits are 139,000 and 705,000, also reflecting a five-to-one rage ratio between these two events.
The moral of this story? Liberals will tread more lightly on a homophobic, concert canceling Islamic fundamentalist than a conservative broadcaster who recognizes and rewards talent when he hears it, even when that Academy Award winning musician happens to be gay.

Elton John sings at Limbaugh’s fourth wedding

Singer Elton John received a $1 million fee to perform in front of 400 guests celebrating radio talk-show host Rush Limbaugh's fourth wedding Saturday night, People Magazine reports.
Limbaugh, 59, wed Kathryn Rogers, 33, at the Breakers hotel in Palm Beach, Florida.
Limbaugh is an outspoken opponent of gay marriage while John is openly gay and in a civil partnership with male partner David Furnish.
Celebrity guests at the wedding reportedly included former Bush adviser Karl Rove, baseball slugger George Brett, former New York City mayor Rudolph Giuliani, and golfer Tom Watson.
According to People, the couple met six years ago, while Rogers was running a charity golf tournament and Limbaugh was in the process of divorcing for the third time.
The Palm Beach Post reported that as many as 50 private security guards were hired for the wedding.
Web site Gawker.com hired a plane to fly over the wedding site towing a banner that read "Rush: Congrats on your 4th marriage. XO, Gawker." The saying on the banner was chosen from suggestions made by readers. Rejected suggestions included "This time he really means it," "Wishing you months of bliss," and "Congrats on #4 from those of us who can't have 1."
The magazine reports that the newlyweds took Limbaugh's private Gulfstream jet to a honeymoon in Mexico and Africa, among other locations.