Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Elton John falls off chair, entertains thousands

A crowd of tennis fans at the Royal Albert Hall in London yesterday witnessed arguably one of the musician's finest ever performances

Jenn Selby
Monday 08 December 2014 13:19 GMT
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Oh, to be talented enough to move an entire audience simply by the misplacing of a single buttock.

That’s exactly what happened to a crowd of tennis fans at the Royal Albert Hall in London yesterday, when they witnessed arguably one of Sir Elton John’s finest ever performances.

The “Tiny Dancer” singer spectacularly fell off his chair at the event, set the launch the new International Tennis Premier League.

But the incident somewhat overshadowed the true meaning of the occasion, hosted by Sir Elton and legendary tennis player and LGBT activist Billie Jean King.

And, thanks to one handy fan with a camera phone, it quickly meandered into viral vine territory.

The ordeal comes just over a month after Sir Elton branded The Pope his “hero” during his speech at his annual AIDS benefit in New York.

“He is a compassionate, loving man who wants everybody to be included in the love of God,” he said, praising Paul Francis for pushing for an acceptance of homosexuality within the Catholic church.

“It is formidable what he is trying to do against many, many people in the church.

“He is courageous and he is fearless, and that's what we need in the world today.”

“Make this man a saint now, OK?”

No, make Sir Elton a saint. That chair stunt was divine.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in