Elton John... my wife saw him last night in concert...

That makes the second time she has seen Elton without me. The first was one of the most famous concerts of all time.. Dodger Stadium.

My wife went with a group of her friends... I wasn't invited.

I first saw Elton in Germany back in 1972.. he was just starting to be 'known'. He was fantastic... to this day I consider that concert one of the top 5, perhaps #1, concerts I've seen in my life.

The other times I've seen him were nearly as good if not AS good. In case you're wondering.. I LOVE Elton John.

I wouldn't even try to describe 'stardom'... especially today when the term seems so loosely bandied about that it has lost any meaning... but IMHO Elton had it. The music, first and foremost, but also his stage presence. The man is electric.

Some years ago I saw him in Fresno, a solo performance, no band. I remember about an hour into the show, (Elton ALWAYS gave you your money's worth and is always on stage for 2 hours minimum), he walked over to the piano and hit one chord then walked away... and the crowd went insane. Can you guess what song he was about to play? He walked away from the piano after playing the one chord and the audience was in hysteria. He stood there for several 'moments', the audience going nuts knowing what was about to happen.

Then he slowly walked backed to the piano and to raucous audience approval began... "Benny and the Jets".

I've told the story about how when I saw him in Germany the power went out so he played one song 'solo'. You would have thought an entire orchestra was on stage. The 'solo' song "Tiny Dancer"

I don't have 'favorites' regarding musicians, individual songs, but I can say this with any reservation... there is no one I ever liked any more than Elton John. - JamesJM