Elton John's Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour is the highest-grossing concert tour of all time - it has grossed $817.9 million across 278 shows so far, more than any other tour in Billboard Boxscore history (Ed Sheeran’s The Divide Tour made $776.4 million). Billboard has another fascinating statistic - dating back to reports for Elton John’s Ice on Fire Tour (1986), and including his share of co-headline runs with Eric Clapton, James Taylor, Tina Turner, and Billy Joel, John has grossed $1.863 billion and sold 19.9 million tickets over 1,573 reported shows. That’s the highest career gross and attendance for a solo artist in Billboard Boxscore history, having passed Bruce Springsteen and Madonna while on this tour.

Ed Sheeran moved 3,047,696 tickets in 52 shows of his The Mathematics Tour this year, putting him at No. 1 on the Top Ticket Sales chart, according to figures reported to Billboard Boxscore. Coldplay sold the second-highest number of tickets this year - 2,260,651. However, the act with the highest-grossing tour is Bad Bunny, who made $373.5 million in the 12 months ending Oct. 31. Ed Sheeran grossed $246.3 million. For the first time ever, the top 10 touring acts, who also included Elton John, Harry Styles, the Weeknd, and the double bill of Def Leppard and Motley Crue, all grossed over $100 million.

Pop stars Shakira, Elton John, Ringo Starr, and Julio Iglesias were named in a new leak of private financial documents, known as the Pandora Papers, published over the weekend by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, offering a glimpse at the tangled web of offshore accounting and alleged tax avoidance schemes used by some of the world’s wealthiest and most powerful people. None of the above were accused of any wrongdoing or of violating any laws.

Tori Amos shares ‘Speaking With Trees’, the first single from her new album ‘Ocean to Ocean’; Elton John and Stevie Wonder reunite on a new song, lovely gospel/soul ‘Finish Line’; Aurora clears the dust from Boney M's 'Rasputin' for a space-folk cover.

Elton John has warned members of the UK parliament that their national music industry could lose "a generation of talent" because of post-Brexit restrictions on touring the EU. The biggest threat stands before young musicians, John warned on his Instagram - "this gravest of situations is about the damage to the next generation of musicians and emerging artists, whose careers will stall before they've even started due to this infuriating blame game. If I had faced the financial and logistical obstacles facing young musicians now when I started out, I'd never have had the opportunity to build the foundations of my career and I very much doubt I would be where I am today".

"Like Hamburg to the Beatles, Europe was crucial to our growth as a band. It allowed us to see ourselves untethered from our UK roots and to imagine a life in music that could reach audiences everywhere" - Radiohead's Colin Greenwood wrote in Guardian about the big bureaucratic wall now erected between the UK and the EU. Elton John, also in Guardian, is worried about young bands: "I don’t want to live in a world where the only artists who can afford to tour properly are those who have been going for decades and have already sold millions of records".

"Barbie is an icon in her own right, so having her pay tribute to my work and personal style is a real honour" - Elton John told Rolling Stone about a Barbie doll based on him. The new doll sees Mattel's most beloved character decked out in head-to-toe Elton gear, and it's now available to pre-order for $50. The Elton John Barbie will drop on October 29. Elbarb

Grayceon play hard-to-define-easy-to-listen-to music on 'Diablo Wind', let's just call it psych-folk post-metal; 'Bloodrush' is an intense electro-rap song with Andrew Broder, Denzel Curry, Dua Saleh, & Haleek Maul on board; Weather Station make a u-turn from folk - 'Robber' is jazzy alter-pop; James Blake releases 'Before', a cold and dancey new song, with haunting strings; an old Elton John song, 'Regimental Sgt. Zippo', very Beatles-sounding, is out now; members of Napalm Death, Converge, Megadeth, and Nasum reactivated the Blood From The Soul project - 'Debris of Dreams'; Ahya Simone takes a harpist angle to R'n'B with 'Frostbite'; new pop-folk band Thunder Dreamer present themselves with 'Of a Million'; Weird Al shares his first non-comedy song, a Portugal. The Man collaboration 'Who's Gonna Stop Me'; Bad Religion release 'What Are We Standing For' in solidarity with athletes taking a knee; Kristeen Young has taken her 2003 David Bowie collaboration 'Savior' and reimagined it as new track 'American Landfill', an unusual song with an unusual video; horn-player CARM shares a Justin Vernon pop-classical collaboration 'Land'; Americana lady Iris DeMent had a lot to say about the world today, so she made 'Going Down To Sing In Texas'; Open Mike Eagle delivers some clever punches on 'Death Parade'.

"I don’t listen to any of my records any more. I just don’t do it. I’m not one of these artists that sits there compiling stuff from all the vaults and stuff like that - and live recordings... I’m more interested in what’s coming next than what went by" Elton John said in an interview, Music News reports. So, what is it he's listening to right now? - "the new record by the Lemon Twigs, which is called 'Songs for the General Public'. There’s two guys and I’ve been a fan of theirs for a long time".

The 2020 Republican National Convention has closed out with opera singer Christopher Macchio belting out a version of Leonard Cohen's 'Hallelujah'. Brooklyn Vegan is convinced that Trump hasn't even read the lyrics, because Cohen there sings "I've seen your flag on the marble arch / But love is not a victory march / It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah". In other disrespect-related news, Donald Trump accepted the Republican nomination, and when his daughter Ivanka Trump arrived on the stage to introduce her father, she did so to the soundtrack of Elton John’s 'I’m Still Standing', causing the British singer’s name to light up social media. Billboard reports many fans weren't happy.

Elton John doesn't really like most of the pop songs nowadays - "there’s four or five writers on (a track). You look at most of the records in the charts – they’re not real songs. They’re bits and pieces", NME reports that Elton said to BBC Radio 6 Music. "It’s nice to hear someone write a proper song", he elaborated - "I like people who write songs. And there’s plenty of people that do but a lot of them don’t get played on the radio because they’re too sophisticated and we get songs made by a computer all the time and I’m not interested in that". The few that he does like are Father John Misty and singer/songwriter Conan Gray.

Elton John becomes the first solo artist to be celebrated with an official U.K. coin, created by The Royal Mint. The commemorative edition is launched this week and features Elton iconography from a 50-year-plus career, BBC reports. Across the range in gold, silver and in non-precious metal, designer Bradley Morgan Johnson uses musical notes to create an image of Elton’s trademark glasses, topped with a hat and bow-tie on a Union Jack background. The cheapest coins have a face value of £5 and sell for £13 while the most costly, a one-kilo gold proof coin (above), carries a whopping price tag of £64,950.

Rihanna has made her debut appearance on The Sunday Times Rich List of UK's richest musicians, with an estimated fortune of £468 million. She claims the third place, just above Elton John and Mick Jagger, and below Andrew Lloyd Webber and Paul McCartney. Although she's successful musician, Rihanna's earnings are largely due to the Fenty Beauty cosmetics brand, where her reported 15% stake is worth £351m. Rihanna's appearance on the list is somewhat a surprise, because very few people knew she was living in London. The youngest on the list is Ed Sheeran with an estimated net worth of £200m.

The Rolling Stones, Billie Eilish (covering Bobby Hebb), Paul McCartney, Lady Gaga (covering Charlie Chaplin’s 'Smile'), Elton John, Stevie Wonder (covering Bill Withers), Lizzo (covering Sam Cooke), Kacey Musgraves, The Killers, Kesha, Billie Joe Armstrong, Eddie Vedder, Common, Christine and the Queens, Taylor Swift, Jimmy Fallon & The Roots (covering Men Without Hats‘ 'Safety Dance'), John Legend, and many other have performed at Global Citizen’s One World: Together at Home live stream. Watch them all at Global Citizen's YoutTube.

Young Iceland composer Hildur Guðnadóttir won the Oscar last night in the Original score category, for her work on 'Joker' soundtrack, beating a quartet of men - Randy Newman, John Williams, Thomas Newman, and Alexandre Desplat. In the best original song category Elton John (music) and Bernie Taupin (lyrics) got the Oscar for their '(I'm Gonna) Love Me Again' from the biopic Rocketman.

Iceland composer Hildur Guðnadóttir is nominated for Oscar, in Music - Original Score category for her work in 'Joker'. Other nominees in this category are Alexandre Desplat for 'Little Women', Randy Newman for Marriage Story, Thomas Newman for '1917' and John Williams for 'Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker'. Nominees in the other music category - Original Song - are: Randy Newman for 'I Can't Let You Throw Yourself Away' from 'Toy Story 4'; Elton John and Bernie Taupin for '(I'm Gonna) Love Me Again' from 'Rocketman'; Diane Warren for 'I'm Standing With You' from 'Breakthrough'; Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez for 'Into The Unknown' from 'Frozen II'; Joshuah Brian Campbell and Cynthia Erivo for 'Stand Up' from 'Harriet'.

"These two iconic, legendary English fucking rockers that have been through it all are singing about the end of their lives — 'I don't wanna die an ordinary man' — it's fucking great" - Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Chad Smith said about Ozzy Osbourne's new song 'Ordinary Man'. Elton John plays the piano and sings on it, Slash plays the guitar. Smith plays the drums on the whole album.

Six of ten top-grossing tours of 2019 were reunion tours or legacy acts, whose most prolific and successful musical output are years or even decades behind them. The top three earners were Ed Sheeran, Pink, and BTS, but then it travels back to the 20th century - Elton John, The Rolling Stones, Metallica, Paul McCartney, […]

Icelandic composer Hildur Guðnadóttir has won Best Original Score at the Golden Globes for her score for 'Joker'. Guðnadóttir is the first woman to win the award solo in the history of the Golden Globes. She is also the first woman to win the award since Lisa Gerrard shared the prize with Han Zimmer in 2000 for their score […]

Elton John has been appointed to the Queen's Order of the Companions of Honour in the New Year Honours list for a remarkable music career and his services to charity. He becomes one of only 65 people apart from the monarch who can hold the honour at any one time. Apart from him, Olivia Newton-John, […]

Dr. Dre hasn’t released an album since 2015, haven't been on tour since the turn of the millennium, and his last production credit on a No. 1 hit was in 2009 (Eminem’s 'Crack a Bottle'), but still he managed to climb to the top of Forbes list of highest-earning musician of this decade. He earned […]

Taylor Swift has topped Forbes‘ annual list of the world’s highest-paid musicians with $185m made in pre-tax earnings from June 2018 to June 2019. The bulk of Swift’s earnings came thanks to a new record deal, an array of endorsements and the tail end of her recent ‘Reputation’ stadium tour. Kanye West came in second […]

“I haven’t owned a phone since 2006. I’m always on my computer, I’ve always got Wi-Fi … I got rid of [my phone] because I just don’t like them” - Robbie Williams said. It's similar to his stance on social media apps - “I don’t have my password to anything otherwise my career would be […]

"It quickly becomes clear in Me that few people are more suited to the celebrity autobiography genre, given that he combines the most essential ingredients of the form" - Guardian writes about Elton John's new autobiography, written with the help of music critic Alexis Petridis - who "has a journalist’s eye for the comically absurd, such as […]

Elton John spent his whole career "trying to show my father what I'm made of", he writes in his new autobiography, 'Me', out now. "It's crazy, but I just wanted his approval. I'm still trying to prove to him that what I do is fine - and he's been dead for almost 30 years" - […]

"Writing a song like that’s ['Tiny Dancer'] a bit like having a wank, really. You want the climax to be good, but you don’t want it to be over too quickly – you want to work your way up to it" - Elton John answered Bob Dylan in a Guardian interview. The song he wished […]

Onscreen depiction of homosexuality in Elton John's biopic 'Rocketman' was too much for conservative Pacific nation Samoa so they banned it, Deutsche Welle reports. Samoa's principal censor, Leiataua Niuapu Faaui, said 'Rocketman's' homosexual content clashed with residents' strong Christian beliefs and violated the country's laws, including the 2013 Crimes Act, under which sodomy is punishable […]

In honor of celebrating pride month, Loudwire has compiled a gallery of LGBTQ figures in the rock, pop, and metal community. There are obvious ones like Elton John and Freddie Mercury, and some less known like members of metal bend Cynic or siblings Tegan and Sara (Quin) of the band of the same name.

“I’m ashamed of my country for what it has done. It’s torn people apart" Elton John said on his concert in Verona on his last ever world tour. He continued: “I’m sick to death of politicians, especially British politicians. I am sick to death of Brexit. I am a European. I am not a stupid, […]

Elton John wrote a lovely article for the Observer, about his childhood, parents, bringing up, his own family, and how he doesn't really like seeing himself on the screen. He describes how the movie producers wanted a watered-down version of his life - "Some studios wanted to tone down the sex and drugs so the […]