Sir Elton John has recalled the time that his band thought he had been shot at a show, after a member of the audience threw a hash pipe at him.
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The iconic singer, songwriter and pianist recalled the incident in his new memoir, Farewell Yellow Brick Road: Memories of My Life on Tour. In the book, Sir Elton recalled how he was injured during a set in Greensboro, North Carolina, back in November 1974.
According to the memoir, he was knocked unconscious while mid-performance after a member of the crowd flung a hash pipe at him – leading to members of his band contemplating whether he had been shot.
“Fans have often thrown things onstage when I’m playing, but usually it’s been something reasonably soft. Not in Greensboro,” he recalled (via Metro). “As we plowed through a rendition of ‘Burn Down the Mission’ [about halfway through the set], someone hurled a metal hash pipe toward the stage from the crowd.
“I didn’t see it coming,” he added. “The silver pipe smashed against my temple, drawing blood, and I completely blacked out. The band kept playing because it took them a second to realise what had happened.
“They told me later they thought I’d been shot because they saw blood pouring down my face.”
He also added that his bodyguard Jim Morris jumped in to help escort him off the stage, and he was bandaged up by a paramedic while still in his elaborate stage attire: “There were feathers everywhere.”
Since the incident in 1974, Sir Elton has gone on to perform in the North Carolina city twice more. The first was when he embarked on a tour with Billy Joel back in 2001, and the latter was more recently, as he brought his extensive ‘Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour’ to the US in 2022.
This isn’t the first time in recent months that the musician has opened up about his health and wellbeing. Earlier this month he expanded on the current status of his health, following a “severe eye infection” that left him partially blind.
In October, the musician also told fans that “there’s not much of [him] left” following multiple surgeries due to his health issues.
Despite these recent struggles, John said he was “the luckiest man in the world” and explained that he was “so proud of the documentary” Elton John: Never Too Late, which is coming to Disney+ next month.
To mark the release, John and Brandi Carlile recently released a new song called ‘Never Too Late’ a month later – written for the upcoming documentary. He told GMA that the collaborative track “encompasses what I’ve been through”.
It was reported in late 2023 that the pair had completed a new full album together.
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