No, Elton John is not playing at Donald Trump’s inauguration

In what could be the least shocking music story of the week, a representative for Elton John is firmly denying that the British pop legend will be performing at Donald Trump’s inauguration on January 20, 2017. This revelation, so obvious that it barely needs to have been made at all, comes in response to a recent comment made by Anthony Scaramucci, a member of the Trump transition team and vice chair of the inaugural committee, to BBC World News. “This will be the first American president in US history,” Scaramucci explained on BBC HARDtalk, “that enters the White House with a pro-gay rights stance. Elton John is going to be doing our concert on the [National] Mall for the inauguration.”

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Well, no, actually, he isn’t. John’s rep delivered this terse statement to the New York Post: “Elton will not be performing at Trump’s inauguration.” In a show of restraint, the statement did not end with the word “duh.” As recently as October, John performed at Hillary Clinton’s final LA fundraiser, with premium tickets going for $100,000. In February, The Guardian asked John how he felt about Trump using songs like “Tiny Dancer” at political rallies. The singer-songwriter had this to say:

I don’t really want my music to be involved in anything to do with an American election campaign. I’m British. I’ve met Donald Trump. He was very nice to me. It’s nothing personal. His political views are his own, mine are very different. I’m not a Republican in a million years. Why not ask Ted fucking Nugent? Or one of those fucking country stars? They’ll do it for you.

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Perhaps one of John’s own songs says it best, however.

[via Fact]