From: Brandi Carlile
Subject: Elton and you.
Dear Bob
I hope you don’t mind me crossing this barrier and reaching out! I just had to because the piece you wrote recently about your experience and nostalgia at the Elton show really moved me.
Please excuse the way I write – it’s diabolical and I didn’t even come close to finishing school.
I’ve been obsessed with Elton John since I was 11 years old…I’m only 37 so that was the Made In England era – “Believe” was the best string arrangement on that album. I’ve written him countless long winded fan letters and if you look closely I’ve thanked and dedicated every one of my albums to him.
To say he influenced me and guided me through my delicate gay teenaged years in a small town is an understatement. Through him I found Freddie,George,Bowie and The Beatles. He was the fabulousness that I needed to see beyond my situation at the time – and that gave me my art.
When I read this:
“I was bewildered. Flummoxed. What do you say when your hero treats you like a friend?”
YOU DISCUSS RECORDS, THE BUSINESS!
Elton LOVES Brandi Carlile.”
…I DIED of excitement. Not just that Elton loves me but that it came up in conversation between the two of you!! I am SO flattered.
Your gorgeous blog about that evening and show inspired me to maybe do an Elton album concert. Maybe Tumbleweed, Madman or Captain Fantastic at Town Hall or something … Either way I’d HAVE to have an orchestra because Elton and Bernie without the late great Paul Buckmaster in that era is unthinkable. (Paul did “Believe” too).
Our resounding mutual feeling about Elton could easily hang it’s hat on showmanship and musicality…. but it’s his graciousness and gratefulness that keep me a proud disciple.
My favorite part about what you wrote was this:
“My life’s pretty much been written in stone. I can’t change the past, and there’s only a little time to steer in the future. But looking back tonight, I feel that I have not wasted my life. And believe me, I wonder. I have no kids. My wife left me. I had horrific surgeries. I don’t own a home, but if Elton John knows who I am, what else can I ask for?
NOTHING!”
Who says that? What a vulnerable and relatable sentiment. You know what matters about being alive.
I think you are the Elton John of what you do.
With appreciation and respect.
Brandi C.
Sent from my iPhone
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