Elton John's most iconic concerts will soon be available to stream! The 73-year-old music icon has teamed up with YouTube to make six of his biggest, most epic shows available to stream for 72 hours each. The series is raising funds towards the Elton John AIDS Foundation in support of COVID-19 relief efforts.
"My Foundation’s COVID-19 Emergency Fund helps frontline partners prepare for and respond to the pandemic and its effects on HIV prevention and care for the most marginalized communities," John said in a press release. "We cannot jeopardise HIV testing and care during this time or else the results could be disastrous for the 37.5 million people living with HIV. So, I’m really happy to connect this YouTube Concert series to benefit our Foundation’s urgent COVID response."
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The six-week special, Elton John: Classic Concert Series, kicked off earlier this month with "Live at Playhouse Theatre, Edinburgh" from 1976, and will continue on Saturday, July 11 with "Sydney Entertainment Centre, Australia" from 1986.
The upcoming concert comes from John's 26-date Australian Tour de Force with the 88-piece Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, which was the first of its kind for any rock act. The shows included songs from his first few albums, many of which hadn't been performed live for nearly 15 years.
Despite doctor's orders ahead of the tour not to use his voice due to nodules on his vocal cords, John went ahead with the shows. The performances thus included a new raspy quality to John's voice that helped the resulting album, Live in Australia..., stay on the Billboard Top 200 for 41 weeks, the second-longest of any of his albums since 1975.
Ahead of the premiere of the latest concert, fans can watch a trailer for the series, which features snippets of some of John's biggest hits, including "Your Song" and "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting."
Additionally, John's full performance of "Bennie and the Jets" from the Australia concert is available in full on YouTube.
Elton John: Classic Concert Series streams weekly on YouTube every Saturday at 9 a.m. PT / 12 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. BT.
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