Elton John Hospitalized Following Fall at Home in France

Elton John is back at home after a brief hospitalization over the weekend following a fall at his home in France.

A spokesperson for Sir Elton issued a statement to the media saying he was kept overnight for observation at Princess Grace Hospital in Monaco. The statement noted, "Elton visited the local hospital as a precautionary measure. Following checkups, he was immediately discharged this morning (August 28) and is now back at home and in good health."

John was likely unwinding in the South of France after wrapping up his farewell tour in July. His final show took place in Stockholm, Sweden on July 8. The "Farewell Yellow Brick Road" tour took nearly five years to complete. This was due to a significant break during the peak of the coronavirus pandemic. Per Billboard, the tour sold six million tickets and grossed $939.1 million.

Sir Elton's farewell tour included a June 25 headlining set at Glastonbury. The high-profile set was his final farewell tour performance in the U.K. John's Glastonbury set has received rave reviews and was quite the hit on British television. Per Deadline, over seven million people in the U.K. tuned into the BBC to watch John perform at the famed British festival. It received about a 50% audience share for that night. The set is now one of the most-watched events in the U.K. so far in 2023.

Glastonbury is simulcast on the BBC during the festival. Sir Elton's set blew away the viewer count of any other set this year. The next-highest viewer count from Glastonbury came via the Arctic Monkeys' set, which drew 1.5 million viewers, followed by Guns N' Roses, which drew one million viewers.

Elton John has some absolutely iconic hit singles, but one of the great pleasures of being a big Elton John fan is finding the lesser-known gems.

We’re partial to his hit-free album Tumbleweed Connection from 1970 (as you’ll see), as well as his criminally underrated Songs From The West Coast from 2001, and a few of the diamonds in the rough from albums that you may have overlooked.

For this list, we’re going with the best version of each song, which sometimes means a live version. And in one case, an alternate studio version that you may not have heard before. Enjoy!

In 2024, Sir Elton has earned two major honors. In January, he became an EGOT winner.

John achieved the entertainment milestone thanks to winning the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Variety Special (Live) for Elton John Live: Farewell from Dodger’s Stadium. The special streamed live on November 20, 2022 on Disney+. It was John's final show in North America. It was also the first time Disney+ presented a live global event.

Before his Emmy win, John won five Grammy Awards in his career. In 2000, he won a Tony Award for Best Original Score for Aida. Additionally, John has won two Oscars. The first came in 1994 for Best Original Song for "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" from The Lion King. The second Oscar came in 2020 for "I'm Gonna Love Me Again" from Rocketman.

In March, just before his 77th birthday, John and his longtime songwriting partner Bernie Taupin were honored with the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song.

Per the Library of Congress's website, "The Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song celebrates the work of an artist whose career reflects the influence, impact and achievement in promoting song as a vehicle of musical expression and cultural understanding."

Past Gershwin Prize recipients include Joni Mitchell (2023), Lionel Richie (2022), Garth Brooks (2020), Gloria and Emilio Estefan (2019), Tony Bennett (2017), Smokey Robinson (2016) and many more iconic musicians.

Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden said in a statement, "Elton John and Bernie Taupin have written some of the most memorable songs of our lives. Their careers stand out for the quality and broad appeal of their music and their influence on their fellow artists."