Elton John Falls Out Of His Chair At Tennis Tournament [Video]
Rock legend Elton John leaned back and then accidentally toppled over in his chair during a charity tennis tournament in London Sunday night.
The superstar singer/songwriter fortunately appeared to be completely uninjured in the embarrassing incident, and quickly quipped to an interviewer who came over to him that “I’m not standing – yeah, yeah, yeah,” which is callback to “I’m Still Standing,” one of his many hits. The concerned interviewer then cautioned “Make sure you sit down properly this time.”
The New York Daily News described it as a “Crocodile Flop,” which of course is another Elton John callback, i.e., “Crocodile Rock.” As you might expect, Elton’s fall quickly moved across social media, where John was referred to as “Racquet Man” (“Rocket Man”).
Describing the incident, Yahoo! Sports explained that “It was an incredibly awkward moment for the pop legend as he was left red-faced by falling quite spectacularly to the ground. The gaffe delighted fans and left fellow players in fits of laughter, with audible gasps as the 67-year-old fell over, sweeping two other director’s chairs with him… Elton is certainly used to entertaining crowds with his music, but on this occasion the reaction he gave the audience will be one he will try to forget about very quickly.”
John McEnroe and several members of the event staff helped up Sir Elton as the audience, which had first laughed, applauded in relief that he was okay.
See embed below.
John, 67, took the tumble on the sidelines of the Mylan World Team Tennis exhibition, part of The Statoil Masters, at the Royal Albert Hall, which raised money for his AIDS foundation. He and Billie Jean King were honorary co-captains of the teams. Members of Team Elton included tennis greats McEnroe, Martina Hingis, Andy Roddick, and Heather Watson.
John’s team wound up losing the exhibition match to Team Billie Jean, however. “But Elton quickly brushed himself off and got back to his feet before watching his team suffer a 22-16 defeat as former British No. 1 Tim Henman rolled back the years with a clinching victory against former U.S. Open champion Andy Roddick,” London’s Daily Mail reported.
Elton John has sold in excess of 300 million records in his illustrious musical career. He is a member of both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame, and has won multiple Grammys among many other honors. He was knighted in 1998 by Queen Elizabeth for “services to music and charitable services.”
[top image via Twitter]
Taken by #TeamElton's @andyroddick at @RoyalAlbertHall, we give you this #MylanWTTSmashHits rock 'n' roll #selfie! pic.twitter.com/UZ08ZOuQCL
— World TeamTennis (@WorldTeamTennis) December 7, 2014
