Legendary musician and rock star Elton John surged back into public consciousness over the summer, with the release of the blockbuster John biopic Rocketman , as The Inquisitr reported. But the 72-year-old music icon was also, perhaps unbeknownst even to himself, occupying significant space in the consciousness of one particular American — Donald Trump.
According to a New York Times report on Monday, Trump has developed an obsession with John, whose given name is Reginald Dwight, ever since the “Goodbye, Yellow Brick Road” singer declined Trump’s invitation to perform at his January 20, 2017 inauguration.
Though John was polite in refusing the invite, saying simply that as a British national he felt it would be inappropriate to perform at the inauguration of a United States president, Trump has remained fixated on proving his superiority to John ever since in the one area where the pair could, compete — crowd size.
During a rally in Montana in 2018, Trump suddenly and expectedly compared himself to John, telling his crowd of supporters that he had “broken more Elton John records,” as quoted by Rolling Stone .
“By the way, I don’t have a musical instrument. I don’t have a guitar or an organ. No organ. Elton has an organ,” Trump said, going on to claim that he had broken “virtually every record” set by John.
What Trump did not mention is that tickets to his rallies are free, while attendance at an Elton John performance can cost fans a substantial sum.
Nonetheless, Trump has not been cured of his Elton John obsession. According to the Times report, Trump demands after every rally to know whether his attendance bested the top attendance at a John concert at the same venue. He took to his Twitter account as recently as last month, after a rally at SNHU Arena in New Hampshire, to gleefully announce that he had broken the arena’s attendance record set by John 18 years ago.
But Trump’s fixation on the “Bennie and the Jets” singer extended beyond his sense of competition with John’s concert attendance figures. According to Associated Press reporter Jonathan Lemire, Trump blasted John’s recordings at “eardrum-rupturing decibels” on his private jet during the 2016 campaign.
Trump would reportedly play John’s hit “Tiny Dancer” single “again and again and again” to prevent his campaign staff members from sleeping on the plane, “because he thinks sleeping is a sign of weakness,” Lemire said on the MSNBC Morning Joe program, as quoted by the news site Raw Story .
