Latest news with #EltonJohnAidsFoundation
UPI
17-05-2025
- Entertainment
- UPI
Look: Josh Freese ousted as Foo Fighters drummer
Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl and his wife Jordyn Blum arrive at the Elton John Aids Foundation's Academy Awards viewing party at the City of West Hollywood Park in West Hollywood in 2016. Grohl and his bandmates reportedly fired drummer Josh Freese this week. File Photo by Christine Chew/UPI | License Photo May 17 (UPI) -- Josh Freese announced on Instagram he has been ousted as the drummer for Foo Fighters. "The Foo Fighters called me Monday night to let me know they've decided to 'go in another direction with their drummer.' No reason was given :(," Freese said in his post on Friday. Freese said he enjoyed working and spending time with the members of the rock band and wishes them well in their future endeavors. "In my 40 years of drumming professionally, I've never been let go from a band, so while I'm not angry -- [I'm] just a bit shocked and disappointed," he added. The musician has played with more than 300 bands and artists, including Danny Elfman, Guns N' Roses, Nine Inch Nails, Paramore, A Perfect Circle, Puddle of Mudd, Replacements, Sting, the Vandals, Weezer and 100 Gecs. Freese was announced as the replacement for longtime drummer Taylor Hawkins in 2023 after Hawkins died of an accidental drug overdose in 2022 at the age of 50.
Euronews
24-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Euronews
Freddie Mercury's sister spent £3million buying back brother's possessions
ADVERTISEMENT Freddie Mercury's sister secretly spent around £3 million (€3.5 million) to buy items from an auction of the Queen singer's possessions. Kashmira Bulsara reportedly spent the huge sum at the 2023 Sotheby's auction of 1,400 possessions owned by the late Mercury. The auction was the biggest single sale of the singer's possessions. It was organised by Mary Austin, the close friend and former fiancé of Mercury, who inherited a vast amount of his estate following his death in 1991. 'For many years I had the joy and privilege of living surrounded by all the wonderful things Freddie sought out and loved so much,' said Austin at the time. 'But the years have passed and the time has come for me to make the difficult decision to close this very special chapter of my life.' Freddie Mercury's Yamaha Grand Piano, estimated at 2-3 million pounds, on display at Sotheby's auction rooms in London, Thursday, Aug. 3, 2023 AP Photo Austin donated part of the proceeds to the Elton John Aids Foundation and to the Mercury Phoenix Trust, an Aids charity set up by the remaining Queen members. However, Bulsara was upset to see so many of her brother's possessions bid on by strangers. She reportedly went to view the lots ahead of the auction and sent her personal assistant to bid on items. Overall, the auction closed with sales of £40 million (€46.7 million). Of these sales, Bulsara is believed to have bought Mercury's Wurlitzer Model 850 jukebox, a waistcoat with portraits of his cats, a military-style jacket designed for Mercury's 39th birthday, and a set of draft lyrics to Queen's 1974 classic 'Killer Queen'. Adding up the reported sales of these items, Bulsara may have spent up to £3 million on buying her brother's possessions.
The Independent
04-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
‘I can't see TV, I can't read': Elton John shares extent of sight loss after eye infection
Sir Elton John has revealed the extent to which his vision has been affected after suffering a severe eye infection last year. The legendary British musician, 78, revealed in an Instagram post in September that he had lost vision in his right eye because of an infection contracted in the south of France and only had limited vision in his left eye. In a new interview with The Times, Sir Elton was asked if he could see the journalist interviewing him. 'I can see you, but I can't see TV, I can't read,' he replied. 'I can't see my boys playing rugby and soccer,' he added, referring to his sons Zachary, 14, and Elijah, 12, whom he shares with husband David Furnish. 'And it has been a very stressful time because I'm used to soaking it all up. It's distressing. You get emotional, but you have to get used to it because I'm lucky to have the life I have. I still have my wonderful family, and I can still see something out of here,' he said, pointing to his left eye. 'So you say to yourself, just get on with it.' In December, John admitted that he had been unable to watch his new musical, The Devil Wears Prada, due to his sight issues. 'I haven't been able to come to many of the previews because, as you know, I have lost my eyesight. So it's hard for me to see it. But I love to hear it and boy it sounded good tonight,' he said while onstage at a gala performance of the show staged to raise funds for the Elton John Aids Foundation. Sir Elton has just released a new collaborative album with Brandi Carlile. 'The album's direct confrontation with ageing and death serves to intensify these artists' joyful, companionable celebration of life,' The Independent' s album critic Helen Brown wrote in her four-star review of Who Believes in Angels? 'Outsized, old-school, dad-rockin' fun.' The duo are set to perform during this weekend's episode of In a recent interview with Zane Lowe for Apple Music 1, John explained that Carlile had saved him from falling into a creative funk when they first began working on the album together. 'If I had just made another Elton John record, I would've killed myself,' he said. 'I needed her, I needed her talent, her energy, her humour, and her brilliant lyrics. I've got two of the greatest lyric writers in the world. Bernie Taupin and Brandi Carlile. The lyrics in front of me. 'If you can't write great songs for those then... That's my great talent, to be able to interpret those beautiful lyrics quickly. When we got going, it was like, whoosh, like an express train.'
South China Morning Post
03-04-2025
- Entertainment
- South China Morning Post
Russia bans Elton John's Aids foundation to defend ‘spiritual and moral values'
Russia's General Prosecutor on Thursday banned the activities of the Elton John Aids Foundation, accusing it of taking a negative stance towards countries such as Russia that protect 'traditional spiritual and moral values'. Advertisement The prosecutor's office said its ban specifically applied to two non-governmental organisations, one registered in the United States and the other in Britain , both of them called the 'Elton John Aids Foundation'. Both are officially designated as 'undesirable organisations', it said. Being classified as an undesirable organisation in Russia is equivalent to a ban. The Aids foundation was set up by the gay British singer and songwriter who in the past has given sell-out concerts in Russia and has spoken out against what he has said is unacceptable discrimination against LGBTQ people by the Russian authorities. Russian President Vladimir Putin has rejected such assertions. He has cast Russia as a bastion of 'traditional values' locked in an existential struggle with a decadent West. Advertisement 'When a musician plays along with the promoters of democracy, you get propaganda. And if Elton John is at the piano, it is not just anti-Russian propaganda,' the prosecutor's office said in a statement on its official Telegram channel. 'The NGOs [non-governmental organisations] actively participate in an information campaign orchestrated by the 'collective West' to discredit traditional values and escalate social tensions,' it added.
The Guardian
03-04-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Russia bans Elton John Aids Foundation over its support for LGBTQ+ rights
Russian authorities on Thursday banned the Elton John Aids Foundation (EJAF), which focuses on HIV/Aids prevention, citing its support for LGBTQ+ rights as a reason for the move. Founded by the British singer and songwriter in 1992, the organisation funds HIV treatment programmes in countries including Russia. It also advocates for LGBTQ+ people, who have faced years of brutal persecution in Russia. In its statement, Russia's prosecutor general's office designated the EJAF as an 'undesirable organisation', a label that bans the group from operating in Russia and exposes its staff and partners to potential criminal prosecution. The prosecutor general's office accused the foundation of promoting 'non-traditional sexual relationships, western family models, and gender reassignment'. The prosecutor's office alleged that EJAF held 'negative attitudes' toward countries that 'uphold traditional spiritual and moral values'. It accused the foundation of taking part in a campaign to 'discredit Russia' since its 2022 invasion of Ukraine. 'When a musician plays along with those trying to sow the seeds of democracy, it is propaganda. And when it's Elton John calling the tune, then it's more than just anti-Russian propaganda too,' the statement read. 'In our country, the British foundation works closely with non-profit organisations designated as foreign agents,' the Russian law enforcement agency added. The ruling is the latest blow to human rights groups supporting Russians living with HIV and Aids. According to Rospotrebnadzor, the federal agency for public health and consumer rights, more than 1.2 million people in Russia have HIV, the highest per capita rate in Europe. The country has faced chronic shortages of HIV medication since 2023, leaving many patients struggling to access tests and life-saving antiretroviral therapy. Repression of Russia's LGBTQ+ people has escalated since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Authorities recently labelled what they described as an 'international LGBT public movement' as extremist – a designation that has already led to arrests and jailings of LGBTQ+ individuals across the country. Sign up to Headlines Europe A digest of the morning's main headlines from the Europe edition emailed direct to you every week day after newsletter promotion John, who has a loyal fanbase in Russia, has long campaigned for LGBTQ+ rights there. In 2014, after a series of sold-out concerts in the country, he published an open letter condemning Russia's 'gay propaganda' law and offered to introduce Vladimir Putin to members of the LGBTQ+ community. A year later, the Kremlin announced that the Russian president had personally called John and offered to meet – a move prompted by a prank after two comedians posing as Russian officials tricked the singer into a phone conversation that was later released online.
