There's only one country artist featured on the forthcoming Elton John tribute album, "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road," and Sir Elton seems to think that performer did the best role filling his own shoes. Hunter Hayes, a 22 y.o. multi-instrumentalist, plays the title-track on the compilation.
"Hunter Hayes has done 'Yellow Brick Road,' played all the instruments and he blew my mind," John said after a performance of the album in Los Angeles.
Frankly, a country musician shouldn't be a surprising choice to fill John's shoes, as John was a huge fan of country music in his glory days. He recently performed "The Union" album with one of his heroes, country pianist Leon Russell.
Still, the rest of the album demonstrates the same diversity that John has incorporated into his music over the years. Although the full list of guest stars hasn't been announced yet, Billboard indicated that R&B star Miguel and John Grant, former vocalist for The Czars, would also be included on the album.
John has enough on his plate to promote outside of an album he originally released 40 years ago however. His new record, "The Diving Board," will be released via Capitol Records on September 24. The aforementioned Los Angeles show was done in promotion of the album, and was performed with the USC Thornton School of Music Orchestra, along with two additional cellists. John included five tracks from the new album.
The full setlist is below:
"Sixty Years On"
"The Greatest Discovery"
"Philadelphia Freedom"
"Tiny Dancer"
"Levon"
"Your Song"
"Oscar Wilde Gets Out"
"Can't Stay Along Tonight"
"The New Fever Waltz"
"Mexican Vacation (Kids in the Candlelight)"
"Home Again"
"The Bitch is Back"
"Bennie and the Jets"
"Goodbye Yellow Brick Road"
"I Guess That's Why They Call it the Blues"
"Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me"
"I'm Still Standing"
"Rocket Man"
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