Singer Elton John recently suggested that his new Broadway musical “Tammy Faye” underperformed because of President-elect Donald Trump’s massive win in the 2024 election. In an interview with Time magazine, the critically acclaimed artist weighed in on the show’s failure, which depicted the lives of the late televangelist and her then-husband, Jim Bakker.
John lamented the Broadway flop, noting the time and effort that was put into its production. “It’s a shame for everyone who put so much work in it,” he said. However, the “Tiny Dancer” singer acknowledged that not every endeavor will result in success. “But that’s what happens when you take a chance,” he further stated in the interview.
According to John and his partner, David Furnish, the failure of “Tammy Faye” was the result of the post-election sentiment after Trump’s decisive defeat over Vice President Kamala Harris. “It’s a fairly political piece of work,” he said. “And with that you have to press somebody’s buttons. The buttons we pressed last night with the critics weren’t the right ones.”
However, in other comments, John has addressed Trump’s enthusiasm of his music, acknowledging that the president-elect has attended many concerts. In particular, the singer addressed when Trump used the term “rocket man,” presumably after Elton Johns’ song, to describe North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. “I laughed, I thought it was brilliant,” he recounted. “l just thought, ‘Good on you, Donald. The Rocket Man, yeah.’ Donald’s always been a fan of mine, he’s been to my concerts many, many times.”
The American Tribune has reported on a variety of post-election reactions from the palpable optimism on the right to the crushing feeling of defeat on the left. Vice President Kamala Harris finally broke her silence after losing to Trump in late November while hosting a livestream for her supporters and those who assisted the campaign.
“And let me just say to everyone on this call, I am so grateful for you, and I’m so thankful to you. I’m thankful for your love of our country and your willingness to put the work into it,” Harris said in part. She added, “I’m thankful for the faith that you put in me and Governor Walz and our team, and I am thankful because I know your character is such that you’re not going to get knocked down, and you’re in this fight, and you’re in it for all the right reasons, and I know that about you.”
Despite the loss, the vice president called on her supporters to keep fighting. “That work continues, the work must continue, of reminding ourselves that we have an ability to stay engaged in a way that will make a difference the work that you all did, it’s going to have lasting effect. Again, I’ll say, you know, the election didn’t turn out like we wanted it to, certainly not as we plan for it to, but understand that the work we put into it was about empowering people. That’s the spirit,” she said.
Continuing to encourage to encourage Democratic voters to exercise the “power” they supposedly have, she said, “I just have to remind you, don’t you ever let anybody take your power from you.” Harris added, “You have the same power that you did before November 5th and you have the same purpose that you did and you have the same ability to engage and inspire. So don’t ever let anybody or circumstance take your power from you.”
Watch a clip from the livestream below:
Featured image credit: Library of Congress Life, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:20240320SM2925_(Elton_John_2024_Gershwin_Prize_for_Popular_Song_portrait_crop).jpg
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