Sir Elton John proved he was still standing, as he made his debut as a headline act at the London Palladium last night.

Despite announcing his retirement after a fifty-year career in 2023, the temptation of playing at the iconic 2300-seater venue proved too much.

The 78-year-old rocker took part in a performance at the Palladium to showcase his forthcoming album, Who Believes in Angels, with the American singer Brandi Carlile.

Taking to the stage before the televised concert, which will broadcast on ITV in the UK and CBS in the Unites States, Sir Elton made the shock confession to host Schitt’s Creek actor Dan Levy.

‘It would be stupid of me not to play tonight,’ Sir Elton said.

‘When I was a young boy, I used to watch Sunday Night Live at the Palladium every week and it was the most exciting program, which you never failed to watch because they had big stars over from America, they had the Beatles on, it was incredible. Bruce Forsyth hosted it. It was a legendary program.’

Sir Elton John proved he was still standing, as he made his debut as a headline act at the London Palladium last night (Seen with Brandi and host Dan Levy)

Despite announcing his retirement after a fifty-year career in 2023, the temptation of playing at the iconic 2300-seater venue proved too much

In a moment which caused the audience to gasp, he added: ‘And to be honest I’ve never played at the Palladium.’

The Rocketman singer then explained that despite playing thousands of famous venues all round the world, he had only ever appeared on the Palladium stage alongside Liberace at the Royal Variety Show in 1972.

It was a particularly humorous encounter for the flamboyant star, as it has been one of the only times he has been upstaged in the costume department.

Sir Elton said: ‘I did a Royal Variety Performance here with Liberace. He was fabulous.

I thought Ok, Liberace, I’m going to get two fabulous costumes made. I had these colourful tailored suits hanging up in the dressing room.’

‘We were sharing a dressing room. And there was trunk after trunk after trunk. It was the night he wore the electric lightbulb suit, which lit up.’

‘I thought f***ing hell. You’ve won: game set and match.’

‘So I’ve never played here as an individual – this is the first time!’ Elton said to the delight of the audience.

The 78-year-old rocker took part in a performance at the Palladium to showcase his forthcoming album, Who Believes in Angels, with the American singer Brandi Carlile

Taking to the stage before the televised concert, which will broadcast on ITV in the UK and CBS in the Unites States, Sir Elton made the shock confession to host Schitt’s Creek actor Dan 

‘It would be stupid of me not to play tonight,’ Sir Elton said (Seen on stage with Brandi during a number)

‘When I was a young boy, I used to watch Sunday Night Live at the Palladium every week and it was the most exciting program,’ he said

The star-studded crowd at the historic concert included ABBA legend Ulvaeus, Rolling Stones icon Ronnie Wood, singer Sophie Ellis Bextor actor Lily James, comedians David Walliams and Matt Lucas, singer-songwriter Sam Fender, Aquaman star Jason Momoa, Ali G actor Sacha Baron Cohen, and BBC radio presenters Zoe Ball and Matt Chorley.

Sir Elton, who is known for his love of colourful eyewear, was asked how many pairs of glᴀsses did he own and the number astounded guests.

He said: ‘We obviously keep them in storage, because I don’t have that big a house. I would say, I guess, I have 10-15,000 pairs of sunglᴀsses.’

After the Q&A, the musician, who is worth £450 million, brushed aside all of his recent health woes and put on an energetic performance during the 75-minute concert.

Taking to the stage with American country singer Brandi Carlile, Sir Elton kicked off with the album’s тιтle track Who Believes in Angels, before breaking out the live debut of ‘Swing For The Fences’ and currently-unreleased songs ‘Little Richard’s Bible’.

Carlile then performed an acoustic ballad they had written together about accepting your kids as separate people called You Without Me.

She joked: ‘Motherhood took me by surprise, which is a big thing for a lesbian because it’s usually planned.’

The audience were on their feet as Sir Elton, then performed a number of classics from his back catalogue which included ‘Tiny Dancer’, ‘Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me’, ‘I Guess That’s Why They Call It the Blues’, ‘Your Song’, ‘Bennie And The Jets’ and ‘I’m Still Standing’.

Last month, the singer boldly declared that the new studio album, his first since 2021, is ‘the start of my career Mark 2’.

The studio album called Who Believes In Angels? Is a collaborative effort with US folk singer Brandi Carlile and Sir Elton’s longtime writing partner Bernie Taupin and is set for release on April 4. 

In a moment which caused the audience to gasp, he added: ‘And to be honest I’ve never played at the Palladium’

It was a particularly humorous encounter for the flamboyant star, as it has been one of the only times he has been upstaged in the costume department

He also unveiled a new single from the album, the eponymous song ‘Who Believes In Angels?’

Sir Elton said: ‘This record was one of the toughest I’ve ever made, but it was also one of the greatest musical experiences of my life.

‘I have everything I’ve done behind me and it’s been brilliant, amazing. But this is the new start for me. As far as I’m concerned, this is the start of my career Mark 2.’

‘It has given me a place where I know I can move forward. Who Believes In Angels? feels ike going into another era and I’m pushing the door open to come into the future.’

The hitmaker, who has recently been in poor health after losing most of his eyesight, recently revealed that a new song about mortality made him ‘break down’ and reflect on how much time he ‘has left’.

He made the comments in a new episode of the Smartless podcast, and revealed that the song in question is set to appear at the very end of the new album with Carlile.

‘When you get to my age, which is near 100, you think, ‘How much time have I got left?’. You’ve got children, you’ve got a wonderful husband, you just think about mortality. And so when I got to the chorus, I just broke down for 45 minutes – and it’s all on film.’

An Evening with Elton John and Brandi Carlile will air on Saturday 19th April on ITV1 and ITVX in the UK and to air on the CBS network on April 6 in the United States.