Elton John missed out on winning an award at this year’s Oscar ceremony, but it didn’t dampen his spirits for his annual AIDS fundraiser party.
The iconic entertainer was nominated in the Best Original Song category for a new tune written with Brandi Carlisle, Bernie Taupin and Andrew Watt. Their song Never Too Late was beaten by the tune El Mal from the film Emila Pérez.
Hours later he was back on stage entertaining a star-studded audience at his annual shindig and this year he performed alongside Chappel Roan.
The singer’s husband David Furnish and their sons Zachary and Elijah also took part in the festivities. They were joined by Heidi Klum, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Zooey Deschanel, Jonathan Scott, Neil Patrick Harris, David Burtka, Megan Thee Stallion, Diplo, Walton Goggins, Jessica Gunning, Eric McCormack, Dylan Mulvaney and many others.
This year is the thirty-third time that Elton and David have hosted their annual fundraiser.
“It means so much because we raise money for people that desperately need it.” Elton John said. “Peope who are suffering from HIV and AIDS, people who are marginalised from society. We always say, never leave anyone behind.”
John also praised Chappel Roan for being a great voice for equality and fairness, as well as an outstanding entertainer.
David Furnish said the work to stop HIV was not yet finished.
“We’re not finished yet. We think we can end this epidemic if we continue on the path that we’ve been travelling. We have the science to end this epidemic tomorrow.
“If everybody knew their HIV status, had access to testing, had access to treatment, we’d have no new infections. But the disease still exists within deeply marginalised groups of people in society who have other things that are challenging them, and they don’t get access to the information or the medication that they need.” Furnish said, noting it had been a focus of the foundation’s work in recent years to work within these communities.
“There’s still a lot of stigma around HIV/AIDS,” he added. “People are still very scared of a HIV diagnosis, some people think that they are going to die, because its sexually transmitted there’s a lot of shame. We don’t make judgments. We think love is the cure.”
Chappel Roan described Elton John as being a guiding light for the queer community, as well as praising his support for upcoming artists, his commitment to philanthropy, and for being a trailblazer as a performer.
Singer and actress Sheryl Lee Ralph spoke at the event, introducing a video highlighting a trip actor Billy Porter recently took to Atlanta where battling HIV remains a major challenge.
Speaking on the red-carpet Ralph spoke about how honoured she was at being asked to be one of the hosts of the event.
“HIV is still around, people still die of AIDS.” Ralph said. “We need to continue the work on erasing the stigma because it doesn’t have to happen.
Ralph cohosted the event alongside actor Neil Patrick Harris and his husband David Burtka and actor Jean Smart.
“It’s still a worldwide situation.” Harris said of the response to HIV. “What the Elton John AIDS Foundation accomplishes is really making global change, and what we don’t want to be doing is taking steps backwards. So, awareness and support is critical right now.”
All funds raised during the evening will support the Foundation’s frontline partners to prevent HIV infections, tackle stigma, and provide compassionate care to the most vulnerable communities worldwide.
