
Fresh from his 60th birthday party--celebrated by thousands of "close friends" in New York's Madison Square Garden--Elton John has added a pair of new dates to his US schedule.
The legendary singer has reconfigured an April stretch of his Las Vegas "Red Piano" dates, and will also play a couple of shows in the south with his full band, kicking off May 4 in Greenville, SC. Details are included below.
John's birthday show--which, coincidentally, was his 60th performance at the venerable Manhattan arena--took place March 25, with his usual band (Davey Johnstone on guitar, Guy Babylon on keyboards, Bob Birch on bass guitar, John Mahon on percussion and Nigel Olsson on drums) backing him up, as well as a full vocal choir on various songs.
Also joining the singer onstage was his longtime songwriting partner, Bernie Taupin, and comedians Robin Williams and Whoopi Goldberg, according to the Reuters news service.
"I knew I had 59 shows here and I said the only place I wanted to be was in New York City at Madison Square Garden," John said, according to the report.
John created "The Red Piano" with photographer David LaChapelle to spotlight John's work with Taupin. Last year, John signed an agreement that will keep the show running through 2008, according to Caesars.