ELTON JOHN - ELTON CELEBRATES 60TH WITH 20,000 FANS

ELTON CELEBRATES 60TH WITH 20,000 FANS

SIR ELTON JOHN celebrated his 60th birthday for the third time last night (25MAR07) - performing to 20,000 fans and celebrity friends at New York City's Madison Square Garden. The ROCKET MAN singer, real name REGINALD DWIGHT, opened the gig with a performance of SIXTY YEARS ON at the iconic venue following an introduction by former US President BILL CLINTON. Clinton said, "Thank you for coming tonight to help celebrate Elton joining my favourite club, the 60-year-olds' club. I love it every time he plays. He reminds me we still have some youth left." Elton enthused, "I knew I had done 59 shows at Madison Square Garden and I said the only place I want to be is New York City on my 60th birthday." The concert follows two star-studded birthday parties at New York's Cathedral of St. John the Divine and London's Shoreditch Town Hall on Saturday night (24MAR06) and 13 March (07) respectively. The audience included famous pals BETTE MIDLER, ELIZABETH HURLEY, DONATELLA VERSACE, PIERCE BROSNAN, OZZY and SHARON OSBOURNE, JON BON JOVI, SIR MICHAEL CAINE, ERIC IDLE, JEWEL, DAVID LaCHAPELLE, K.D. LANG, ERIC MCCORMACK, LULU, ROSIE O'DONNELL, BRIAN WILSON, WHOOPI GOLDBERG, PAUL RUDD, HELENA CHRISTENSEN, LIV TYLER and KID ROCK.