Why didn’t Elton John perform at Charles III’s Coronation Concert?
While the Charles III Coronation Concert had some big name performers, several other artists declined citing “scheduling conflicts” including Elton John.
King Charles III and Queen Camilla were crowned on Saturday in an extravagant ceremony at Westminster Abbey in London. For Day Two, Sunday 7 May, of the coronation events Their Majesties hosted a concert at Windsor Castle with some 20,000 guests in attendance.
The line-up for the concert included Katy Perry and Lionel Richie among others. However, many of the biggest names in British music did not perform. Sir Elton John, Adele, Ed Sheeran, Harry Styles, Robbie Williams and the Spice Girls among others declined an invitation to participate in the King’s Coronation, some of them citing “scheduling conflicts” as their reason for not attending.
Why didn’t Sir Elton John perform at the Charles III Coronation Concert?
Sir Elton John is a longtime friend of the Royal Family and has attended or performed at several royal ceremonies. He was a guest at Prince William and Princess Kate’s wedding in 2011. As well Sir John performed at the luncheon following Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan’s wedding in 2018. He also performed for the late Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee in 2022, although in a pre-recorded video projected onto Buckingham Palace as he had a scheduling conflict.
He was famously a close friend of the late Princess Diana, Lady Di, which had some thinking that it had a hand in his turning down the invitation. However, the “Rocket Man” singer is also friends with King Charles and Queen Camilla, they were even guests at his wedding to David Furnish in 2005.
Once again though, he had scheduling conflicts according to his team, which prevented him from appearing in person at the King’s Coronation. He was on tour in Germany.
“People are reading way too much into what really amounts to scheduling conflicts,” said Christopher Andersen, royal expert and author of “The King” speaking to Fox News. “It’s highly doubtful that anyone would turn down the invitation to perform at the coronation… It’s a singular moment in history, and, frankly, just too massive a gig!”
What reasons did other artists give for not performing at Charles III’s Coronation Concert?
Like Sir Elton John, Adele and Ed Sheeran had performances lined up, in their case those were in the United States. Adele recently extended her residency in Las Vegas with new concerts set to begin mid-June. Sheeran has his next concert date in Texas for Friday this week.
Likewise, Harry Styles has a concert scheduled for next weekend, he will be in Denmark. Robbie Williams did not give a reason for why he chose not to perform when asked by Rolling Stone.
The Spice Girls for their part cited “lack of time to rehearse,” although some speculate that it was the lack of Victoria Beckham’s participation that played a hand. A source told the Daily Mirror that growing republican sentiment in her home country of Australia kept honorary Brit Kylie Minogue from accepting her invitation.