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Wednesday, January 13, 2016 12:20pm ET by  
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Elton John said David Bowie maintained his privacy

Last night (January 12) Elton John made tributes to his musical peer, David Bowie, at a SiriusXM Town Hall taping at the Wiltern in Los Angeles.

Initially, he sang 'Ground control to Major Tom' before launching into a piano version of 'Space Oddity' whilst his band was still prepping up for the main performance.

John later told rock writer, David Fricke, the night's moderator:

"There are so many incredible words written about him in the last couple of days. It's so wonderful. We all know how inspiring he is. We all know that his music stands. We don't have to say anything about the music: It speaks for itself. He was innovative, he was boundary-changing, and he danced to his own tune - which in any artist is really rare.

"But what I loved about him towards the end was his incredible privacy during what must have been 10 years of incredible bad luck with illnesses, heart attacks, cancer, whatever. He kept it private in an age we're living in with Twitter when everyone knows everything about everything - he kept it to himself.

"He made two albums without anybody knowing he was making them. He had treatment for his illnesses without anyone knowing or anyone saying anything. And that is the mystique of the man, because we know David Bowie the figure, the singer, the outrageous performer, but actually, we don't know anything about him - and that's the way it should be in music and should be in any art form whatsoever."

John also recounted how Bowie's music helped him forge working relationships with some of his early collaborators such as his original producer, Gus Dudgeon, he said:

"If it wasn't for David Bowie, I would never have found my original producer Gus Dudgeon and Paul Buckmaster, who arranged the first three albums for me. Because when I heard 'Space Oddity,' I thought it was probably the most incredible record I'd ever heard and for a long time after that point. And the production and the arrangement of that song, I said, 'Whoever did that, I really want to work with them."

"And so I got in touch with Gus Dudgeon and Paul Buckmaster, and we made the 'Elton John album' together and many more albums, so I've got David to thank for that."

Elton John tweeted his shock on hearing about Bowie's death (see below).

The full SiriusXM Town Hall With Elton John, celebrating the release of John's 'Wonderful Crazy Night' album (out Febuary 5), will air on The Spectrum, channel 28, on February 4, at 5 p.m. ET.

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Watch David Bowie's 2002 Meltdown concert, his 'Starman' video, and Elton John perform 'Rocket Man' at Madison Square Garden below:

 

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