Musical icon Sir Elton John has praised rapper Jay-Z for coming out in support of gay marriage earlier this year.

Back in May, the '99 Problems' hitmaker told CNN that he was excited to see President Barack Obama talking about the issues facing gay couples and admitted that everyone should be allowed the same rights regardless of their sexual orientation, race, gender or religion:

"I've always thought it as something that's still holding the country back. What people do in their homes is their business. You choose to love whoever you love - that's their business. It's no different than discriminating against blacks."

Now, Sir Elton has spoken to MSNBC about what happened when he heard this public statement, and explained that he phoned him from England to show respect for his views:

"Jay Z, who's probably the most respected African-American artist, came out and said not only is it wrong to not have gay marriage, but any discrimination in life is wrong. It was an incredibly moving statement. I phoned him up in England and said, 'You have no idea what you've just said, how powerful this is."

"The African-American society were a little apprehensive about this all along, and when you get someone who is a role model like Jay Z to come out and say this... I take my hat off to him and I respect him so much for doing that. When I next see him I'm going to give him the biggest hug."

Watch Sir Elton's performance from the Queen's Diamond Jubilee concert below: