ELTON JOHN BECOMES THE FIRST BRITs ICON Musical legend honoured tonight 
Show to air Friday 13th September, 9pm on ITV 

Multi BRIT and Grammy Award winning global superstar, Sir Elton John CBE was honoured tonight at the first ever BRITs Icon event which will be aired on Friday 13th September on ITV. The new award was presented by Rod Stewart who also joined Elton on stage for their first ever live performance together to duet on 'Sad Songs (Say So Much)'. 

The legendary Elton John, whose achievements include, 35 gold and 25 platinum albums, selling more than 250 million records worldwide and the biggest selling single of all time, 'Candle In The Wind 1997', played nine songs which included 'I’m Still Standing', 'Your Song', 'Tiny Dancer' and two songs from his forthcoming album 'The Diving Board'. Sir Elton's first full set list below.

The evening was hosted by Dermot O’Leary and included surprise video messages from Ringo Starr, Yoko Ono, Ed Sheeran, Annie Lennox, Emilie Sandé, Mumford & Sons, Billie Jean King, David Furnish and Bernie Taupin amongst others. The BRITs Icon Award will become part of the established BRIT Awards stable, but will be celebrated at a separate stand-alone event each year. It will be presented only to iconic artists whose writing, recording and performances set them apart as having made a lasting impact on the nation’s culture, recognising the very highest level of British music achievement.

Before the show Elton John said: "It's a tremendous honour and a real thrill for me to have my work acknowledged in this way, and I'm really looking forward to participating in what promises to be a very special occasion." 

BPI and BRIT Awards Ltd Chief Executive, Geoff Taylor said, “We’re proud to be launching our first ever BRITs Icon Award with an artist of Sir Elton’s incredible stature. He represents the very embodiment of what the BRITs Icon is all about, having achieved a level of creativity, originality, critical acclaim and global success that few others can match.”  

Full Set list: 

01. I’m Still Standing 

02. Your Song 

03. Philadelphia Freedom 

04. Bennie And The Jets 

05. Tiny Dancer 

06. Home Again 

07. Rocket Man 

08. Mexican Vacation 

09. Sad Songs (Say So Much) with Rod Stewart 

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For more information please contact:

The BRIT Awards: 

Richard Dawes / richard.dawes@dawbell.com / 0203 327 7111

Elton John: Gary Farrow / garyfarrow@corporationltd.com / 0207 025 8097

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Notes to Editors

The inaugural BRITs Icon Award will be staged on Monday 2nd September 2013 and will be broadcast on 13th September on ITV.

Sir Elton John, CBE

A legend in his lifetime, a great humanitarian (most notably through the work of the Elton John AIDS Foundation), a multiple Grammy and BRIT Awards winner, a flamboyant superstar and a hero of our times, Elton John is one of the most highly acclaimed and successful solo artists of all time.

With his songwriting partner Bernie Taupin, Elton has written some of the greatest songs of our time includingRocket Man, Your Song, Daniel and Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. He has achieved 35 gold and 25 platinum albums, has sold more than 250-million records worldwide, and holds the record for the biggest selling single of all time, Candle In The Wind 1997, which sold over 33,000,000 copies. Over the five decades since his live career began, Elton has played more than 3,500 concerts worldwide.

Elton is the third most successful artist in the history of the American charts, behind Elvis Presley and The Beatles. He has had 56 top forty singles in the United States, a total second only to Elvis.  He achieved seven number one albums in a three-and-a-half-year period from 1972 to 1975, a period of concentrated success surpassed only by The Beatles. Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy was the first album ever to enter the Billboard Chart at #1, whilst Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, with its string of hit singles (Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, Bennie And The Jets and Candle In The Wind), and unbroken two-month run at the top of the Billboard Top 100, became and remains an all-time classic.

His writing for film and stage musicals, notably The Lion King and Billy Elliot, earned him an Oscar and Tony Awards, and introduced his music to a further massive worldwide audience.

Elton remains committed to his music and to touring. He has a three-year residency at Caesars Palace, Las Vegas with his incredible Million Dollar Piano show, and continues to record and to tour the world, performing both solo and band concerts. His new studio album, The Diving Board, is released on September 16, 2013.

[A full biography and photography is available on request, as well as a press release for 'The Diving Board'.]

BPI and the BRIT Awards

BPI is the representative voice of the UK recorded music business. BPI is a trade organisation funded by its members - which include hundreds of independent music companies and the UK’s major record labels. BPI’s members account for approximately 90% of all recorded music sold in the UK, and globally the UK's recorded music market is the third biggest.

BPI also organises the annual BRIT Awards show as well as the Classic BRIT Awards show. The organising company BRIT Awards Limited, is a fully owned subsidiary of BPI. Substantial proceeds from both shows go to the BRIT Trust, the charitable arm of the BPI that has donated almost £15m to charitable causes nationwide since its foundation in 1989.