Elton John surprises with train station performance

Rock legend Elton John stunned commuters in London on Thursday (04Feb16) when he staged an impromptu piano performance at St. Pancras International train station. A number of pianos are placed around the station for visitors to tickle the ivories and Elton decided to show off his talents by taking a seat at one of the instruments in the Eurostar terminal, much to the surprise of passers-by.

After the brief performance, the Rocket Man star thanked fans and revealed he had donated the Yamaha he had been playing by leaving a note which read: “Enjoy this piano. It’s a gift. Love, Elton John.”

The 68-year-old singer also shared a snap on Instagram, captioning the photo, “Surprise!! I popped into St Pancras International to christen the Yamaha piano which I donated to the station. Now everyone can have a play.”

Alongside another image of the message he had left on the piano, he twisted a lyric from his hit Your Song, writing, “My gift is my song and this pianos for you.”

The surprise mini-gig took place in the middle of Elton’s promotional tour for his new album, Wonderful Crazy Night, which hits stores and online sites as the veteran makes plans to wind down his busy career so he can spend more time at home with his young sons, Zachary and Elijah, with husband David Furnish.

“It’s all about the kids now, everything is worked out around half term and when they’re going to be in school, when they’re out of school, and they are the most important things in my life,” he told BBC Radio 2 earlier this week (begs01Feb16). “They take preference over everything.”

“Obviously I work but the work will get less and less and I’ll spend more time with my children growing up. And that’s what I want to do, I’ll gradually phase things out in a few years.”