Excellent celebration – Newspaper Kommersant No. 41 (7486) dated 03/11/2023

Leading rock and pop musicians in the UK refuse to perform at a concert dedicated to the coronation of Charles III. It will take place at Windsor Castle on May 7, the day after the ceremony. Tells Igor Gavrilov.

The late mother of Prince Charles, who took the throne name Charles III, favored popular music. It was with her light hand that the practice of awarding honorary knightly titles to pop musicians entered into practice. Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber is currently writing a liturgical hymn for the coronation of Charles III. Other “sirs” under Elizabeth were Paul McCartney, Mick Jagger, Cliff Richard, The Beatles producer George Martin, Tom Jones, Rod Stewart, Van Morrison, The Kinks leader Ray Davis, Ringo Starr, Barry Gibb of the Bee Gees and Universal Music head Lucien Grange. Elizabeth II also willingly awarded women, and, for example, Adele received the Order of the British Empire ten years ago.

Elton John has been called “Sir” since 1998, having been knighted by the Queen for his contributions to music and charity. Elton John was a close friend of Princess Diana. A month before the death of the princess, deprived of the title of “her royal highness” after her divorce from Charles, John and Diana attended the funeral of Gianni Versace. The song “Candle in the Wind”, written in 1973 in memory of Marilyn Monroe, was performed by Elton John at Diana’s funeral in 1997: lyricist Bernie Taupin changed the words “Goodbye Norma Jean” to “Goodbye Rose of England”. It’s all part of the history of both popular music and the British monarchy.

Back in late February, the first reports appeared that several stars of the first row at once rejected the invitation to take part in the coronation concert. There will be no recent Grammy and Brit Awards winner Harry Styles on stage, no Spice Girls and Adele. The public refuses to believe that their touring schedule was the reason for their rejection. The Spice Girls were favorites of Prince Charles for many years, their photos with the heir to the throne graced the front pages of the tabloids back in the 1990s, but now everything has changed. And few people believe that Elton John refused to perform in front of the new king because of the logistics of the tour – his schedule on May 7 is free.

Naturally, each of the refused artists gave their good reasons. Harry Styles referred to the world tour. But May 6 falls right on the break between its Japanese and European parts. Adele has a residence in Las Vegas Caesars Palace, but it ends at the end of March. Ed Sheeran will be in North America during the festivities, while he has not received an official invitation to perform for Charles III. It is worth noting that all these artists were personally selected for the concert program by the new king. So far, participation has been confirmed by Australian Kylie Minogue, American Lionel Richie and British Take That (but without Robbie Williams).

It is hard to believe in a coincidence, and it is unlikely that the masters of ceremonies at Buckingham Palace do not know that musicians have world tours and that they need to be negotiated in advance. And it is hard to imagine that artists close to Elizabeth II would refuse to sing one song at some royal celebration, even if this required changes to the tour schedule. They didn’t refuse.

True, sometimes they refused awards – this happened. Along with the famous episode when John Lennon returned the MBE to the Queen, there was a lesser-known story of David Bowie’s refusal of a knighthood in 2003.

Journalists are at a loss as to how it happened that the icons of English music, one by one, reject the offer to participate in the coronation concert. Their actions look coordinated and look like a gesture addressed either to Charles III himself, or to the institution of the monarchy, or to society as a whole. One thing is certain: the refusal of the title sometimes turns out to be a greater honor than the title itself, and the absence from the court show sometimes sounds louder than any song.