Elton John and David Furnish were honored with the Artist and Manager Partnership Award at a ceremony in London Thursday night, where the star paid tribute to his “genius” manager and husband for bringing his career into the 21st century.
Furnish, who is CEO of Rocket Management and Chairman of his and John’s AIDS Foundation, took over management duties seven years ago, when he set about creating less reliance on touring.
“Before I had children, I was going to die on stage, a bit like Eric Morcambe or Tommy Cooper,” John told the audience at the Artist and Manager Awards. “Then David sat me down and said, ‘Well, what do you want to do?’ I said, ‘Things have to change. I would like to do a farewell tour and then retire from touring but carry on with music.' He put together an amazing five-year plan, which he shared with the record company and touring people, and he delivered on every point.”
The duo have worked together on securing John’s Rocket Hour Apple Music show, the award-winning 2019 biopic Rocketman, the best-selling memoir Me and this year’s U.K. #1 single, “Cold Heart (Pnau Remix)” with Dua Lipa, and top-charting album, The Lockdown Sessions. John’s ongoing (and final) Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour has also been a focus.
Furnish also helped educate John about social media and streaming (“I thought Spotify was something you got on your face”) in order to continue his legacy, and helped increase his Spotify monthly listener count to over 50m from 9m.
“That’s the genius of the man on my right," John continued. "Not only is he a great husband and a great father, he’s also a genius manager and we love working together. We have our fights, we have our issues, but he’s always right, which is really annoying. I’d love to pay tribute to him for being my rock and I’m deeply grateful for this award.”
