Overview
- Elton John, who received the 15th Glenn Gould Prize in Toronto on Saturday, accepted a gold sculpture and $100,000 from the biennial international arts award.
- In his remarks, he declared “I am a Canadian” and dismissed talk of Canada as the United States’ “51st state.”
- He named Toronto mezzo-soprano Emily D’Angelo as the Glenn Gould Protégé Prize recipient, which carries $25,000.
- Canadian artists including Sarah McLachlan, Diana Krall, the Beaches, Loony, Ron Sexsmith, Jeremy Dutcher, and Saya Gray performed his songs, and the night closed with a group “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.”
- He told the audience a new album is finished and was written melody-first because recent vision problems kept him from reading lyrics.