Steve Webb
LOS ANGELES, CA — Baseball might be done for the year at Chavez Ravine, but that doesn’t mean history isn’t still being made. On the penultimate night of pop legend Elton John’s farewell concert tour at Dodger Stadium, the Los Angeles Dodgers presented John a check for a cool $1 million made out to John’s AIDS foundation.
Tennis legend and activist Billie Jean King and investor Mark Walter, both part of the Dodgers’ Guggenheim ownership group, were on hand on Saturday night with a big check in tow and made the presentation in the middle of John’s sold-out show.
“Beyond the obvious impact and joy of his music, Elton has been a social leader in fostering LGBTQ acceptance and equality and has worked tirelessly to improve the lives of those living with HIV and AIDS through the Elton John AIDS Foundation,” Walter said on stage. “We at the Dodgers share Elton’s commitment to community, equality and service and are pleased to be able to support the work of the foundation. Billie Jean and I thank Elton for all he has achieved and congratulate him on his iconic career.”
The Elton John AIDS Foundation was established in 1992 with the mission statement of finding an end to the AIDS epidemic.
“I want to thank the Los Angeles Dodgers for their incredible generosity in making this amazing donation to the Elton John AIDS Foundation,” John said. “I am thrilled to play my three final shows of my Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour in the U.S. at Dodger Stadium, an iconic venue which has meant so much to me and my career.”
Indeed, it is a poetic end to the touring career of John, whose career reached the stratosphere thanks in part to a legendary series of shows from Dodger Stadium in 1975. John’s final night of the tour will be broadcast live on Disney+ at 8:00 pm Sunday night.
