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It feels like it should be a comeback show, or a farewell gig; the historic reunion of a musician and his fans to celebrate a long and storied career. But the remarkable fact is that Sir Elton John – known to his mother and pub-quiz aficionados as Reginald Dwight – has never stopped playing. The pianist/ singer/composer/hottest-temper-in-showbusiness has been a pop production plant since the ’60s (though song-writer Bernie Taupin can take a great deal of credit for the singer’s mega-success), and he’s not letting age, various addictions and disorders, or the death of a princess slow him down.

Not content with selling more albums than there are people in Indonesia, John’s latest fetish has been musicals, starting with his songs for The Lion King (1994), swinging by the ostentatious Aida (1998) and taking in working-class-boy ballet Billy Elliot (2005), a tale that, according to John, mirrors his upbringing as a lad in the south of England. Not a bad resume, considering they’re just side projects.

It’s probably not fashionable, or particularly cool, to admit to liking Sir Elton, but we can’t help but feel a little excited about his impending arrival. For someone as ridiculously over-thetop, stinkingly rich and unashamedly mainstream (well, at least in music) as John, we still have to acknowledge that he’s a truly wonderful showman, a bona fide musician, and an ebullient character, who has played a defining role in the garish spectacle of pop culture life that has been the last half-century.

Go on, look us in the eyes and tell us that, even in the privacy of your home, you’ve never sung along to Rocket Man or Crocodile Rock. Hell, you probably even like Hakuna Matata. That’s okay; we do too. And because this is a man who can count Thom Yorke and Axl Rose among his fans, we’re not afraid to admit it.

Hamish McKenzie

Elton John plays the AsiaWorld-Arena Tues. 20