BROOKE ALEXANDER, HOST: Hi, I'm Brooke Alexander in New York City. Welcome to WORLD BEAT.
Top of the bill this week, a British knight who spends most of his days in the U.S.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) - ELTON JOHN, LEANN RIMES, WRITTEN IN THE STARS - (END VIDEO CLIP)
ALEXANDER: Sir Elton John's Aida, an album written for the stars. ... Almost 30 years ago, at the Filmore East here in New York City, Elton John opened the bill for a Leon Russell concert, and in every year since then, he's had a top 40 hit, the longest winning streak by any artist in history. His latest single success comes from the new album Aida, for which Sir Elton recruited an army of allies fit for any pharaoh.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) - (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) - ELTON JOHN AND TIM RICE'S AIDA - (END VIDEO CLIP)
SIR ELTON JOHN: The main ingredient of any musical should be the music, and too often it's not, and it's the set or it's the cast or it's some gimmick. And I was determined that this, being my first stage show in collaboration with Tim Rice, would have -- all the songs would be strong.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) - ELTON JOHN AND LEANN RIMES, WRITTEN IN THE STARS - (END VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN: Written in the Stars is actually a duet in the show. And, I mean, I just wanted it to have -- people on the album that could actually sing really well. And so LeAnn came to mind, because I've been a big fan of hers since Blue came out. And one forgets that she's only 16 years of age, and that she's got this great voice.
LEANN RIMES: The first thing that he asked me, you know, "Will you do a duet with me?" and I think I would never it live it down if I turned that one down. So I immediately said yes.
JOHN: One of the secrets of getting an album like this together is, you know, getting a list of artists, a wish list. And so we had a wish list, and we asked Sting, who said yes very quickly and was the first one to complete his track.
STING: No matter how busy you are, when Elton asked me to do something, I said, Drop everything, I'll do it for my friend, you know, because I respect him and love him greatly.
JOHN: So we had, like, five or six people who said yes immediately, which meant that we could, you know, say to other people, "Well, these people are doing it." And they go, "Hmm, that's not bad."
MEL C, SPICE GIRLS: When we saw, like, the whole, you know, the array of stars contributing to the album, it was, like, we definitely have got to be a part of this.
JOHN: I had my band come down. Three of the guys came down to Atlanta, and we went into a studio here. And we would -- I would write the song, we'd put it down, and we'd mix it the next morning, then we'd go on to the next one. So we did 21 songs in 21 days, and that's -- it came out quickly, and it was fun. I like it when I work quickly like that. So what we've done is put the songs back that were taken out, like Not Me, is not in -- wasn't in the stage production in Atlanta but is on the album, sung by Boyz II Men.
NATHAN MORRIS, BOYZ II MEN: It felt good that Elton, you know, believed in the fact that, you know, we would be able to, you know, solely by ourselves, Boyz II Men, bring the record home with, you know, there'd be assistance from any, you know, Jimmy Jams or Terry Lewis or the Baby Faces of the world. He put it all on our shoulders and gave us, you know, the opportunity to bring the song home.
SHAWN STOCKMAN, BOYZ II MEN: His attributes and what he's done in the music industry is something that we look up to, and we hope to be able to do the same. You know, we hope to be able to be around as long as Elton, still creating beautiful music for the world to listen to.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The remarkable Sir Elton John.
(BEGIN ONSCREEN) - Elton and Boyz II Men last month received Diamond Awards for selling 10 million copies of an album in the U.S. - (END ONSCREEN)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) - ELTON JOHN, "GOODBYE ENGLAND'S ROSE" - (END VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN: I think this is the biggest accolade we've been given, because it means that your fans have gone out and bought your records, and that's why we make records, for our public. I feel very humble getting all these awards, but, you know, I've been around a long time, so there you go.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) - ELTON JOHN, "GOODBYE YELLOW BRICK ROAD" - (END VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN: I'm 52 years of age, or I will be very shortly. If you just made records and did tours it would be -- you know, enjoyable, it'd be a great life. But, you know, it would be kind of routine.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) - JOHN: The song is called "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me," and I can't think of a more appropriate phrase than -- to dedicate it to all men, women, and children in the world who are suffering from HIV and AIDS. This is for them. - (END VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN: The problem with this business, it can be so self- absorbing sometimes, and, you know, you tend just to think about me, me, me, me, me, me, me. It's very necessary to have other interests and to devote time to things that benefit other people, I think.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) - ELTON JOHN, "BENNY AND THE JETS," 1990 SOLO TOUR - (END VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN: It's very necessary to be frightened now and again and to get your edge back and to be, you know, not just so sure that you're going on stage and everything's going to be fine. With a band, you are protected somewhat. But when I'm on stage and I'm playing the piano and I'm singing, and I make a mistake, it's very, very noticeable. And so it sharpens me up, it makes me concentrate more. It's kind of like going back to school. There always has to be an element of fear in whatever you do. I mean, there has to be a risk taking. Writing the stage (INAUDIBLE) a risk, writing the score for a movie was a risk. I hadn't done that before. It's a -- you know, entering on the unknown with your knowledge and your skills that you've already accumulated.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ALEXANDER: We turn now from ancient Egypt to modern-day musicians aiming to be top of the pop pyramid.
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