10 MusicWeek 06.07.12 THEBIGINTERVIEWELTONJOHN TJOHN HE BAPTIST
The Rocket man has helped guide Ed Sheeran to US success and is watching excitedly as another batch of UK hopefuls prepare to convert America to their cause
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“Ed Sheeran has worked bloody hard and he doesn’t complain. He’s a kind of perfect artist to manage. He’s going to be very big in America and so he should be”
TALENT BY PAUL WILLIAMS
F
ew UK acts can speak with more authority about US success than Elton John and what he is witnessing in the Billboard charts right
now is really exciting him. The superstar remains one of the most clued-up
artists around about the machinations of the music business, especially when it comes to the charts and here he is observing a new march of British talent succeeding in the US in a way that has not happened in years. “In the American charts at the moment you
have Adele, you have Coldplay, but you also have Jessie J, Cher Lloyd’s record is happening, you have Ellie Goulding, The Wanted, One Direction. Two years ago this wasn’t happening and now the British invasion is coming again,” says Elton whose own countless US chart triumphs take in six No.1 albums and nine Hot 100 chart-toppers, including
ABOVE ‘The British invasion is coming again’: Elton John is thrilled at UK success in US, particularly his entertainment group’s own Ed Sheeran
in Candle In The Wind 1997, the biggest-selling single of all time in the States. Mumford & Sons, Florence + The Machine,
Taio Cruz, Calvin Harris, Alex Clare, Emeli Sandé and Rebecca Ferguson also all get namechecks from the great man as do Ben Drew/Plan B and Tinie Tempah whose own US journey has already included a Top 40 album and million-selling single in Written in The Stars but he suggests this is only the start. “I met Tinie Tempah the other day,” he says.
“He’s going to break in America without question. He’s got the right attitude. He’s the perfect example of these new English acts that are so determined to do it and are really good guys. Tinie Tempah is one of the most impressive guys I’ve met in the last 10 years and also people like Ben Drew. They want it and they’re humble enough to know they’ve got to work for it and that’s a very encouraging sign. “Ben is an incredibly intelligent person and so is Tinie Tempah. It’s great ratification these kids are
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