Elton John has touched down in Hawke's Bay ahead of Thursday's show at the Mission Estate Winery. Photo / Paul Taylor
Elton John has touched down in Hawke's Bay ahead of Thursday's show at the Mission Estate Winery. Photo / Paul Taylor
Elton John's jet has touched down in Hawke's Bay ahead of Thursday's show at the Mission Estate Winery.
Whether the 72-year-old superstar was aboard it is a different matter, but the Bombardier Global Express twin-jet that flew John into Dunedin Airport was spotted at Hawke's Bay Airport on Wednesday morning ahead of his Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour shows in Hawke's Bay.
Similar large cabin business jets to John's, which landed at 12.50pm on Wednesday after an hour and 18 minute flight, can be found retailing online for anywhere between $27 million and $78m.
Sir Elton, who has sold over 300 million records worldwide, is due to perform on Waitangi Day, with a further Napier show scheduled for February 15.
The four-time Grammy award winning artist is believed to be heading back to Hollywood for the Oscars on February 10. Sir Elton and song-writing partner Bernie Taupin are nominated for Best Original Song for their song I'm Gonna Love Me Again in his biopic Rocketman.
Fans have been speculating whether Sir Elton was aboard the plane or arriving on the day of the concert via plane or helicopter. There was also speculation around where Sir Elton is staying, if he has arrived.
Hawke's Bay Today was contacted by a fan who had noted the gates to the exclusive Mangapapa Hotel on Napier Rd were shut on Wednesday afternoon.
A member of staff would not comment on whether John was staying at the Havelock North hotel. Asked if rooms were available overnight, Hawke's Bay Today was told the business was "closed for a private function".
Fellow luxury Hawke's Bay hotel The Farm at Cape Kidnappers confirmed that the star was not staying with them and rooms were available.
Elton John superfan Louise Badcock has travelled from England to see the rocketman perform. Photo / Paul Taylor
Elton John superfan Louise Badcock has travelled from England to see her hero take the stage for the very first time.
"I have come over from England to see Elton, as well as to see my best friend," she said.
"The tickets are so expensive in the United Kingdom, so I combined the two.
"I have never seen Elton perform before, but I have watched a lot of him on YouTube and TV and so on. I've got all the records, all the CDs and everything.
Badcock added: "I'd love to get a shout out from him for coming all this way to see him."
Badcock said her 37,424 km round trip from her home in Devon, which she claims inspired Elton's hit "Levon" after time spent in the south west of England, will be worth it to hear his timeless talent.
"It's amazing that he has been going for so long," she said. "His music is the same genre from when he started in the late 60s until now.
"We've had all these different genres of music come and go throughout that time but Elton's remain the same. It's brilliant."
Badcock, along with the 50,000 others that managed to secure themselves tickets, are the lucky ones.
Rumours have begun to circulate that Elton John has touched down in Hawke's Bay ahead of Thursday's show at the Mission Estate Winery. Photo / Bradley Garner
Limited numbers of Waitangi Day tickets for Elton John at the Mission are selling for premium prices online.
Two Gold seated tickets, originally priced at $250 each, sold for $800 for the pair on Wednesday. GA tickets that cost $150 from the promoters went for $455 to $550 a pair.
Single tickets were rarer and fetching higher prices with one $150 ticket selling for $323.
Michael Buble fans who missed out on his February 1 Mission concert still have the opportunity to grab an expensive souvenir - four days after the event there were more than 20 tickets to his one-off Napier show still listed for sale.
