RollingStone.Com, looks back at the Elton John concert which he performed in Central Park 36 years ago. The exact number of people who gathered in Central Park to see Elton John on September 13th, 1980 will never be known. The figures 300,000 and 400,000 have both been reported, but a 2008 New York Times article revealed that the numbers were basically bullshit. "You would get in a room with the producer, with a police official, and a person from parks, and someone would say, 'What does it look like to you?'" said Doug Blonsky, a former city parks administrator. "The producer would say, 'I need it to be higher than the last one.' That's the kind of science that went into it."
There may not have been 400,000 people there that day, but video of the event shows a crowd that looks every bit as massive as what Simon and Garfunkel drew the following summer. They saw a stellar show that included big hits like "Your Song," "Bennie and the Jets" and "Tiny Dancer" mixed with new tunes like "Little Jeannie" and "Sartorial Eloquence" and deep cuts like "Have Mercy on the Criminal" and "Harmony."
Near the end he played a cover of John Lennon's "Imagine." "We're going to do a song written by a friend of mine who I haven't seen for a long time," said John. "It's a very beautiful song. You all know it. He only lives just over the road. He hasn't done a record in ages, but he's doing one at the moment."
To read the article in its entirety, along with seeing video footage from that concert, click here.