Elton John to play in-store HMV benefit shows?

Veteran music retailer HMV, you’ll have heard, isn’t in a good way. 

Having called in the administrators in January, the company recently announced the closure of 66 stores in the UK and sweeping shut-downs in Ireland. HMV’s fate is still very much up in the air, with restructuring group Hilco weighing up various options for the company.

It now looks like pop megastar Elton John will do his bit for the struggling organisation. As The Guardian report, John is planning to perform in an HMV outlet later this year. According to John’s spokesman Gary Farrow, John will play an “intimate” in-store show, although he says details have yet to be firmed up: “Elton has always been a big supporter of record shops. He will be doing something with HMV although as yet we cannot confirm what or when that would be.”

Speculation about a John benefit gig was sparked by comments from David Joseph, CEO of Universal UK. Joseph said: “We’ve got a lot of artist support for HMV. Last week one of our biggest global superstars said why don’t we get a lot of the biggest artists to start doing gigs in HMV, just to turn up and say these are music stores, come and get your music here.” He went on to confirm that the artist in question was John.

According to Joseph, major record labels are devoting substantial time and energy to help keep HMV in contention as a significant high street force. The Guardian also cite a source close to HMV who claims the company has been speaking to various labels about in-store performances from major artists. It’s hoped that, should the company be taken out of administration, said gigs would help relaunch the business.

John will headline this year’s Bestival. He’s also set to make an unlikely appearance on the new Queens Of The Stone Age album.

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