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Popular British musician Elton John has been banned from performing a private concert in Egypt, DPA reported on Monday.

According to the report, the 63-year-old openly homosexual performer was prohibited from playing in the Arab country because of anti-religious sentiments that he had purportedly expressed.


The news agency quoted Mounir al-Wasimi, the head of Egypt’s Musician Union, as saying that his country could not allow “a homosexual who wants to ban religions, claimed that the prophet Issa (Jesus) was gay and calls for Middle Eastern countries to allow gays to have sexual freedom” to perform there.

John drew controversy earlier this year when he intimated in an interview with the American Parade magazine that there was no tolerance for homosexuals in Arab countries. "I don't know what makes people so cruel. Try being a gay woman in the Middle East - you're as good as dead," he told the magazine.

Also in the February interview, the performer stated that Jesus had been a “super-intelligent gay man,” a conclusion he reached after reading about the Christian savior’s compassionate and understanding nature

shafique wrote: I suspect he would similarly be objected to in Southern USA (eh can enlighten us more here- I suspect he may also be from the Bible belt, but for now we only know he is from the States).

Toyota Center is proud to welcome Elton John and Billy Joel, the most successful and longest-running concert pairing in pop history, when they reunite for their Face 2 Face tour on March 19 in Houston! Elton and Billy open the concert with a series of duets, playing twin pianos and trading vocals. Each artist then performs a set with his own band. A grand finale brings the two superstars and their supporting musicians back together for a closing encore. This includes some of both Elton and Billy’s greatest hits along with an unpredictable selection of rock and roll classics. Don’t miss these two superstars when they come to Toyota Center in March!

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Man Arrested for Making Death Threat Against Elton John
Posted on Mar 15th 2010 12:30PM by John D. Luerssen

Can you feel the hate tonight?

A man was arrested last Wednesday for making terrorist threats against Elton John, insisting that the flamboyant rocker "must die."

Neal Horsley -- an apparent candidate for the 2010 Georgia Governor's race under his own Creator's Rights Party -- caused serious concern among Sir Elton's handlers after a video surfaced on You Tube of the 65-year-old anti-abortionist holding up a large sign with that slogan outside of the performer's Atlanta apartment building.

"What Elton John has done is desecrated the image of the Lord Jesus Christ, blasphemed the Lord Jesus Christ," Horsley said in the clip. Horsley also suggested that if Elton were Muslim and made similar remarks, he would have had a fatwa, or death sentence, placed upon him.

According to the Associated Press, Horsley was responding to a recent Parade magazine article where John said he believed Jesus was a "compassionate, super-intelligent gay man who understood human problems."

Horsley was arrested in Carrollton, about 50 miles outside of Atlanta on March 10 and was held on $40,000 bail in the Fulton County Jail. He has also been charged with criminal defamation and use of the internet to make threats.

Red Chief wrote:Too many words in different directions, Shafique! I just wonder whether you personally agree with that ban.

Egypt's musician's union on Sunday rejected plans for British singer Elton John to perform a private concert scheduled for May 18, because of his "controversial remarks attacking religions".

"How do we allow a gay, who wants to ban religions, claimed that the prophet Eissa (Jesus) was gay and calls for Middle Eastern countries to allow gays to have sexual freedom," head of the Egyptian Musician Union, Mounir al-Wasimi told DPA.

The pop superstar, 63, stirred controversy after his remarks to US celebrity news magazine Parade in February, where he said "Try being a gay woman in the Middle East - you're as good as dead", after saying he believed Jesus was "gay".

Al-Wasimi said that he has begun coordinating with security bodies to ban John's concert, saying that the union is the only body "authorised to allow performances by foreign singers in Egypt".

He Weseimy that "a concert in Cairo to Elton John a dangerous precedent, not because it is one of the singers in the world and a visit to Cairo for the first time, but it is a symbol for homosexuals in the world and his presence will open the doors to the rest of the artists, homosexuals for their performances in Egypt."