Read a review of Sir El Tom John's debut American theatre tour.
Just as the world's finest classical musicians pay tribute the likes of Stravinsky, Mozart, Beethoven and Rachmaninoff, Tom Cridland celebrates the artistic legacy of Elton John through his alter ego, "Sir El Tom John".
Tom was born and grew up in London. He started playing and singing in his late twenties to recover from alcoholism, and learnt the piano during the Covid-19 lockdowns as a way of staying sober, inspired by Elton himself.
The first "Tom's Elton Tribute" performance was in January of 2022 at the Carrollton Station in New Orleans. Tom developed his act in Tennessee, with residencies at the Players Inn, a dive bar in Bellevue. By May 2023 he was playing to 1,500 people at McKelligon Canyon Amphitheatre in Texas.
"Sir El Tom" started with a three-piece band, just as Elton himself began his touring career in a trio with Nigel Olsson on drums and Dee Murray on bass. With this line up and in the space of just three years, Tom went from gigging in pubs to headlining some of the world's most prestigious theatres, amphitheatres, arenas and stadiums.
Tom plays all of Elton John's best loved classic hits, album tracks, deep cuts and fan favourites, including Bennie and the Jets, Tiny Dancer, Rocket Man, Candle In The Wind, Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me, I’m Still Standing, Crocodile Rock, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road and Your Song.
Tom's touring as a singer and piano player has encompassed gigs in every single state of America, and hundreds of concerts at iconic venues all over the world.
This includes shows at the Adelphi Theatre, Carnegie Hall, Tivoli, Casino Estoril, Vivo Rio, Théâtre du Gymnase Marie Bell, Emerson Colonial Theatre, The Granada Theatre Santa Barbara, Balboa Theatre, The Conrad Prebys Performing Arts Center, Perot Theatre, Sioux City Orpheum, Robinson Center, Koger Center for the Arts, Buskirk-Chumley Theater, Performing Arts Center San Luis Obispo, Scottsdale Performing Arts Center, Sunrise Theatre, Teatro Positivo, Ulysses Centro de Convenções, Vibra São Paulo, Liverpool Philharmonic Hall, Sheffield City Hall, New Wimbledon Theatre, Bristol Beacon, New Theatre Oxford and Birmingham Symphony Hall.
Defiantly old school, Tom puts the music first, with extraordinary attention to detail. In contrast to most of the modern day industry, Tom plays 100% live, with no backing tracks or lip-syncing at all. Indeed as Elton himself put it, "I think everyone who lip-syncs on stage in public when you pay like 75 quid to see them should be shot".
A truly "full circle" moment for Tom came on August 5th 2024. Nigel Olsson returned to the Troubadour in West Hollywood to play with him, nearly 54 years to the day of his legendary original performance at the same venue with Elton John himself, which was Elton's first ever American show and the one that catapulted him to global superstardom.