Elton John uses annual Oscars party as fundraiser for AIDS Foundation

Elton John, or Sir Elton John got back behind the piano - after his retirement from touring last July - to gather funds for the Elton John AIDS Foundation at his annual Academy Awards viewing party.

The audience included Patricia Arquette, Donatella Versace, Sharon Stone, Zooey Deschanel, Brandi Carlile, Danny DeVito, Rhea Pearlman, Tim Allen, Elizabeth Hurley, Alexis Bledel, Eric McCormack, Avril Lavigne, Heidi Klum and Melanie Lynskey.

The listeners seemed amused by a unique version of Are You Ready for Love, backed by the night’s musical headliners, the trio Gabriels.

“I’m from Compton, I’m from L.A., so it feels like a full circle moment,” Gabriels member Jacob Lusk said.

“And to be doing it in support of an amazing event such as this. [We get to] have fun, eat good food, drink a little bit and then help people.”

With a record-breaking $10.8 million raised, the event easily surpassed the previous high amount of more than $1 million, which was reached in 2022.

The Elton John AIDS Foundation Academy Award Party has been a premier Oscar-night affair for over three decades, grossing in excess of $100 million since its inaugural assembly on Maple Drive in 1993.

The Elton John AIDS Foundation chair, David Furnish, along with Tiffany Haddish, Neil Patrick Harris, and David Burtka hosted the celebration this year, which takes place at West Hollywood Park, which is now altered annually to accommodate it.