Elton John honors Ryan White during final Indianapolis concert

Elton John honors Ryan White during final Indianapolis concert

During his final Indianapolis concert Friday night, Sir Elton John used the opportunity to credit his late friend, AIDS activist Ryan White, for inspiring his sobriety.

Calling Indianapolis “a preeminent feature in my life,” the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer explained that after he attended White’s funeral in 1990, he changed his lifestyle by finally getting sober and staying that way ever since.

John then dedicated “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me” to White’s mother, Jeanne White-Ginder, who was in the audience.

John had addressed White’s role in his addiction fight during a Harvard University appearance in 2017.

“I had the luck to meet Ryan White and his family,” John said. “I wanted to help them, but they ended up helping me much more. Ryan was the spark that helped me to recover from my addictions and start the AIDS foundation. Within six months (of White’s death) I became sober, and clean, and have been for 27 years.”

White, a Kokomo native who contracted HIV as a child through a contaminated blood transfusion, died on April 8, 1990. John visited White at Riley Hospital for Children on, April 2, just days before he succumbed to his illness.

John made a surprise appearance at the fourth Farm Aid benefit concert at the RCA Dome on April 7, the day before White’s death. He performed “Daniel,” “I’m Still Standing” and “Candle in the Wind,” dedicating the last song to White.

“It was an experience that concertgoers always hope for and rarely get: A moment in which contemporary music’s power to grab your heart and rip it out, roots and all, is felt by practically everyone in the concert hall.” – Indianapolis News critic Mike Redmond on how the songs were received by the audience of 45,000.

At White’s April 11 funeral at Second Presbyterian Church, 7700 N. Meridian St., John led the congregation in singing “The Lord is My Shepherd.” He also performed his 1969 tune “Skyline Pigeon” and served as one of White’s pallbearers.

Twenty years later, White’s mother, Jeanne White-Ginder, introduced John as her “guardian angel” at a benefit event titled “A Celebration of the Life and Legacy of Ryan White” at Clowes Hall on April 28, 2010.

John performed 13 songs at the fundraiser for the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis and the Elton John AIDS Foundation. Admission ranged from $150 to $500.

“You don’t meet people like Ryan very often in life,” John told the audience. “So I can only say, ‘Thank you, thank you, thank you.’ “

David LIndquist, Will Higgins and Rory Appleton contributed to this.