Elvis Costello slams Platinum Jubilee concert

The ‘Oliver’s Army’ hitmaker was unimpressed by last weekend’s star-studded musical extravaganza – which featured performances from the likes of Queen, Diana Ross, George Ezra and Elbow – and mocked the ‘Maggie May’ singer for his widely-panned rendition of ‘Sweet Caroline’.

Speaking on stage in Glasgow, Elvis, 67, told the audience: “I was in Brighton the other night when the Jubilee was happening. But the show was good, wasn’t it? Wasn’t it? No, it was s****.

“I mean, I know you all love him and he’s one of yours and everything, but Rod. What the f***?

“I must say, listen we all have bad nights vocally, but for f*** sake, ‘Sweet f***ing Caroline’.

“Are you f***ing kidding me?

“I mean I’ve been in showbusiness 45 years so I do know a thing or two. How is it that nobody suggested Rod sing ‘You Wear It Well’?”

Elvis then joked Diana, who sang ‘Chain Reaction’, could have chosen other tracks from her back catalogue that would have been more appropriate.

He quipped: “Listen, Diana Ross had a whole playlist of songs that would have fitted the occasion: ‘You Keep Me Hanging On’, ‘I’m Living In Shame’. I’m not saying ‘Love Child’.

“You never heard it from me.”

Rod’s wife, Penny Lancaster, previously defended her husband and insisted it wasn’t his choice to sing the Neil Diamond classic.

She said: “The BBC said Rod we need you to sing ‘Sweet Caroline’, it’s the Queen’s favourite you have to do it so he didn’t have much of a choice.”

And it was “touch and go” as to whether the 77-year-old star would even perform after COVID-19 affected his voice.

Penny said: “It was very very touch and go and he was so nervous leading up to it and he was three weeks in Vegas and caught covid just after the last show, he came home and was past the ten day period of being contagious but he lost his voice.

“So the sound check on the Wednesday he went along and wore a mask but had no voice and he was like how long can I leave it?”

“So he went for another rehearsal on the Friday but his voice is there now but he wasn’t quite on, but he didn’t want to disappoint anybody. It wasn’t the Rod Stewart show it was for the nation and for everybody to come together for the Queen and he wanted to please the people so that was the song.”