A distraught Sir Elton John was forced to call off his first Auckland concert midway through the performance in February 2020 after suffering pneumonia and losing his voice.

“I’m sorry, so very sorry,” a sobbing John told the Mt Smart crowd.

The superstar, who earlier needed medical assistance while on stage, broke down in tears and needed to be assisted from the stage after attempting to launch into Daniel, but having no voice left.

I was in the audience at the time. The BBC World Service spoke to me about what happened.