Sir Elton John has recalled how answering an advert in long-running music magazine NME changed his life as the publication released its final ever weekly print edition.
The hitmaker paid tribute to the staple of every teenage music fan’s bedroom as it announced was focusing solely on its digital output following Friday’s last ever free print edition.
Publishers Time Inc announced the news earlier this week, citing rising production costs and a “tough” advertising market.
Dozens of musicians, journalists and readers shared memories of to the magazine which features London rising star Stefflon Don on the front of its final ever issue.
Sir Elton recalled how he had met his longtime collaborator Bernie Taupin in the magazine’s advertising pages and thanked them for Charles Shaar Murray, a former NME journalist.
He wrote on Twitter: “When I was a teenager, I read you from cover to cover. I met Bernie Taupin through an ad in the back pages.
“It changed my life forever. Thanks for so many memories, and Charles Shaar Murray.”
Farewell to #NME. 😢 When I was a teenager, I read you from cover to cover. I met Bernie Taupin through an ad in the back pages. It changed my life forever. Thanks for so many memories, and Charles Shaar Murray. E x pic.twitter.com/5VSrlncfgf
— Elton John (@eltonofficial) March 9, 2018
Sir Elton has previously revealed how in 1967 the duo both answered the same advertisement looking for songwriters in the NME in London.
Taupin travelled down from his home in Lincolnshire to lodge with Sir Elton’s family in Pinner.
Although they failed the subsequent audition, they have gone on to create more than 30 albums together.
Foals, Kasabian, The Clash, Lily Allen, Mogwai and journalist Danny Baker were among other stars paying tribute to the magazine which launched in 1952 and went free in September 2015.
The development comes at a tumultuous time in the magazine world, with Glamour announcing it would be printing a paper magazine only twice a year, and with its online site focusing on beauty.