Elton John's tribute to Winifred Atwell

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I’m sure most of us have heard of Winifred Atwell who achieved fame as a pianist and composer. Although most of her output consisted of boogie-woogie and ragtime numbers, she was also an accomplished classical pianist, performing in theatres and on TV shows many times. Two of her best-known pieces were Black and White Rag and Maple Leaf Rag. She had a really interesting life but I’ll try to keep this reasonably short: • Her hands were insured by Lloyds of London for £40,000 providing she never washed dishes. • As of 2023, she was the only female artist to have a piano instrumental No. 1 on the UK pop charts. This was in 1954 with ‘Let’s Have Another Party’. • She was born in Trinadad, lived in the UK for some time then came to Australia in 1955. • In many concerts, she would first perform on a grand piano, then what became known as ‘her other piano’ would be brought on stage. This was a honky-tonk piano bought for 50/- from a junk shop in London. It travelled the world with her until her death. • In the 1960s she slimmed down from 16 to 12 stone (102 to 76 kg), using what would today be called a protein diet. • She loved mangoes and crosswords, hated new shoes and enjoyed watching televised cricket. • She retired in 1981 but continued to play the organ for her local Catholic parish. • She died in 1983 and is buried next to her husband, Lew Levisohn, in Northern Rivers Memorial Park, South Gundurimba in northern New South Wales. • Elton John regarded her as one of his top musical heroes and and paid for a headstone featuring a keyboard. Photo: https://jamesobrien.id.au/2012/04/winifred-atwells-grave/