Responding on behalf of the 'Circle of Life' singer, David Furnish insists that his singer husband was not able to support The Who frontman's concert because of his Las Vegas residency.

• Oct 23, 2018

AceShowbiz - Elton John's husband David Furnish has hit back at Roger Daltrey's claims the star snubbed his charity gigs.

Last month, The Who frontman, 74, claimed he had asked Elton to perform at his annual "Teenage Cancer Trust" concert at the Royal Albert Hall in London but had not received a response, despite his support of the "Rocket Man" singer's AIDS Foundation.

David has angrily denied Roger's version of events on his spouse's behalf, saying they always respond to requests but work commitments have prevented the 71-year-old from taking part.

He told Britain's Daily Mirror newspaper, "Elton was puzzled when that came out because every time Roger has asked, we have responded. The reason Elton has not been able to support is because he has been in Las Vegas doing his residency. And we've always got back to Roger. We had tremendous respect for the work that he's doing. When the requests have come in, Elton has always said, 'This is amazing. And I'd really like to support it when I have the time.' "

David, 55, also said that his husband had supported Roger's charity in other ways, and denied the "Baba O'Riley" singer had performed at any AIDS Foundation gigs.

"Elton is a big, global star. He's now in the middle of a three-year farewell tour. We just can't stick him on a plane and move him around. But we've supported in other ways. Elton has actually done video announcements and things. We do what we can. The surprising thing was when Roger said he had been performing at our events, which is completely untrue," he stated.

Asked if they had spoken to Roger to clear the air, David described their relationship with the rocker as "not that close," despite the two stars having known each other for decades after Elton appeared in the 1975 film version of The Who's rock opera "Tommy".

Explaining what he and his husband have done to heal the rift, the filmmaker added, "We reached out through mutual friends to say: 'Huh? We've always responded.' Maybe he was just having a bad day."