Molly Meldrum Apologises for Mooning Crowd at Elton John Show

January 16, 2023

Australian icon Ian ‘Molly’ Meldrum has apologised after mooning the crowd at Elton John’s show in Melbourne last week.

John was performing at AAMI Park as part of his Farewell Yellow Brick Tour last Friday when he was joined on stage by his old friend Meldrum during ‘The Bitch Is Back’. During the song, Meldrum’s pants suddenly dropped to the floor, exposing his bare arse to the whole audience.

Elton John – ‘The Bitch Is Back’

While some may have thought it was a stunt, Meldrum has since insisted it was an accident. He told the Herald Sun on Sunday that the slightly unfortunate incident was the result of a wardrobe malfunction. “At the start of the night, my belt buckle broke,” he said. “And my pants were already falling down. And on stage, one thing led to another.”

He went on to say he “shouldn’t have ventured on stage”, but he just wanted to “tell Elton that I loved him”. “Some people thought it was part of the show. It wasn’t. Elton had no idea I was going to jump on stage,” he said. “Elton might have been singing ‘The Bitch Is Back’ but it was more a case of the idiot is back.”

If seeing Molly Meldrum’s bare bum was on your 2023 bingo card, here you go. (From tonight’s Elton John concert at AAMI Park Melbourne) pic.twitter.com/7B7OYZWhgl

— Tish (@oztish) January 13, 2023

John had introduced Meldrum with a fairly touching tribute, calling the Countdown host an “amazing man”. “I’ve known Molly ever since I’ve been coming to Australia,” he said. “He’s helped me so much in Australia, he’s helped every single musician who’s been here.

“He’s honestly a national treasure. I want to thank him for the love and loyalty he’s shown me over the years. He’s an amazing man. Molly, thank you so much, I love you.”

The pair have repaired their friendship over the last couple of years, following a bitter falling out a decade ago after an infamous Sunday Night interview. Comments that John thought were off-the-record were broadcast during the interview – he had made disparaging comments about Madonna, calling her a “nightmare”. Meldrum claimed a Sunday Night producer had gone behind his back and decided to air the comments.

John’s Australian shows will wrap up over the next week, with shows scheduled for Sydney and Brisbane.