Sir Elton John has paid tribute to the wonder of vinyl as collectors and music stores gear up for the 10th annual Record Store Day.
The pop superstar will release a remastered special edition of his live album 17-11-70, featuring six previously unreleased tracks, to mark the occasion on Saturday.
Record Store Day launched in the UK in 2008, a year after it premiered in the US.
The UK event sees more than 200 independent record shops celebrate their culture by selling special vinyl releases and hosting artist performances across the country.
This year marks the event’s 10th birthday and avid vinyl collector Sir Elton was named as the first ever World Record Store Day Legend.
The singer-songwriter said: “Happy 10th birthday to Record Store Day.
“I love record stores, I can go to the record store in Vegas and spend three hours in there.
“Just the smell of it, the looking at it, the wonder of it, the memories.”
He added: “I love vinyl so much; the tactile nature, the ritual of it, looking at the sleeve… especially with the old albums and the liner notes – who played on them, the process of putting it on, the needle going on and the sound coming out.
“And it does sound better, I know it does. It’s just the wonder of having vinyl.”
Alongside 17-11-70, special releases on Saturday include two limited-edition David Bowie albums and several Prince singles, almost a year to the day after the US star’s death.
Since its launch, the event has helped to spearhead vinyl’s revival with sales of the format reaching 3.4 million units in 2016.
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