LUCY “Sails” MESERIAN DAVIS received the award for “Top Elton John Fan for All Time” for uniting Elton John fans around the world since 1977. In that year, at age 14, Lucy began organizing fans in pen pal networks which she built through ads in the popular rock-’n-roll fanzine Circus Magazine. Today, Lucy runs a fiercely independent and active, 28,000-person-strong Facebook group, “Elton John and his Fans,” where fans are free to express their unique opinions on the music as long as they’re respectful of each other.

 

Lucy found teenagers who took a strong stand for Elton John during the two-year period when he retired from albums and the stage and received harsh criticism from the press. After a frank interview on his personal life in Rolling Stone in 1976, John suffered a continued backlash from the press, including the audacity to challenge his musical ability, and a number of his albums failed to hit high on the pop and rock charts.

 

But the fans stuck by him. “It’s about loyalty,” Lucy sums it up simply. “Every kid alive knew that Elton John was Number 1. But there we were in junior high and high school liking him—loving him—as much as ever. It’s a little bit funny that it’s now hip again to be an Elton John fan. We always were!”  

In 1980, Lucy’s room filled with Elton John memorabilia distinguished her as Elton John’s No. 1 fan, featured on the TV news in her hometown of Detroit. Today, her collection has become a finely curated museum, and in early 2023, AARP magazine, in a highly competitive field, named Lucy as Elton John’s top fan for all of the USA.

 

Chief Justice Zimmerman revealed perhaps a most personal reason for the night’s gathering. At 14, he had been the first to answer Lucy's call for an Elton John pen pal in 1977. "We would write 10 pages, both sides,” says Zimmerman. “I was into chart statistics, and we both knew Elton John was No. 1.” But beyond the music, they’ve become lifelong friends. “This one’s for you!” Zimmerman said as he joined the chorus in dedicating 11-17-22 to Lucy.