Sir Elton John celebrated his 60th birthday by bringing the house down with a record-setting live extravaganza in New York.

Some 20,000 fans at Manhattan's Madison Square Garden danced and sang along ecstatically to a set which ranged from rarely-played early hits to classics like Rocket Man, Bennie And The Jets and Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me.

Sir Elton's 60th show at the legendary venue started with a surprise introduction by former American president Bill Clinton, featured special appearances by comedians Robin Williams and Whoopi Goldberg and ended with an emotional rendition of Your Song.

During the three-hour show the rocker dedicated Something About The Way You Look Tonight to partner David Furnish and paid tribute to John Lennon, who famously joined him on stage at the Garden in November 1974 in what turned out to be former Beatle's last concert performance before his death.

Celebrities guests included Little Britain funnymen Matt Lucas and David Walliams, 24 star Keifer Sutherland, Jon Bon Jovi, Lulu and Michael Caine.

Sir Elton has held the record for the most performances at the arena since 2001.

His nearest challengers for supremacy are the Grateful Dead, who played there 52 times.

Sir Elton took to the stage to a standing ovation wearing a black tailcoat with the words: "Birthday 60 years on" emblazoned on the back in gold.

In front of a starry backdrop, he opened the show with the appropriately-named Sixty Years On.

The 25-song set, accompanied by vintage images of the star, built to a climax with hits like Daniel, Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word, Crocodile Rock, Tiny Dancer and Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting.

Mr Clinton had stunned the audience at the sell-out show when he stepped onstage to introduce the rocker at 8pm sharp.

"Thank you for coming tonight to help celebrate Elton joining my favourite club, the 60-year-olds' club," he said, to laughs.

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