At Elton John's Oscar party, Brandi Carlile pays tribute to Ryan White, saying, 'I don't even take this lightly.'

Brandi Carlile announced

Carlie announced during her performance at the 30th annual Elton John AIDS Foundation Academy Awards Viewing Party on Sunday evening, "I don't take standing here lightly." which raised $8.6 million for the Foundation's work to end AIDS, was a full-circle moment for the Grammy-winning singer-songwriter, as she told the crowd that she discovered Elton John's music after doing a book report about Ryan White Ryan White, a hemophiliac boy who contracted HIV via a blood transfusion, became an AIDS activist and close friend of John's before dying of AIDS in 1990.

Carlile was serious after the joke

Carlile became serious after joking that performing in the event's pink-hued tent in the center of West Hollywood Park felt like "doing a concert in a real vagina."Carlie says, "  I was only permitted to listen to country and western music. I grew up and still live in a conservative community "she reminisced about her youth "I also wrote a book report [on Ryan White: My Own Story, an autobiography]. I believe it was in sixth grade, and it was about a young man named Ryan White who had died... It was also my first exposure to issues such as HIV and AIDS. It was a significant event that influenced my outlook.

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At the conclusion of the novel

This young lad befriended a man named Elton John, whose music I'd never heard before. This Elton John guy played a song called 'Skyline Pigeon' at Ryan's burial, which I'd never heard before." I returned home and told my parents about what I had learned about HIV and AIDS and the stigma and the suffering that people were through.

Seeking out for Elton song

Carlie says "I also asked them to take me to the King County Library, where I could check out and borrow a CD and hear Elton sing for the first time. "So to be 40 years old and to be standing here all these years later, being given the very serious and unspeakably wonderful opportunity to help the Elton John AIDS Foundation, is something that I can't really convey to you," Carlile ended. "I simply want you to know that standing here isn't something I take lightly."

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During connection with Ryan White

Elton John famously showered the White family with care during a period when persons with AIDS were misunderstood, ostracised, and demonized. He gave them a VIP tour of Disneyland, invited them to concerts, and even gave them money for a down payment on a house and for White's sister's college fund. When White died at the age of 18, John was by his side, and he also performed at White's memorial.

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Establishment of the AIDS Foundation

In 1992, John established the Elton John AIDS Foundation to honour Ryan White's memory. While Elton John was unable to attend this year's EJAF gala due to a conflicting concert date on his rescheduled Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour, he gave a special performance of "Your Song" and "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" via satellite from Nebraska. When Carlile and budding glam-pop singer Jake Wesley Rogers dueted on John's hit "Rocket Man," supported by a band that included Shooter Jennings and Matt Chamberlain, John's presence was also felt.

Who hosted the 30th annual EJAF Academy Awards?

Lady Gaga, Billy Porter, Eric McCormack, and Elton John AIDS Foundation chairman and Elton John's husband, David Furnish, hosted the 30th annual Elton John AIDS Foundation Academy Awards Viewing Party.

Other Celebrities at the EJA

Demi Lovato, Kevin Costner, Adam Lambert, Miguel, Zooey Deschanel, Amber Riley, Casey Affleck, Saweetie, Donatella Versace, Patricia, and Rosanna Arquette, Christina Hendricks, Lucy Hale, Heidi Klum, Liam Payne, Beck, Tinashe, Raven-Symone, Violet Chachki and Gottmik from RuPaul's Drag Race, Sharon Osbourne, and Jane Seymour were among .The Foundation returned to live events on Sunday. John's annual Oscar party has raised more than $86 million for its lifesaving activities since its establishment in 1992.