According to the Mirror, blues legend Long John Baldry, from whom Elton once took the "John" for his new name, is fighting for his life.

Baldry has also discovered singer Rod Stewart who kept a bedside vigil last month at a clinic in London and is paying the medical bills of his old friend.

But Surrey-born Baldry, 64, then flew back to Canada where he lives and is now desperately ill in Vancouver General Hospital with breathing problems. Relatives from Britain have flown out to be with him.

A hospital spokesman said on April 20, 2005: "He has been in the hospital since the end of March [2005] when he was admitted with respiratory-related problems. He is in intensive care where his condition is stable."

Long John Baldry spotted Rod Stewart's talent in the 1960s when he heard him singing to himself at midnight at Twickenham station in South West London. He offered him the chance to join his band The Hoochie Coochie Men and he jumped at the chance.

Baldry went on to have a No 1 hit single with "Let the Heartaches Begin". He also gave Elton John his first break in music when he used Blusology as backing band. And guitarist Eric Clapton said Baldry's love of blues inspired his own career.

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