Elton John "Building Bridges," One Limbaugh Wedding at a Time

John's partner, David Furnish, admits that he was "a little surprised" by Rush Limbaugh's wedding invite

Elton John wasn't the only one who was "a little surprised" by the invite to perform at Rush Limbaugh's wedding last weekend.

"Elton, during the performance made a lot of cracks: 'I suppose you all wonder why I'm here tonight?' " John's longtime partner, David Furnish, told People at the Tony Awards Sunday. "But ultimately, it's a bit like an olive branch, I guess."

Not to mention a great WTF moment.

"To put it in Elton's exact words, when he got the invitation, he was 'a little surprised,' " Furnish recalled. "And then, when it turned out to be a genuinely sincere invitation...Elton said, 'Life is about building bridges, not walls.' "

This is the guy who donned a fluorescent suit and teamed with Eminem for a "Stan" duet at the Grammys, right at the height of "Is Eminem homophobic?" mania.

But Limbaugh isn't what one would call a friend of the gay community. Heck, he's not even a passing acquaintance.

Quoting John, Furnish said that the singer thought the conservative talk-radio host's wedding would be an ideal opportunity "to go where people wouldn't expect me to go. And maybe if I can make a great impression, people might change their perspectives on life."

"I wasn't there," Furnish continued, "but from everything Elton told me, he said Rush and his bride were incredibly charming and welcoming. And they have said they want to come and have dinner with us in England, if they pass through in their travels. We have to bring the world together, not apart."

Limbaugh, 59, swapped vows with Kathryn Rogers, 33, at the Breakers hotel in Palm Beach, Fla., his fourth trip down the aisle. They met six years ago, just as the radio star was getting unhitched from wife No. 3.