Elton John

Elton John

Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE (born 25 March 1947 as Reginald Kenneth Dwight; name change occurred in 1972) is an homosexual English singer-songwriter, composer and pianist.

In his four-decade career, John has sold more than 250 million records, making him one of the most successful artists of all time. His single "Candle in the Wind 1997" has sold over 37 million copies, becoming the best selling single of all time. He has more than 50 Top 40 hits, including seven consecutive No. 1 U.S. albums, 56 Top 40 singles, 16 Top 10, four No. 2 hits, and nine No. 1 hits. He has won five Grammy awards, an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award and a Tony Award. His success has had a profound impact on popular music and has contributed to the continued popularity of the piano in rock and roll. In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked him Number 49 on its list of the 100 greatest artists of all time. Some of the characteristics of John's musical talent and work include an ability to quickly craft melodies for the lyrics of songwriting partner Bernie Taupin, his former rich tenor (now baritone) voice, his classical and gospel-influenced piano, the sensitive orchestral arrangements of Paul Buckmaster among others, and the on-stage showmanship, especially evident during the 1970s.

John was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. He has been heavily involved in the fight against AIDS since the late 1980s, and was knighted in 1998. He entered into a civil partnership with David Furnish on 21 December 2005 and continues to be a champion for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender social movements. In 2008, Billboard magazine ranked him as the most successful male solo artist on "The Billboard Hot 100 Top All-Time Artists" (Third overall, behind only The Beatles and Madonna).

Early life

John was born Reginald Kenneth Dwight on 25 March 1947, and was raised in Pinner, Middlesex in a council house of his maternal grandparents, with whom his newlywed parents (Sheila Eileen (Harris) and Stanley Dwight) were living until they moved to a nearby semi-detached house when he was six. He was educated at Pinner Wood Junior School, Reddiford School and Pinner County Grammar School until the age of 17, when he left just prior to his GCE A Level examinations to pursue a career in the music industry.

When John began to seriously consider a career in music, his father, who served as a Flight Lieutenant in the Royal Air Force, tried to steer him toward a more conventional career, such as banking. John has stated that his wild stage costumes and performances were his way of letting go after such a restrictive childhood. Both of John's parents were musically inclined, his father having been a trumpet player with the Bob Millar Band, a semi-professional big band that played at military dances. The Dwights were keen record buyers, exposing John to the popular singers and musicians of the day, and John remembers being immediately hooked on rock and roll when his mother brought home records by Elvis Presley and Bill Haley & His Comets in 1956.

John started playing the piano at the age of 3, and within a year, his mother heard him picking out Winifred Atwell's "The Skater's Waltz" by ear. After performing at parties and family gatherings, at the age of 7 he took up formal piano lessons. He showed musical aptitude at school, including the ability to compose melodies, and gained some notoriety by playing like Jerry Lee Lewis at school functions. At the age of 11, he won a junior scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music. According to one of his instructors, John promptly played back, like a "gramophone record", a four-page piece by Handel that he heard for the first time.

For the next five years he attended Saturday classes at the Academy in central London, and has stated that he enjoyed playing Chopin and Bach and singing in the choir during Saturday classes, but that he was not otherwise a diligent classical student. "I kind of resented going to the Academy," he says. "I was one of those children who could just about get away without practicing and still pass, scrape through the grades." He even claims that he would sometimes skip classes and just ride around on the Tube. However, several instructors have testified that he was a "model student," and during the last few years he was taking lessons from a private tutor in addition to his classes at the Academy.

John's mother, though also strict with her son, was more vivacious than her husband, and something of a free spirit. With Stanley Dwight uninterested in his son and often physically absent, John was raised primarily by his mother and maternal grandmother. When his father was home, the Dwights would have terrible arguments that greatly distressed their son. John was 15 when they divorced. His mother then married a local painter, Fred Farebrother, a caring and supportive stepfather who John affectionately referred to as "Derf", his first name in reverse. They moved into flat No. 1A in an eight-unit apartment building called Frome Court, not far from both previous homes. It was there that John would write the songs that would launch his career as a rock star; he would live there until he had four albums simultaneously in the American Top 40.

Music career

Pub pianist to staff songwriter (1962–69)

See also: Bluesology

At the age of 15, with the help of his mother and stepfather, Reginald Dwight became a weekend pianist at a nearby pub, the Northwood Hills Hotel, playing Thursday to Sunday nights for £35 a week and tips. Known simply as "Reggie", he played a range of popular standards, including songs by Jim Reeves and Ray Charles, as well as songs he had written himself. A stint with a short-lived group called the Corvettes rounded out his time.

In 1964, Dwight and his friends formed a band called Bluesology. By day, he ran errands for a music publishing company; he divided his nights between solo gigs at a London hotel bar and working with Bluesology. By the mid-1960s, Bluesology was backing touring American soul and R&B musicians like The Isley Brothers, Major Lance, Billy Stewart, Doris Troy and Patti LaBelle and The Bluebelles. In 1966, the band became musician Long John Baldry's supporting band and began touring cabarets in England.

After failing lead vocalist auditions for King Crimson and Gentle Giant, Dwight answered an advertisement in the New Musical Express placed by Ray Williams, then the A&R manager for Liberty Records. At their first meeting, Williams gave Dwight a stack of lyrics written by Bernie Taupin, who had answered the same ad. Dwight wrote music for the lyrics, and then mailed it to Taupin, beginning a partnership that still continues. In 1967, what would become the first Elton John/Bernie Taupin song, "Scarecrow", was recorded; when the two first met, six months later, Dwight was going by the name "Elton John", in homage to Bluesology saxophonist Elton Dean and Long John Baldry.

The team of John and Taupin joined Dick James's DJM Records as staff songwriters in 1968, and over the next two years wrote material for various artists, like Roger Cook and Lulu. Taupin would write a batch of lyrics in under an hour and give it to John, who would write music for them in half an hour, disposing of the lyrics if he couldn't come up with anything quickly. For two years, they wrote easy-listening tunes for James to peddle to singers. Their early output included an entry for British song for the Eurovision Song Contest in 1969, called "Can't Go On (Living Without You)". It came sixth of six songs.

During this period, John also played on sessions for other artists including playing piano on The Hollies' "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother" and singing backing vocals for The Scaffold.

Empty Sky to Blue Moves (1969-1976)

On the advice of music publisher Steve Brown, John and Taupin started writing more complex songs for John to record for DJM. The first was the single "I've Been Loving You" (1968), produced by Caleb Quaye, former Bluesology guitarist. In 1969, with Quaye, drummer Roger Pope, and bassist Tony Murray, John recorded another single, "Lady Samantha", and an album, Empty Sky. Despite extraordinary reviews, none of the records sold well. John and Taupin now enlisted Gus Dudgeon to produce a follow-up with Paul Buckmaster as musical arranger. Elton John was released in the spring of 1970 on DJM Records/Pye Records in the UK and Uni Records in the USA, and established the formula for subsequent albums; gospel-chorded rockers and poignant ballads. The first single from the album, "Border Song", only made the US Top 100 peaking at Number 92. After the second single "Your Song" made the U.S. Top Ten, the album followed suit. John's first American concert took place at The Troubadour in Los Angeles (his introduction was provided by Neil Diamond), in August of that year, backed by ex-Spencer Davis Group drummer Nigel Olsson and bassist Dee Murray. Playing alongside David Ackles left him armed with ideas for showmanship, and the exuberant pianist followed Jerry Lee Lewis' style, kicking over the piano bench added to his own touches, performing handstands on the keyboards, John left the critics raving, and drew praise from fellow artists such as Quincy Jones and Bob Dylan.

In the spring of 1970, John was recruited to provide piano and backing vocals on "Back Home", the song recorded by the English football squad preparing to depart to Mexico for the World Cup finals.

Elton John was followed quickly with the concept album Tumbleweed Connection in October 1970, which reached the Top Ten on the Billboard 200. A frenetic pace of releasing two albums a year was now established.

The live album 17-11-70 (11-17-70 in the US) was recorded at a live show aired from A&R Studios on WABC-FM in New York City. Introduced by disc jockey Dave Herman, it featured extended versions of John/Taupin's early compositions that illustrate the gospel and boogie-woogie influences on John's piano playing, as well as the interaction between John, bassist Dee Murray, and drummer Nigel Olsson. During the magnum opus 18:20 version of "Burn Down the Mission", the band interpolates Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup's "My Baby Left Me" and a full rendition of The Beatles' "Get Back" before a rampaging conclusion. Sales of the live album were heavily hit in the U.S. when an east coast bootlegger released the performance several weeks before the official album, including all 60 minutes of the aircast, not just the 40 minutes selected by Dick James Music.

John and Taupin then wrote the soundtrack to the obscure film Friends and then the album Madman Across the Water, the latter reaching the Top Ten and producing the hit "Levon", while the soundtrack album produced the hit "Friends".

In 1972, the final piece of what would become known as the Elton John Band fell into place with the addition of Davey Johnstone on guitar and backing vocals. Murray, Olsson, and Johnstone combined with John and Taupin's writing, John's flamboyant performance style, and producer Gus Dudgeon to create a hit-making chemistry for the next five Elton John albums. Known for their instrumental playing, the members of the band were also strong backing vocalists who worked out and recorded many of their vocal harmonies themselves, usually in John's absence.

The band released Honky Chateau, which became John's first American number 1 album, spending five weeks at the top of the charts and spawning the hit singles "Rocket Man (I Think It's Going To Be A Long, Long Time)" (which is often compared to David Bowie's "Space Oddity") and "Honky Cat".

The pop album Don't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano Player came out at the start of 1973, and produced the hits "Crocodile Rock" and "Daniel"; the former became his first U.S. number one hit. (Ironically this, like his other famous 1970s solo hits, would be popular in his native land but never top the UK Singles Chart; this achievement would have to wait two decades.) Both the album and "Crocodile Rock" were the first album and single, respectively on the consolidated MCA Records label in the USA, replacing MCA's other labels including Uni.

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road gained instant critical acclaim and topped the chart on both sides of the Atlantic, remaining at Number 1 for two months. It also temporarily established John as a glam rock star. It contained the number 1 hit "Bennie and the Jets", along with the popular and praised "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road", "Candle in the Wind", "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting", "Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies Bleeding" and "Grey Seal" (originally recorded and released in 1970 as the B-side to the UK-only single, "Rock and Roll Madonna"). There is also a VHS and DVD as part of the Classic Albums series, discussing the making, recording, and popularity of "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" through concert and home video footage including interviews.

John then formed his own MCA-distributed label Rocket Records and signed acts to it – notably Neil Sedaka ("Bad Blood", on which he sang background vocals) and Kiki Dee – in which he took personal interest. Instead of releasing his own records on Rocket, he opted for $8 million offered by MCA. When the contract was signed in 1974, MCA reportedly took out a $25 million insurance policy on John's life.

In 1974 a collaboration with John Lennon took place, resulting in Elton John covering The Beatles' "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" and Lennon's "One Day at a Time", and in return Elton John and band being featured on Lennon's "Whatever Gets You thru the Night". In what would be Lennon's last live performance, the pair performed these two number 1 hits along with the Beatles classic "I Saw Her Standing There" at Madison Square Garden. Lennon made the rare stage appearance to keep the promise he made that he would appear on stage with Elton if "Whatever Gets You Thru The Night" became a number 1 single.

Caribou was released in 1974, and although it reached number 1, it was widely considered a lesser quality album. Reportedly recorded in a scant two weeks between live appearances, it featured "The Bitch Is Back" and John's versatility in orchestral songs with "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me".

Pete Townshend of The Who asked John to play a character called the "Local Lad" in the film of the rock opera Tommy, and to perform a song named "Pinball Wizard". Drawing on power chords, John's version was recorded and used for the movie release in 1975 and the single came out in 1976 (1975 in the U.S.). The song charted at number 7 in England. Bally subsequently released a "Captain Fantastic" pinball machine featuring an illustration of John in his movie guise.

Elton John performing live in 1975

In the 1975 autobiographical album Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy, John revealed his previously ambiguous personality, with Taupin's lyrics describing their early days as struggling songwriters and musicians in London. The lyrics and accompanying photo booklet are infused with a specific sense of place and time that is otherwise rare in John's music. "Someone Saved My Life Tonight" was the hit single from this album and captured an early turning point in John's life.

The album's release signaled the end of the Elton John Band, as an unhappy and overworked John dismissed Olsson and Murray, two people who had contributed much of the band's signature sound and who had helped build his live following since the beginning. Johnstone and Ray Cooper were retained, Quaye and Roger Pope returned, and the new bassist was Kenny Passarelli; this rhythm section provided a heavier-sounding backbeat. James Newton-Howard joined to arrange in the studio and to play keyboards. John introduced the lineup before a crowd of 75,000 in London's Wembley Stadium.

Rock-oriented Rock of the Westies entered the U.S. albums chart at number 1 like Captain Fantastic, a previously unattained feat. However, the material was almost universally regarded as not on a par with previous releases. The musical and vocal chemistry Olsson and Murray brought to John's previous releases was seen as lacking by some, both on the album and in the concerts that supported it.

Commercially, John owed much of his success during the mid-1970s to his concert performances. He filled arenas and stadiums worldwide, and was arguably the hottest act in the rock world. John was an unlikely rock idol to begin with, as he was short of stature at 5 feet 7 inches (1.70 m), chubby, and gradually losing his hair. But he made up for it with impassioned performances and over-the-top fashion sense. Also known for his glasses (he started wearing them as a youth to copy his idol Buddy Holly), his flamboyant stage wardrobe now included ostrich feathers, $5,000 spectacles that spelled his name in lights, and dressing up like the Statue of Liberty, Donald Duck, or Mozart among others at his concerts made them a success and created interest for his music.

To celebrate five years of unparalleled success since he first appeared at the venue, in 1975 John played a two-night, four-show stand at The Troubadour. With seating limited to under 500 per show, the chance to purchase tickets was determined by a postcard lottery, with each winner allowed two tickets. Everyone who attended the performances received a hardbound "yearbook" of the band's history. That year he also contributed some exemplary piano playing to Kevin Ayers' Sweet Deceiver.

In 1976, the live album Here and There in May, then the downbeat Blue Moves in October, which contained the memorable but even gloomier hit "Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word". His biggest success in 1976 was the "Don't Go Breaking My Heart", a peppy duet with Kiki Dee that topped both the American and British charts. Finally, in an interview with Rolling Stone that year entitled "Elton's Frank Talk", a stressed John stated that he was bisexual.

Besides being the most commercially successful period, 1970 - 1976 is also held in the most regard critically. Within only a three year span, between 1972-75 John saw seven consecutive albums reach Number 1 in the charts, which had not been accomplished before. Of the six Elton John albums to make the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time in Rolling Stone'in 2003, all are from this period, with Goodbye Yellow Brick Road ranked highest at number 91; similarly, the three Elton John albums given five stars by Allmusic (Tumbleweed Connection, Honky Château, and Captain Fantastic) are all from this period too.

During the same period, John made a self-effacing guest appearance on the popular Morecambe and Wise show on the BBC. The two comics spent the episode pointing him in the direction of everywhere except the stage in order to prevent him singing.

Hiatus

John's career took a hit after 1976. In November 1977 John announced he was retiring from performing; Taupin began collaborating with others. John secluded himself in any of his three mansions, appearing publicly only to attend the matches of Watford, an English football team of whom he was a lifelong devotee, and that he later bought. Some speculated that John's retreat from stardom was prompted by adverse reactions to the Rolling Stone article.

Now only producing one album a year, John issued A Single Man in 1978, employing a new lyricist, Gary Osborne; the album produced no singles that made the Top 20 in the US but the two singles from the album released in the UK, Part-Time Love and Song for Guy, both made the Top 20 in the UK with the latter reaching the Top 5. In 1979, accompanied by Ray Cooper, John became the first Western pop star to tour the Soviet Union (as well as one of the first in Israel), then mounted a two-man comeback tour of the US in small halls. John returned to the singles chart with "Mama Can't Buy You Love" (number 9, 1979), a song originally rejected in 1977 by MCA before being released, recorded in 1977 with Philadelphia soul producer Thom Bell. Elton reported that Thom Bell was the first person to give him voice lessons; Bell encouraged John to sing in a lower register. A disco-influenced album, Victim of Love, was poorly received.

21 at 33 to Sleeping with the Past (1979-1989)

In 1979, John and Taupin reunited. 21 at 33, released the following year, was a significant career boost, aided by his biggest hit in four years, "Little Jeannie" (number 3 US), although the lyrics were written by Gary Osborne. His 1981 follow-up, The Fox, was recorded in part during the same sessions and also included collaborations with Tom Robinson and Judie Tzuke. On 13 September 1980, John, with Olsson and Murray back in the Elton John Band, performed a free concert to an estimated 400,000 fans on The Great Lawn in Central Park in New York City. Elton sang and dedicated "Imagine" to his friend, John Lennon, at this concert. Three months later Lennon would be murdered in front of his home building. John mourned the loss in his 1982 hit "Empty Garden (Hey Hey Johnny)", from his Jump Up! album, his second under a new U.S. recording contract with Geffen Records. He performed the tribute at a sold-out Madison Square Garden show in August 1982, joined on stage by Yoko Ono and Sean Ono Lennon, Elton John's godchild.

The 1980s were years of personal upheaval for John. In 1984 he surprised many by marrying his close friend and sound engineer, Renate Blauel. They married in an extravagant ceremony on Valentine's Day 1984. He professed to love Renate deeply and is still friends with her to this day. In 1988 Elton began coming out of the closet. According to a Biography.com tribute to the performer aired in October 2009, Elton expressed his new found identity by appearing on a well-known television show and confessing that he was bi-sexual. It wasn't much longer before he finally admitted to the public and himself that had come to the realization that he was gay. He claims he labeled himself bisexual because he was still coming to terms with his own feelings. In accordance with this revelation, he and Renate divorced. He claims to still love her deeply as an important part of his past life.

The Biography Channel Special detailed the loss of Elton's voice in 1986 while on tour in Australia. Shortly thereafter he underwent throat surgery, which permanently altered his voice. Several non-cancerous polyps were removed from his vocal cords, resulting in the loss of his famous falsetto. John continued recording prolifically, but years of cocaine and alcohol abuse, initiated in earnest around the time of Rock of the Westies' 1975 release, were taking their toll. In 1987 he won a libel case against The Sun which published allegations of underaged sex; afterwards he said, "You can call me a fat, balding, talentless old queen who can't sing – but you can't tell lies about me."

With original band members Johnstone, Murray and Olsson together again, John was able to return to the charts with the 1983 hit album Too Low For Zero, which included "I'm Still Standing" and "I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues", the latter of which featured Stevie Wonder on harmonica and reached number 4 in the U.S., giving John his biggest hit there since "Little Jeannie". Indeed while he would never again match his 1970s success, he placed hits in the U.S. Top Ten throughout the 1980s – "Little Jeannie" (number 3, 1980), "Sad Songs (Say So Much)" (number 5, 1984), "Nikita" boosted by a mini-movie pop video directed by Ken Russell (number 7, 1986), a live orchestral version of "Candle in the Wind" (number 6, 1987), and "I Don't Wanna Go On With You Like That" (number 2, 1988). His highest-charting single was a collaboration with Dionne Warwick, Gladys Knight, and Stevie Wonder on "That's What Friends Are For" (number 1, 1985); credited as Dionne and Friends, the song raised funds for AIDS research. His albums continued to sell, but of the six released in the latter half of the 1980s, only Reg Strikes Back (number 16, 1988) placed in the Top 20 in the United States.

In 1984, Watford reached the FA Cup final at Wembley Stadium, fulfilling a lifelong ambition for John, who by now was owner and chairman of the club. During the traditional pre-match ritual of the crowd singing "Abide With Me", John burst into tears. Watford lost the game 2-0 to Everton, who have played in blue shirts since 1901. After the game a large banner was unfurled among the Everton supporters, saying "SORRY ELTON - I GUESS THAT'S WHY THEY CALL US THE BLUES".

In 1985, John was one of the many performers at Live Aid, playing the Wembley Stadium leg of the marathon concert. He played "Bennie and the Jets" and "Rocket Man"; performed "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" with Kiki Dee for the first time in years; and introduced his friend George Michael, still then of Wham!, to sing "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me". This was an example of John's endearing support of young artists and embrace of all new music, which continues to this day. He enlisted Michael to sing backing vocals on his single "Wrap Her Up", and also recruited teen idol Nik Kershaw as an instrumentalist on "Nikita". John also recorded material with Millie Jackson in 1985. In 1986, he played the piano on two tracks on the heavy metal band Saxon's album Rock the Nations.

In 1988, he performed five sold-out shows at New York's Madison Square Garden, giving him 26 for his career, breaking the Grateful Dead's house record. But that year also marked the end of an era. Netting over $20 million, 2,000 items of John's memorabilia were auctioned off at Sotheby's in London, as John bade symbolic farewell to his excessive theatrical persona. (Among the items withheld from the auction were the tens of thousands of records John had been carefully collecting and cataloguing throughout his life.) In later interviews, he deemed 1989 the worst period of his life, comparing his mental and physical deterioration to Elvis Presley's last years.

1990s

John was deeply affected by the plight of Ryan White, an Indiana teenager with AIDS. Along with Michael Jackson, John befriended and supported the boy and his family until White's death in 1990. Himself a mess and confronted by his then-lover, John checked into a Chicago hospital in 1990 to combat his drug abuse, alcoholism, and bulimia. In recovery, he lost weight and underwent hair replacement, and subsequently took up residence in Atlanta, Georgia. Also in 1990, John would finally achieve his first UK number one hit on his own, with "Sacrifice" (coupled with "Healing Hands") from the previous year's album Sleeping with the Past; it would stay at the top spot for six weeks.

The 1991 film documentary Two Rooms described the unusual writing style that John and Bernie Taupin use, which involves Taupin writing the lyrics on his own, and John then putting them to music, with the two never in the same room during the process. That same year, Two Rooms: Celebrating the Songs of Elton John & Bernie Taupin, a tribute album featuring contributions from many top British and American performers was released. Also in 1991, John's "Basque" won the Grammy for Best Instrumental, and a guest concert appearance he had made on George Michael's reverent treatment of "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" was released as a single and topped the charts in both the U.S. and UK. On 24 November 1991, Freddie Mercury died of AIDS. John was one of the few invited to attend the singer's private funeral services.

In 1992 he established the Elton John AIDS Foundation, intending to direct 90 percent of the funds it raised to direct care, and 10 percent to AIDS prevention education. He also announced his intention to donate all future royalties from sales of his singles in the U.S. and UK to AIDS research. That year, he released the U.S. number 8 album The One, his highest-charting release since 1976's Blue Moves, and John and Taupin signed a music publishing deal with Warner/Chappell Music for an estimated $39 million over 12 years, giving them the largest cash advance in music publishing history. John performed "Bohemian Rhapsody" and "The Show Must Go On" with Queen at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert, an AIDS charity event held at Wembley Stadium, London. "Bohemian Rhapsody" featured a duet with Axl Rose, a reconciliatory gesture given Rose's previous homophobic reputation.

In September of the same year, he performed "November Rain" with Rose's band Guns N' Roses for the 1992 MTV Video Music Awards at the Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles. The following year, he released Duets, a collaboration with 15 artists including Tammy Wynette and RuPaul. This also included a new collaboration with Kiki Dee, entitled "True Love", which reached the Top 10 of the UK charts, and a duet with Eric Clapton on "Runaway Train", which also charted.

Along with Tim Rice, John wrote the songs for the 1994 Disney animated film The Lion King, which became the highest-grossing traditionally animated feature of all time. Three of the five nominees for the Academy Award for Best Song that year were from The Lion King; "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" eventually won. In versions sung by John, both that and "Circle of Life" became big hits, while the other songs such as "Hakuna Matata" achieved popularity with all ages as well. "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" would also win John the Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. After the release of the soundtrack, the album remained at the top of Billboard's charts for nine weeks. On 10 November 1999, the RIAA certified The Lion King "Diamond" for selling 15 million copies.

John was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility in 1994. He and Bernie Taupin had previously been inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1992. John was made a Commander of The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1995. John has also been awarded the honour of Knight Bachelor, entitling him to use the prefix "Sir".

In 1995 John released Made in England (number 3, 1995), which featured the hit single "Believe" (number 15, 1995). Also, a compilation called Love Songs was released the following year.

The year 1997 found extreme highs and lows for John. Early in the year, vestiges of the flamboyant John resurfaced as he threw a 50th birthday party, costumed as Louis XIV, for 500 friends. John also performed with the surviving members of Queen in Paris at the opening night (17 January 1997) of "Le Presbytere N'a Rien Perdu De Son Charme Ni Le Jardin Du Son Éclat", a work by French ballet legend Maurice Bejart which draws upon AIDS and the deaths of Freddie Mercury and the company's principal dancer Jorge Donn. This was only the second time the three surviving members of Queen had performed together live since Mercury had died. Later in 1997, two close friends died: designer Gianni Versace was murdered; Diana, Princess of Wales died in a Paris car crash.

In early September, Taupin altered the lyrics of "Candle in the Wind" for a special version mourning the death of Diana, and John performed it at her funeral in Westminster Abbey. A recorded version, "Candle in the Wind 1997", then became the fastest- and biggest-selling single of all time, eventually selling 5 million copies in the United Kingdom, 11 million in the U.S., and around 33 million worldwide, with the proceeds of approximately £55 million going to the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund. It would later win John the Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance, an achievement he has yet to repeat. He has not performed the song since Princess Diana's funeral, as John stated it would only be played once to lend it significance and make it special.

John and Tim Rice again teamed up in 1998 for the production of Elaborate Lives: The Legend of Aida. The musical was given its world premiere in the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta. It went on to Chicago and eventually Broadway under the simplified name, Aida.

2000s

Elton John performs at the Keepmoat Stadium in Doncaster, July 2008

In 2000, John and Tim Rice teamed again to create songs for DreamWorks' animated film The Road To El Dorado. In the musical theatre world, addition to a 1998 adaptation of The Lion King for Broadway, John also composed music for a Disney production of Aida in 1999 with lyricist Tim Rice, for which they received the Tony Award for Best Original Score and the Grammy Award for Best Musical Show Album. He also released a live compilation album called Elton John One Night Only - The Greatest Hits from the show he did at Madison Square Garden in New York City that same year.

Returning again to musical theatre, John composed music for a West End Theatre production of Billy Elliot the Musical in 2005 with playwright Lee Hall. John's only theatrical project with Bernie Taupin so far is Lestat: The Musical, based on the Anne Rice vampire novels. However it was slammed by the critics and closed in May 2006 after 39 performances.

John was named a Disney Legend for his numerous outstanding contributions to Disney's films and theatrical works on 9 October 2006, by The Walt Disney Company.

In March 2007 he performed at Madison Square Garden for a record breaking 60th time for his 60th birthday, the concert was broadcast live and a DVD recording was released as Elton 60 - Live at Madison Square Garden; a greatest-hits compilation CD, Rocket Man – Number Ones, was released in 17 different versions worldwide, including a CD/DVD combo; and his back catalogue - almost 500 songs from 32 albums - became available for legal download.

He has told Rolling Stone magazine that he plans for his next record to be in the R&B/hip-hop genre. "I want to work with Pharrell {Williams}, Timbaland, Snoop {Dogg}, Kanye {West}, Eminem and just see what happens."

In October 2003, John announced that he had signed an exclusive agreement to perform 75 shows over three years at Caesars Palace on the Las Vegas Strip. The show, entitled The Red Piano, was a multimedia concert featuring massive props and video montages created by David LaChapelle. Effectively, he and Celine Dion share performances at Caesar's Palace throughout the year - while one performs, one rests. The first of these shows took place on 13 February 2004. On 21 June 2008, he performed his 200th show in Caesars Palace. A DVD/CD package of "The Red Piano" was released through Best Buy in November 2008. A two year global tour was sandwiched between commitments in Las Vegas, Nevada, some of the venues of which were new to John. The Red Piano Tour closed in Las Vegas in April 2009.

In a September 2008 interview with GQ Magazine, Elton John said: "I’m going on the road again with Billy Joel again next year" – confirming that the two piano-playing legends would be reuniting for more Face to Face concerts in 2009. The tour began in March and will continue for at least two more years.

Personal life

In April 2009, the Sunday Times Rich List estimated John's wealth to be £175 million, and ranked him as the 322nd richest person in Britain.

In a 1976 Rolling Stone interview, he talked about bisexuality, his belief that everyone is bisexual to a degree, and that his first sexual experience was with a woman, the secretary Linda Woodrow to whom he proposed, and who is mentioned in the song "Someone Saved My Life Tonight". John married German recording engineer Renate Blauel on Valentine's Day, 1984, in Sydney, with some speculation that the marriage was a cover; when they divorced four years later John told Rolling Stone that he was "comfortable" being gay.

He met his Canadian-born partner David Furnish, a former advertising executive and now film maker, in 1993. On 21 December 2005, they entered into a civil partnership. The night before the event, a host of his closest celebrity friends helped him celebrate his stag party at the cabaret nightclub Too2Much in London's West End. On the actual day, a low-key ceremony with their parents, photographer Sam Taylor-Wood and her husband Jay Jopling, and John and Furnish's dog Arthur in attendance was held at the Guildhall, Windsor, followed by a lavish party at their Berkshire mansion, thought to have cost £1 million. Many famous guests were invited, but were delayed just outside John's Windsor household in a traffic jam of guests waiting to get inside.

John does not have any children, but does have ten godchildren as of March 2006. Besides the aforementioned Sean Ono Lennon, John's godchildren include Elizabeth Hurley's son Damian Charles, David and Victoria Beckham's sons Brooklyn and Romeo, and the daughter of Seymour Stein.

John had in the past rejected the idea of adopting children with partner Furnish on account of his age and working life. On Saturday 12 September 2009 however, while touring an AIDS orphanage in Makiivka, Ukraine, John stated he wanted to adopt one of the resident children, a 14 month old HIV positive boy named Lev. With his change of mind being in part a reaction to the recent death of his friend and colleague Guy Babylon, John declared that "I would love to adopt him (Lev). I don't know how we do that but he has stolen my heart". Two days later however, Ukranian Minister of Family, Youth and Sport Yuriy Pavlenko stated that under Ukranian law John could not adopt Lev due to his age and marital status. Pavlenko did (also) say that John could adopt the baby if the Ukrainian Parliament adopted a separate special law on making Elton John an adoptive parent of the child, but he was against the initiation of such a law. On 15 September 2009 a London-based spokesman for the singer said he had no comment to make in response to the minister's remarks. In October 2009 Lev's mother and father declared they wanted to regain the custody of their two children who were taken from them by social workers. In December 2009 Furnish told BBC radio John was devastated that he wasn't allowed to adopt Lev but that the couple were working to ensure Lev and his brother "have the best health care, education and family options available to them" and the couple would campaign for a change in Ukrainian law.

Throughout his career, John has battled addictions to alcohol and cocaine. By 1975, the pressures of stardom began to take a serious toll on the musician. During "Elton Week" in Los Angeles that year, John suffered a drug overdose. He also battled the eating disorder bulimia. In a CNN interview with Larry King in 2002, King asked if John knew of Diana, Princess of Wales's eating disorder. John replied, "Yes, I did. We were both bulimic."

In the early 1990s, John formed a friendship with pop singer Michael Jackson, who later dedicated his 1997 album Blood on the Dance Floor to him for the support John had given him during his struggle with addiction to prescription morphine.

After many years of struggling with drug and alcohol addiction, John finally checked himself into a drug rehabilitation clinic in 1990. He has cited the highly publicised case of Ryan White, who died that same year of complications from AIDS (and at whose funeral John performed), as a major motivating factor in his decision to enter rehab. In July 1999, he was fitted with a pacemaker due to an irregular heart beat.

Aside from his main home, 'Woodside' at Old Windsor in the English county of Berkshire, John splits his time in his various residences in Atlanta, Nice, Holland Park in London; and Venice. John is an art collector, and is believed to have one of the largest private photography collections in the world.

During the 2000 court case, in which John sued both his former manager John Reid, the CEO of Reid's company and accountants PricewaterhouseCoopers, he admitted spending £30 million in just under two years – an average of £1.5 million a month, the High Court in London heard. The singer's lavish lifestyle saw him spend more than £9.6m on property and £293,000 on flowers between January 1996 and September 1997. John accused the pair of being negligent, and PwC of failing in their duties. Mark Hapgood QC for defendants PwC suggested that John went "spending mad" following a £42 million deal with recording company Polygram in February 1996. When quizzed by Mr Hapgood about the £293,000 spent on flowers, John said, "Yes, I like flowers." John stated that the terms of the contract, whereby John paid Reid 20% of his gross earnings, were agreed in Saint-Tropez in the summer of 1984 – but that he could not remember the exact occasion on which the deal was made. After losing the case, he faced an £8 million bill for legal fees.

In June 2001 John sold 20 of his cars at Christie's, saying he didn't get the chance to drive them because he was out of the country so often. The sale, which included a 1993 Jaguar XJ220, the most expensive at £234,750, and several Ferraris, Rolls-Royces, and Bentleys, raised nearly £2 million.

In 2003, John sold the contents of his Holland Park home in a bid to create more room for his collection of contemporary art. The auctioneer Sotheby's catalogue had a list of more than 400 items, expected to fetch £800,000, including: Biedermeier furniture; early 16th- and 17th-century items, including an Edward Bower estimated at £20,000–£30,000 and a portrait of Elizabeth Honeywood from the circle of William Larkin, which was estimated at £30,000–£40,000. John's bedroom featured a painting by 19th-century French artist Jacques-Noël-Marie Frémy, which was exhibited at the 1814 Paris Salon, and is estimated at £12,000–£18,000.

A longtime tennis enthusiast, John wrote the song "Philadelphia Freedom" in tribute to longtime friend Billie Jean King and her World Team Tennis franchise of the same name. John and King also co-host an annual pro-am event to benefit AIDS charities, most notably John's own Elton John AIDS Foundation, for which King is a chairperson. The fund was involved in The Reign, too. John, who maintains a part-time residence in Atlanta, Georgia, became a fan of the Atlanta Braves baseball team when he moved there in 1991.

Every year since 2004, he has opened a shop, selling his second hand clothes. Called "Elton's Closet" the sale this year of 10,000 items was expected to raise $400,000

John was an Honorary Chair of the Imperial Court of New York's Annual Charity Coronation Ball, Night of A Thousand Gowns on 21 March 2009. Other Honorary Chairs for the evening's charity event included Patti LuPone, Idina Menzel, John Cameron Mitchell, Joan Rivers and Dame Robin Strasser.

Watford Football Club

Main article: Watford F.C.

In 1976, John became involved in Watford Football Club and fulfilled a childhood dream by becoming chairman and director. He appointed an unknown Graham Taylor as manager and invested large sums of money as the club rose three division into the First Division. The pinnacle of the clubs' success was finishing runners up in First Division and reaching the FA cup final a year later. He sold the club to Jack Petchey in 1987, but remained their life-long president. In 1997 he re-purchased the club from Petchey and once again became chairman. He stepped down in 2002 when the club needed a full-time chairman although he continued as president of the club. Although no longer the majority shareholder, he stills holds a significant financial interest. In June 2005 he held a concert at Watford's Vicarage Road ground, donating the funds to the club and a concert for 2010 has been announced to raise money. For a time he was also a part-owner of the Los Angeles Aztecs of the North American Soccer League.

AIDS Foundation

Main article: Elton John AIDS Foundation

John has been associated with AIDS charities since the deaths of his friends Ryan White and Freddie Mercury, raising large amounts of money and using his public profile to raise awareness of the disease. For example, in 1986 he joined with Dionne Warwick, Gladys Knight, and Stevie Wonder to record the single "That's What Friends Are For", with all profits being donated to the American Foundation for AIDS Research. The song won John and the others the Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal (as well as Song of the Year for its writers, Burt Bacharach and Carole Bayer Sager). In April 1990, John performed "Skyline Pigeon" at the funeral of White, a teenage hemophiliac he had befriended.

John founded the Elton John AIDS Foundation in 1992 as a charity to fund programmes for HIV/AIDS prevention, for the elimination of prejudice and discrimination against HIV/AIDS-affected individuals, and for providing services to people living with or at risk of contracting HIV/AIDS. This cause continues to be one of his personal passions. In early 2006, John donated the smaller of two bright-red Yamaha pianos from his Las Vegas, Nevada show to auction on eBay to raise public awareness and funds for the foundation.

To raise money for his AIDS charity, John hosts annually a glamorous White Tie & Tiara Ball, to which many famous celebrities are invited. On 28 June 2007, the 9th annual White Tie & Tiara Ball took place. The menu consisted of a truffle soufflé followed by Surf and Turf (filet mignon with Maine lobster tail) and a giant Knickerbocker Glory ice cream. An auction followed the dinner held by Stephen Fry. A Rolls Royce ‘Phantom’ drophead coupe and a piece of Tracey Emin's artwork both raised £800,000 for the charity fund, with the total amount raised reaching £3.5 million. Later on in the event, John sang "Delilah" with Tom Jones and "Big Spender" with Shirley Bassey. Tickets for the Ball cost £1,000 a head. The event raised £4.6 million for his AIDS Foundation in 2006.

Awards

Main article: List of Elton John awards

Discography

Main article: Elton John discography

Studio albums

• Empty Sky (1969)
• Elton John (1970)
• Tumbleweed Connection (1970)
• Madman Across the Water (1971)
• Honky Château (1972)
• Don't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano Player (1973)
• Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (1973)
• Caribou (1974)
• Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy (1975)
• Rock of the Westies (1975)
• Blue Moves (1976)
• A Single Man (1978)
• Victim of Love (1979)
• 21 at 33 (1980)
• The Fox (1981)
• Jump Up! (1982)
• Too Low for Zero (1983)
• Breaking Hearts (1984)
• Ice on Fire (1985)
• Leather Jackets (1986)
• Reg Strikes Back (1988)
• Sleeping with the Past (1989)
• The One (1992)
• Duets (1993)
• Made in England (1995)
• The Big Picture (1997)
• Songs from the West Coast (2001)
• Peachtree Road (2004)
• The Captain & the Kid (2006)

Soundtracks, scores & theatre albums

• Friends (soundtrack)
• The Lion King (1997)
• Aida (1998)
• Billy Elliot (2005)
• Lestat (2005)

Films

• Elton John: Me, Myself & I (2007) autobiography as himself
• The Country Bears, U.S. (2002) as himself
• Spice World, UK (1997) as himself
• Tommy, UK (1975) as Pinball Wizard
• Born to Boogie, U.S. (1972) as himself

Elton John Band

Main article: Elton John Band

References

Bibliography

• Elton John: A Visual Documentary, Nigel Goodall, Omnibus Press, 1993 ISBN 0711930783
• His Song: The Musical Journey of Elton John, Elizabeth Rosenthal, Billboard Books, 2001, ISBN 0823088928

External links

• Elton John's official website
• Elton John at IMDb