Elton John Biography

Elton John (March 25, 1947) is a singer, songwriter, and musician. He was born in Pinner, Middlesex, UK. His birth name is Reginald Dwight. His parents were Stanley Dwight, an army officer, and Sheila Eileen Dwight.

Early life

The people who encouraged Elton to start in the world of music were his grandmother and his mother, who one day surprised him by performing a song on the house piano. They immediately knew that the boy had a great musical talent. At the age of four, he was already performing simple melodies, and at seven he was singing at family parties. His favorite artists were Elvis Presley, Bill Haley & His Comets, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, among others.

 

Elton studied at the Royal Academy of Music thanks to a scholarship after graduating from high school. He also was part of the choir. Although after a few years he got bored with classical music and began to try rock music. At age 15, he got his first job as a pianist in a downtown pub, where he received the nickname Reggie. He used to perform songs by Ray Charles and Jim Reeves.

Musical beginnings

In 1964 Elton decided to form the band Bluesology. In the musical circle, he met singer Long John Baldry. As a tribute to him and the saxophonist Elton Dean, he adopted the stage name, Elton John. In 1969, he joined the band Argosy, made up of Roger Hodgson, Caleb Quaye, and Nigel Olsson. Two songs were recorded in the group: Mr. Boyd and Imagine, composed by Hodgson, songs that were published under the DJM label in the United Kingdom and Congress in the United States. Elton managed to publish his first single, I’ve been loving you too long.

Besides, he began producing brilliant songs with the help of lyricist Bernie Taupin, who has been considered one of the most prolific duos in the world of pop music. Fifteen of his songs topped the North American charts.

Career

Later in 1969, he edited his first LP, Empty Sky, which was followed by Elton John, thanks to his knowledge of classical music he integrated lyricism and his own style. In the following years, he published a total of eleven albums. In the 70s his career took off, he signed an eight million dollar contract with MCA, wrote the song Whatever gets you through the night with John Lennon, and also sang with the former Beatle at Madison Square Garden. Although not everything was easy, he had certain conflicts with his collaborator Bernie Taupin, this breakup and problems with drugs led him to a serious emotional crisis that almost cost him his life when he tried to commit suicide. After emotional recovery he continued singing, and selling out venues, he toured continuously.

 

In 1987, he began to suffer from throat ailments that led him to undergo a vocal cord operation in Sydney, Australia. He reappeared with Reg Strikes Back in 1988. Elton is committed to the fight against AIDS, which is why he founded the Elton John AIDS Foundation. His commitment against AIDS is due to his homosexuality, which he declared at that time. Although at first, he declared himself bisexual.

Fame

In 1993 he released the album The one, thanks to which he received a double-platinum record. In 1994, he was hired to write the soundtrack for the Disney film The Lion King, with which he won a Grammy, a Golden Globe, and the Oscar for the best original song, shared with Tom Rice, author of the lyrics. In 1995 he celebrated his 25th anniversary in the world of music and released Made in England (1995). The murder of his friend Gianni Versace and the death of Princess Diana of Wales in 1997 dealt two blows.

 

At Lady Di’s funeral, he sang a new version of Candle in the wind, originally written in memory of Marilyn Monroe. This tribute to his friend Lady Di broke all sales records, becoming the best-selling single in the history of music, with 33 million copies worldwide in just three months. Elton John gave the benefits of the album to the NGOs in which Diana collaborated. For this song, he obtained in 1998 the Grammy for best male pop singer.

 

Between 1997 and 1999 Elton released The big picture, in homage to Gianni Versace, and Elton John and Tim Rice’s Aida, it was a pop version of Giuseppe Verdi’s opera that premiered on Broadway, in 2001. It received the Grammy for best musical. He was responsible for the composition of the lyrics for the musical Billy Elliot. In 2005 he created the musical Lestat with Bernie Taupin. A year later, he released Captain and the kid, his album number 44. In 2007, he turned 40 of artistic career, to celebrate it, he released a special DVD with his live performance at Madison Square Garden, the same day of his birthday.

 

He was an author involved in the politics of his country, in 2008 he gave a concert in New York to raise funds for the campaign of Hillary Clinton, a Democratic candidate for the presidency of the United States. Elton has received a large number of awards and distinctions. Not only has he made a living from music, but he also purchased a London football team, Watford. In 2014 with the approval of the law that allowed equal marriage in the United Kingdom, Elton married in the Windsor City Council the Canadian David Furnish with whom he had a sentimental relationship since 2005.