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Elton John

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Sir Elton Hercules John CH CBE (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; March 25, 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Acclaimed by critics and musicians, particularly for his work during the 1970s and for his lasting impact on the music industry, his music and showmanship have had a significant impact on popular music. His songwriting partnership with lyricist Bernie Taupin is one of the most successful in history.

Early life[]

Elton John was born Reginald Kenneth Dwight on 25 March 1947 in Pinner, Middlesex (now part of the London Borough of Harrow), the eldest child of Stanley Dwight (1925–1991) and only child of Sheila Eileen (née Harris; 1925–2017).[1][2][3] He was raised in a council house in Pinner by his maternal grandparents. His parents married in 1945, when the family moved to a nearby semi-detached house.[4][5] He was educated at Pinner Wood Junior School, Reddiford School and Pinner County Grammar School, until he was 17, when he left just before his A-Level examinations to pursue a career in music.[6]

When John began to consider a career in music seriously, his father, who served in the Royal Air Force, tried to steer him toward a more conventional career, such as banking. John has said that his wild stage costumes and performances were his way of letting go after a restrictive childhood. Both his 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.

John started playing his grandmother's piano as a young boy,[7] and within a year his mother heard him picking out Waldteufel's "The Skater's Waltz" by ear. After performing at parties and family gatherings, at age seven he began 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 age 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 George Frideric Handel after hearing it for the first time.

For the next five years, John attended Saturday classes at the Academy in central London, and he has said he enjoyed playing Frédéric Chopin and Johann Sebastian 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 said. "I was one of those children who could just about get away without practising and still pass, scrape through the grades." He has said that he would sometimes skip classes and ride around on the London Underground. Several instructors have attested that he was a "model student", and during the last few years he took lessons from a private tutor in addition to his classes at the Academy. He left the Academy before taking the final exams.[8]

John's mother, though 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 absent, John was raised primarily by his mother and maternal grandmother. When his father was home, the Dwights had vehement arguments that greatly distressed John. When he was 14, they divorced. His mother then married a local painter, Fred Farebrother, a caring and supportive stepfather whom John affectionately called "Derf" ("Fred" backward). They moved into flat No. 3A in an eight-unit apartment building called Frome Court, not far from both previous homes. There John wrote the songs that launched his career as a rock star; he lived there until he had four albums simultaneously in the American Top 40.[9]

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)
  • Made in England (1995)
  • The Big Picture (1997)
  • Songs from the West Coast (2001)
  • Peachtree Road (2004)
  • The Captain & the Kid (2006)
  • The Diving Board (2013)
  • Wonderful Crazy Night (2016)
  • Regimental Sgt. Zippo (2021)

Collaboration albums[]

  • Live in Australia with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra (1986)
  • Duets (1993)
  • The Union (with Leon Russell) (2010)
  • Good Morning to the Night (with PNAU) (2012)
  • The Lockdown Sessions (2021)

Soundtrack albums[]

  • Friends (1971)
  • The Lion King (1994)
  • Aida (1998)
  • Elton John and Tim Rice's Aida (1999)
  • The Muse (1999)
  • The Road to El Dorado (2000)
  • Billy Elliot (2005)
  • Lestat (2005)
  • Gnomeo & Juliet (2011)
  • Rocketman (2019)

Trivia[]

  • He started wearing glasses to copy one of his idols, Buddy Holly. After a while, his eyes adjusted to the lenses and he's worn glasses ever since.
  • On 5 September 1997, he performed a new version of "Candle in the Wind", in tribute to Princess Diana at her funeral, with new lyrics specially written by Bernie Taupin.
  • In 1992, he decided that all profits from his singles would be donated to AIDS charities and formed the Elton John AIDS Foundation. The foundation has become one of the world's largest nonprofit AIDS organizations.
  • He has had at least one charted Billboard hit every year from 1970-2009.
  • In January 1987, he underwent laser surgery to remove nodules from his vocal chords in Australia. This followed a televised concert with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra in which his voice sounded noticeably rough. In 2004, he admitted this problem had been caused by smoking too many drugs, including marijuana.
  • In 1979, he was the first Western rock star to perform in Israel and the USSR.
  • He is one of the few artists such as Madonna and Kylie Minogue with #1 hits in both 1980s, 1990s and 2000s.
  • At age 11, he won what was then termed a junior scholarship (the "junior" reference having to do with age, and not with less than full tuition subsidy) and was admitted to the Royal Academy of Music, but quit just before graduation to pursue a rock career.
  • Elton was estimated in 2006 to have sold 250 million albums during hiscareer.
  • Being the technophobe he is, Elton does not even own a cell phone. He does, however, have an iPad that he uses to keep in touch with his children on Facetime whenever he's away or on tour.

Collaborations[]

External links[]

References[]

  1. ↑ "Family Detective: Elton John"
  2. ↑ "Sir Elton John 'in shock' after his mother dies aged 92"
  3. ↑ "Sir Elton John's father didn't approve of his career path"
  4. ↑ "55 Pinner Hill Road"
  5. ↑ "111 Potter Street"
  6. ↑ Norman, Philip
  7. ↑ "Tear-Jerker British Ad Re-Creates Elton John's Christmas Past"
  8. ↑ "Sixty things for Sir Elton's 60th"
  9. ↑ "Elton John Lived Here"
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