The son of an RAF trumpeter, Reginald Kenneth Dwight aka Elton John was born in Pinner, England on 25th March 1947.
Elton John started learning the piano at just four and at 11 he won a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music but left four years later. However in 2003 he received an
honarary doctorate. At the ceremony, his mother Sheila Fairbrother came out with a splendid quote:
“I’ve seen him in a frock before, but I never thought I’d see him in one of these gowns.”
His first band was Bluesology. Long John Baldry joined the band which included Elton Dean which led to his stage name, Elton (Hercules) John.
In the mid-sixties, Elton John met Bernie Taupin, an unknown writer from Lincolnshire. Their first composition Scarecrow attracted little attention but it was to be the start of one of music’s most succesful partnerships.
They went on to produce 23 hit singles, starting with Your Song in 1970, which reached Number 2. Amongst other songs that became huge seventies hits were, Rocket Man, Daniel, Don’t Go Breaking My Heart (with Kiki Dee), Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, and Candle in the Wind. This last song was later to played at Princess Diana’s funeral in 1997 and is the best selling single of all time overtaking Bing Crosby’s White Christmas.
It wasn’t just the lyrics that appealed to audiences, show, showing a flamboyance mirrored by his lifestyle.
In 1973 he set up Rocket Records and in 1979 he became the first rock star from the West to perform in Moscow. He and Taupin went their seperate ways in the early eighties, Elton John had relatively little success with a few notable exceptions like Song For Guy. The duo got back together, however and started where they left off with hits like I’m Still Standing from the 1983 album. Too Low For Zero.
His marriage to former German recording engineer, Renate Blauel ended in divorce in 1988.
Furnish made a television profile of Elton for ITV. Called Tantrum and Tiaras it showed Elton’s addiction to shopping.
Elton John and David Furnish’s wedding took place on 21 December 2005 in Windsor’s Guildhall. It was one of England’s first gay civil partnerships.
The article surrounding the an interview with Elton John in the Mirror is revealing and reports:
“He has magnificent homes in Windsor, London, Atlanta, Nice and Venice, private jets, 22 dogs – and flower bills running up to £293,000 in 20 months.”
In recent years Elton John’s musical output has not been high. That said, he has had a Top 40 single every year from 1970 to 1996 and reached UK Number One in August 2003, with a remix of Are You Ready For Love, originally released in 1979.
In 2005 Elton John wrote the music for the critically acclaimed theatrical version of Billy Elliot.
