Sir Elton John is an English singer, pianist, and composer, with a career spanning six decades. Collaborating with lyricist Bernie Taupin since 1967 on more than 30 albums, John has sold over 300 million records, making him one of the best-selling music artists of all time.
Elton John was born Reginald Kenneth Dwight on 25 March 1947 in Pinner, Middlesex, the eldest child of Stanley Dwight (1925–1991) and only child of Sheila Eileen (née Harris; 1925–2017), and 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.
He was educated at Pinner Wood Junior School, Reddiford School, and Pinner County Grammar School until he was 17 when he left just prior to his A-Level examinations to pursue a career in music.
When John began to consider a career in music seriously, his father, who served in the Royal Air Force (having risen to the rank of sergeant, he was commissioned in May 1944, rising to squadron leader and serving at RAF Basrah in Iraq in 1949), 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 such 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, and he has said he remembers being immediately hooked on rock and roll when his mother brought home records by Elvis Presley and Bill Haley & His Comets in 1956.
Full Name: Sir Elton Hercules John CH CBE (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight
Date of Birth: 25 March 1947
Age: 74
Birth Place: Pinner, Greater London, England
Nationality: UK
Profession: Singer, Pianist, Composer
Net-worth: $500 million
Career:
At age 15, with his mother’s and stepfather’s help, John was hired as a pianist at a nearby pub, the Northwood Hills Hotel, playing Thursday to Sunday nights. Known simply as “Reggie”, he played a range of popular standards, including songs by Jim Reeves and Ray Charles, as well as his own songs.
In 1962, John and some 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, and Patti LaBelle and the Bluebelles. In 1966, the band became Long John Baldry’s supporting band and played 16 times at the Marquee Club.
In 1972, Davey Johnstone joined the Elton John Band on guitar and backing vocals. Released in 1972, Honky Château became John’s first US number one album, spending five weeks at the top of the Billboard 200, and began a streak of seven consecutive US number-one albums.
The album reached number two in the UK, and spawned the hit singles “Rocket Man” and “Honky Cat”.
The pop album Don’t Shoot Me I’m Only the Piano Player came out at the start of 1973 and reached number one in the UK, the US, and Australia, among other countries.
The album produced the hits “Crocodile Rock”, his first US Billboard Hot 100 number one, and “Daniel”, which reached number two in the US and number four in the UK.
The album and “Crocodile Rock” were respectively the first album and single on the consolidated MCA Records label in the US, replacing MCA’s other labels, including Uni.
Personal Life:
In the late 1960s, John was engaged to be married to his first lover, secretary Linda Woodrow, who is mentioned in the song “Someone Saved My Life Tonight”. Woodrow provided financial assistance to John and Taupin at the time.
John ended the relationship two weeks before their intended wedding, after being advised by Taupin and Long John Baldry. In 2020, John helped pay for Woodrow’s medical fees when she requested, despite having lost contact with her 50 years previously.
In 2008, John said he preferred civil partnerships to marriage for gay people, but by 2012 he had changed his position and become a staunch supporter of same-sex marriage in the United Kingdom. John said.
Football Ownership:
John became the chairman and director of Watford F.C. in 1976, after supporting the team since his youth. John appointed Graham Taylor as manager and invested large sums of money as the club rose three divisions into the English First Division. At their height, the club finished runners-up in the First Division to Liverpool in 1983 and reached the FA Cup Final at Wembley Stadium in 1984. John sold the club to Jack Petchey in 1987 but remained president.
Awards:
John was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility in 1994. He and Taupin had already been inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1992.
John was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1995. For his charitable work, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II on 24 February 1998.
In the 2020 New Year Honours, he was appointed Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour (CH) for services to music and to charity. In October 1975, John became the 1,662nd person to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
John was awarded Society of Singers Lifetime Achievement Award in 2005. He received a Kennedy Center Honor in 2004 and a Disney Legends Awar in 2006.
In 2000, he was named the MusiCares Person of the Year for his artistic achievement in the music industry and dedication to philanthropy.
In 2010, he received the PRS for Music Heritage Award, which was erected on The Namaste Lounge Pub in Northwood, London, where John performed his first gig.
In 2019, President Emmanuel Macron appointed John a chevalier of the Legion of Honour.
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)
