Elton John - Songwriter/Singer

Elton John was one of the most unlikely looking rock stars of his time. He first skyrocketed to fame in his platform shoes, feather boas, and bizarre eyeglasses during the seventies. Being short and slightly overweight did not overshadow his immense talents. He started playing piano at age four while his father forbade him to play rock and roll music in the house. When his father wasn't looking Elton's mother would sneak him music of Little Richard and Jerry Lee Lewis. He entered the Royal Academy of Music, when he was eleven, but quit just before graduation to become a rock musician.

John got his name by combining the names of a singer and a saxophonist, John Baldry and Elton Dean, who influenced him in his early days. He hooked up with lyricist Bernie Taupin in 1967, through an ad in a London paper. Elton John and Bernie Taupin became the first act since the Beatles to have four albums in the American Top 10 simultaneously in 1971. In the mid-seventies, John was at the top, appearing in the movie Tommy; on Time magazine's cover, a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame; sold out two L.A. concerts of over 100,000 people each; and co-wrote a No. 1 hit with John Lennon titled "Whatever Gets You Through the Night." In 1974, John Lennon joined Elton on-stage at Madison Square Garden to perform the song. (Lennon's final live performance.)

Elton was voted "Worst Dressed Woman of the Year" by Mr. Blackwell in 1976 but it didn't slow him down. During his collaboration with Taupin which lasted till 1977, they commanded the top charts with their hits "Your Song," "Rocket Man," "The Bitch Is Back," "Good-bye Yellow Brick Road," and "Bennie and the Jets." The partnership of Elton and Bernie resulted in twenty-three Top 40 hits, fifteen Top 10 singles, and five No. 1 songs. John's tour schedule finally led to burn out, and in 1978, he retired.

Elton John came back out of retirement in 1979 and became the first Western singer to tour the Soviet Union. He subsequently reunited with Bernie Taupin in 1981 to write songs for 21 at 33 and The Fox and held a free concert for 400,000 in New York's Central Park. Elton took on a more subdued stage and personal demeanor in the 1980's. He penned more mellow, bluesy adult contemporary songs. Hits continued, but John's personal problems began to overshadow his music.

In the late eighties, he befriended Ryan White, a young hemophiliac suffering from AIDS. John was at Ryan's bedside when the boy died in 1990. Ryan's death affected Elton deeply. Soon after performing at White's funeral, he announced that he was checking into rehab for treatment of drug and alcohol addiction and bulimia. In 1992, he formed the Elton John AIDS Foundation which was funded from all the profits from his singles. This foundation has since become one of the world's largest nonprofit AIDS organizations.

In 1994, Elton was back on top of the charts with the No. 1 album of the year, the soundtrack to Disney's The Lion King. He received five Grammy nominations, and took home Best Male Pop Vocal. He also received three Academy Award nominations taking home the Oscar for Best Achievement in Music for the song "Can You Feel the Love Tonight." John was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. He joined again with Tim Rice (Lion King), to work on a soundtrack for the Disney production of Verdi's Aīda and in 1996 launched his own London-based film and TV production company called Rocket Pictures.