Elton John

1947-03-25 · Pinner, Middlesex, England, UK

Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, songwriter, and pianist. He has collaborated with the lyricist Bernie Taupin throughout his career. John has released 32 studio albums, including "Empty Sky" (1969), "Honky Château" (1972), "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" (1973), "Rock of the Westies" (1975), "Sleeping with the Past" (1989), "The One" (1992), "Songs from the West Coast" (2001), "The Diving Board" (2013), and "The Lockdown Sessions" (2021). His singles include "Your Song", "Tiny Dancer", "Rocket Man", "Crocodile Rock", "Bennie and the Jets", "Don't Go Breaking My Heart", "I'm Still Standing", "Sacrifice", "Can You Feel the Love Tonight", and "Cold Heart". He has contributed music to "The Lion King" (1994), "Aida" (2000), and "Billy Elliot the Musical" (2005). John's final tour, "Farewell Yellow Brick Road" (2018–2023), set records for ticket sales. His life and career were depicted in the biographical film "Rocketman" (2019). John established the Elton John AIDS Foundation in 1992, which has raised over £300 million. He has hosted annual AIDS Foundation Academy Awards Parties since 1993. He served as chairman and director of Watford Football Club from 1976 to 1987 and from 1997 to 2002, and is an honorary life president of the club. John experienced addiction to drugs and alcohol from the late 1970s to the late 1980s and has been sober since 1990. He entered a civil partnership with Canadian filmmaker David Furnish in 2005 and married in 2014 following the legalization of same-sex marriage in England and Wales. John has had more than fifty top-40 hits on the UK Singles Chart and US Billboard Hot 100, including nine number-one singles in both countries and seven consecutive number-one albums in the US. His single "Candle in the Wind 1997", a rewritten version of the 1974 release, is among the best-selling singles worldwide. In 2021, he became the first solo artist with UK top-10 singles across six decades. His awards include a Primetime Emmy Award, five Grammy Awards, two Academy Awards, a Tony Award, two Golden Globe Awards, a Laurence Olivier Award, and the Kennedy Center Honor. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1992 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994, is a fellow of The Ivors Academy, was knighted in 1998, and appointed a member of the Order of the Companions of Honour in 2020.