Elton John
  Born
Reginald Kenneth Dwight on March 25th. 1947 in Pinner,
Middlesex, England, he started taking piano lessons at four
years of age and won a scholarship to the Royal Academy of
Music when he was eleven. In the early sixties he formed "Bluesology",
his first band. In 1965 they turned professional. The
following year, Long John Baldry joined them, and soon it
appeared to become 'his' band.
Disillusioned, Reg started to pursue music publishing
contracts; changing his name at the same time to Elton John
(Hercules was inserted later), but recognition was slow to
come. Fitting music to the lyrics of
 Bernie
Taupin, and recording budget versions of current hits, paid
the bills; but it wasn't until Gus Dudgeon produced the album
"Elton John", with the classic "Your Song" as one of the
tracks, that Elton 'arrived'.
 "Your
Song" took the album in to the American Top Ten and gave Elton
John his first UK hit, reaching No.2. Within the next few
years Elton had become a Superstar. Between 1972 - 1975 he had
seven consecutive No.1 albums, and he was filling stadiums
around the world.
In 1990 Elton booked into a re-hab clinic in Chicago and
successfully beat his cocaine and alcohol habit. Two years
later he formed the Elton John AIDS Foundation, following the
death of his friend, Ryan White, from an AIDS related illness.
All the profits from Elton's singles are donated to this
charity.
 1997
saw the tragic death of a personal friend, Princess Diana. He,
and Bernie Taupin, hastily rewrote "Candle In The Wind" and he
sang it at the funeral. Who can ever forget that performance?
In 1998 Elton was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II, for his
service to music and charity, becoming, Sir Elton John, C.B.E.
An irregular heartbeat in 1999 forced him to have a pacemaker
fitted. This has not, it appears, impeded his way of life at
all, and he still enjoys a tough game of tennis.
On the first day on
which same-sex couples were allowed a legal status comparable
to marriage, 21st Dec. 2005, Elton John, 58, married his
long-time partner David Furnish, 43, at Windsor's town hall,
where earlier in the year (April) Prince Charles married
Camilla Parker Bowles. The party afterwards was a lavish
affair with 700 guests. The star-studded guest list included
Ringo Starr, Victoria Beckham, Lulu, Cilla Black, Liz Hurley,
James Blunt, Jamie Cullum, Ronan Keating, George Michael and
many, many others.
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