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Musican, fashion plate and pop-cultural personality—Elton John has a lot to list on his resume. He recently even added theater credentials to that list after helping to bring the film Billy Elliot to the Broadway stage. Better known to his family and friends as Reginald Dwight, the piano man has had a long and storied career. He was born in 1947 in Pinner, Middlesex, in England. He learned to play the piano at the age of four. By 11, he was prepared to enroll at the Royal Academy of Music, and left six years later, determined to be a major star. He would have to pay his dues, performing first in a band called Bluesology. He worked with the band from 1961 to ’66, deciding eventually to head out on his own. Around this time, Dwight formed a critical relationship with songwriter Bernie Taupin. Dwight changed his name to Elton John and the duo became a highly successful songwriting team. They had several hits, but John wanted more. He started by recording covers, releasing his first album—which was hardly noticed—in 1968. In 1970, he tried again, scoring a critical success with his first self-titled album. “Your Song” became his first Top 10 single, and helped to give him the crucial exposure he needed. He followed up with a string of increasingly successful records: Madman Across the Water, which highlighted John’s substantive lyricism, in 1971; Tumbleweed Connection, a concept album about the Wild West, released the same year; and Honky Chateau, his breakthrough album, in 1972. Honky Chateau featured some of John’s best known hits, including “Rocket Man” Between 1972 and 1976, John would score 16 Top 20 hit singles (it should be noted that from 1970 to 1996—most of his career—he had a Top 40 single in the charts every year). “Crocodile Rock,” “The Bitch is Back” and other songs became staples in his repertoire. His flamboyant and colorful costumes lent his shows a surreal dimension that attracted a much wider base of fans. Honky Chateau was also the first of seven consecutive albums to all become number one hits on the charts and all eventually turned platinum. Sir Elton John has many shiny platters in his den, to be sure. Captain Fantastic, his 1975 release, is notable for being a favorite among Elton John fans as well as being his first album to enter the American charts at number one. That year, he also had a major screen appearance when he performed in the psychedelic Ken Russel-directed picture Tommy as Local Lad, a local boy who is an expert at pinball (and has ridiculously tall platform shoes). By 1976, things took a downward turn for John when he admitted to being bisexual in an interview (he was actually gay, but felt declaring himself bi wouldn’t be quite as offensive to fans). It did seem to have some effect on his audience, but exhaustion and drug addiction would also take a major toll on his career. Fortunately, he’s gotten beyond all that, and fans still flock to get Elton John tickets before they sell out. This article was written by Andrew Good and sponsored by StubHub. StubHub sells Elton John tickets as well as sports tickets, concert tickets, theater tickets and more to just about any event in the world.
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