145 Facts About Sir Elton John

Sir Elton Hercules John was born on Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947 and is a British singer, pianist and composer.

Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career as a solo artist since the 1970s, having released 31 albums since 1969.

Sir Elton John met his longtime musical partner Taupin in 1967, after they both answered an advert for songwriters.

Sir Elton John continued his success in the 1980s and 1990s, having several hit singles and albums in both decades, and has continued to record new music since then.

Sir Elton John has had success in musical films and theatre, composing music for The Lion King and its stage adaptation, Aida and Billy Elliot the Musical.

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In 2017, Sir Elton John released the greatest hits album Diamonds, spanning his hits from 1970 to 2016.

In 2018, Sir Elton John began his ongoing farewell tour Farewell Yellow Brick Road, which will conclude in 2023.

Sir Elton John owned Watford FC from 1976 to 1987 and again from 1997 to 2002, and is an honorary life president of the club.

Sir Elton John announced he was bisexual in 1976 and has been openly gay since 1988.

Sir Elton John entered into a civil partnership with Canadian filmmaker David Furnish in 2005; they married after same-sex marriage became legal in England and Wales in 2014.

Sir Elton John is one of the best-selling artists of all time, having sold over 300 million records worldwide in a six decade career in music.

Sir Elton John has more than fifty Top 40 hits in the UK Singles Chart and US Billboard Hot 100, including nine number ones in the UK and US, as well as seven consecutive number-one albums in the US.

In 2019, Sir Elton John was ranked by Billboard as the top solo artist in US chart history, and the top Adult Contemporary artist of all time.

In 2021, Sir Elton John became the first solo artist with UK Top 10 singles across six decades.

Sir Elton John has received five Grammy Awards, five Brit Awards; including for Outstanding Contribution to Music; two Academy Awards, two Golden Globes, a Tony Award, a Laurence Olivier Award, a Disney Legends Award, and the Kennedy Center Honor.

Sir Elton John was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1992 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994, and is a fellow of The Ivors Academy.

Sir Elton John was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for services to music and charitable services in 1998.

Elton John was born Reginald Kenneth Dwight on 25 March 1947 in Pinner, Middlesex, the eldest child of Stanley Dwight and only child of Sheila Eileen.

Sir Elton John was raised in a council house in Pinner by his maternal grandparents.

Sir Elton John's parents married in 1945, when the family moved to a nearby semi-detached house.

When Sir Elton John began to consider a career in music seriously, his father, who served in the Royal Air Force, tried to steer him toward a more conventional career, such as banking.

Sir Elton John has said that his wild stage costumes and performances were his way of letting go after such a restrictive childhood.

Sir Elton John started playing his grandmother's piano as a young boy, and within a year his mother heard him picking out Waldteufel's "The Skater's Waltz" by ear.

Sir Elton John showed musical aptitude at school, including the ability to compose melodies and gained some notoriety by playing like Jerry Lee Lewis at school functions.

At age 15, with his mother's and stepfather's help, Sir Elton John was hired as a pianist at a nearby pub, the Northwood Hills Hotel, playing Thursday to Sunday nights.

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In 1966, the band became Long Sir Elton John Baldry's supporting band and played 16 times at the Marquee Club.

Sir Elton John wrote music for the lyrics and then sent it to Taupin, beginning a partnership that still continues.

Sir Elton John legally changed his name to Elton Hercules John on 7 January 1972.

In 1969, Sir Elton John provided piano for Roger Hodgson on his first released single, "Mr Boyd" by Argosy, a quartet that was completed by Caleb Quaye and Nigel Olsson.

In 1969, with Quaye, drummer Roger Pope, and bassist Tony Murray, Sir Elton John recorded another single, "Lady Samantha", and an album, Empty Sky.

In 1972 Sir Elton John performed at the Royal Variety Performance, where he was upstaged by the dancing of "Legs" Larry Smith, the drummer with the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band.

Sir Elton John formed his own label, The Rocket Record Company, and signed acts to it—notably Neil Sedaka and Kiki Dee, in whom he took a personal interest.

In 1974, Sir Elton John collaborated with Sir Elton John Lennon on his cover of the Beatles' "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds", the B-side of which was Lennon's "One Day at a Time".

In return, Sir Elton John was featured on "Whatever Gets You Thru the Night" on Lennon's album Walls and Bridges.

Sir Elton John revealed his previously ambiguous personality on the album, with Taupin's lyrics describing their early days as struggling songwriters and musicians in London.

On 9 August 1975, Sir Elton John was named the outstanding rock personality of the year at the first annual Rock Music Awards in Santa Monica, California.

In November 1977, Sir Elton John announced he was retiring from performing; Taupin began collaborating with others.

Now producing only one album a year, Sir Elton John issued A Single Man in 1978 with a new lyricist, Gary Osborne; the album produced no singles that made the top 20 in the US, but the two singles from the album released in the UK, "Part-Time Love" and "Song for Guy", both made the top 20 there, with the latter reaching the top 5.

In 1979, accompanied by Ray Cooper, Sir Elton John became one of the first Western artists to tour the Soviet Union and Israel.

Sir Elton John returned to the US top ten with "Mama Can't Buy You Love", a song MCA rejected in 1977, recorded with Philadelphia soul producer Thom Bell.

Sir Elton John said Bell was the first person to give him voice lessons and encouraged him to sing in a lower register.

In May 1979, Sir Elton John played eight concerts in the Soviet Union; four dates in Leningrad and four in Moscow.

In October 1983, Sir Elton John caused controversy when he broke the United Nations' cultural boycott on apartheid-era South Africa by performing at Sun City.

Sir Elton John married his close friend and sound engineer, Renate Blauel, on Valentine's Day 1984; the marriage lasted three years.

In 1985, Sir Elton John was one of the many performers at Live Aid, held at Wembley Stadium.

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Netting over $20 million, 2,000 items of Sir Elton John's memorabilia were auctioned off at Sotheby's in London.

Sir Elton John had other hits during the 1980s, including "Nikita", whose music video was directed by Ken Russell.

Sir Elton John's highest-charting single was a collaboration with Dionne Warwick, Gladys Knight, and Stevie Wonder called "That's What Friends Are For".

Sir Elton John's albums continued to sell, but of those released in the latter half of the 1980s, only Reg Strikes Back placed in the top 20 in the US.

The following year, "Basque" won the Grammy for Best Instrumental, and a guest concert appearance at Wembley Arena Sir Elton John made on George Michael's cover of "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" was released as a single and topped the charts in both the UK and the US.

In September, Sir Elton John performed "The One" at the 1992 MTV Video Music Awards and closed the ceremony performing "November Rain" with Guns N' Roses.

Also tonight I think that Sir Elton John should be honoured for his great work and contribution in the fight against AIDS.

In 1994, Sir Elton John was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by Guns N' Roses' frontman Axl Rose.

Sir Elton John performed "Believe" at the 1995 Brit Awards and won the Outstanding Contribution to Music prize.

Early in 1997, Sir Elton John held a 50th birthday party, costumed as Louis XIV of France, with 500 friends.

Sir Elton John performed with the surviving members of Queen in Paris at the opening night of Le Presbytere N'a Rien Perdu De Son Charme Ni Le Jardin De Son Eclat, a work by French ballet legend Maurice Bejart that draws upon the AIDS crisis and the deaths of Freddie Mercury and the company's principal dancer, Jorge Donn.

In early September, Sir Elton John asked Taupin to revise the lyrics of their 1973 song "Candle in the Wind" to honour Diana, and Taupin agreed.

On 6 September 1997, Sir Elton John performed "Candle in the Wind 1997" live for the only time at Diana's funeral in Westminster Abbey.

On 15 September 1997, Sir Elton John appeared at the Music for Montserrat charity concert at the Royal Albert Hall, performing three songs solo before finishing with "Hey Jude" alongside Paul McCartney, Eric Clapton, Phil Collins, Mark Knopfler and Sting.

Sir Elton John appeared as himself in the Spice Girls film Spice World, released in December 1997.

Sir Elton John had been moved to write the musical after seeing the 2000 British coming-of-age film Billy Elliot, saying of the titular character, "he's like me".

Sir Elton John featured on rapper Tupac Shakur's posthumous single "Ghetto Gospel", which topped the UK charts in July 2005.

In October 2003, Sir Elton John announced that he had signed an exclusive agreement to perform 75 shows over three years at Caesars Palace on the Las Vegas Strip.

On 1 July 2007, Sir Elton John appeared at the Concert for Diana at Wembley Stadium in honour of Diana, Princess of Wales on what would have been her 46th birthday, with the concert's proceeds going to Diana's charities as well as to charities of which her sons Prince William and Prince Harry are patrons.

In 2009, Sir Elton John accepted Jerry Cantrell's invitation to collaborate with his band Alice in Chains.

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Sir Elton John played the piano in the song "Black Gives Way to Blue", a tribute to the band's late lead singer, Layne Staley, which was the title track and closing song of the album Black Gives Way to Blue, released in September 2009.

Sir Elton John performed a piano duet with Lady Gaga at the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards, which consisted of two songs of Gaga's, before culminating in "Your Song".

Sir Elton John performed his 3000th concert on 8 October 2011 at Caesars.

Also in 2011, Sir Elton John performed vocals on "Snowed in at Wheeler Street" with Kate Bush for her album 50 Words for Snow.

On 4 June 2012, Sir Elton John performed at Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee Concert at Buckingham Palace, playing a three-song set.

In February 2013, Sir Elton John performed a duet with singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran at the 55th Annual Grammy Awards.

Sir Elton John said he was a fan of frontman Josh Homme's side project, Them Crooked Vultures, and had phoned Homme to ask if he could perform on the album.

In September 2013, Sir Elton John received the first Brits Icon Award for his "lasting impact" on the culture of the United Kingdom.

Sir Elton John had a major role, as himself, in the action movie Kingsman: The Golden Circle, which was released in September 2017.

On 26 January 2017, it was announced that Sir Elton John would compose the score for the Broadway musical version of the novel The Devil Wears Prada and its film adaptation, with Kevin McCollum as producer and Paul Rudnick writing the lyrics and story.

In June 2017, Sir Elton John appeared in the award-winning documentary The American Epic Sessions, directed by Bernard MacMahon.

Sir Elton John composed and arranged a lyric by Taupin, "Two Fingers of Whiskey", written specially for the film, live on camera with the help of Burnett and Jack White.

On 24 January 2018, it was announced that Sir Elton John was retiring from touring and would soon embark on a three-year farewell tour.

In September 2018, Sir Elton John reportedly signed an agreement with Universal Music Group to represent his new music "for the rest of his career" in addition to his work from the last 50 years.

In October 2019, Sir Elton John released what he described as his "first and only autobiography", Me.

Sir Elton John had been diagnosed with walking pneumonia, and lost his voice during the show.

In early 2020, Sir Elton John played piano on Ozzy Osbourne's rock ballad "Ordinary Man", released in Osbourne's album of the same name.

On 1 September 2021, Sir Elton John announced his new collaboration album The Lockdown Sessions which he made during the first COVID-19 lockdown, which was released on 22 October 2021.

At 74 years, 7 months and 14 days, Sir Elton John became the oldest artist to hit the top of the ARIA Singles Chart.

Sir Elton John contributed to the charity tribute album The Metallica Blacklist, released in September 2021, by backing Miley Cyrus on a cover of the Metallica song "Nothing Else Matters".

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In January 2022, Sir Elton John continued his farewell tour for the first time since the start of the pandemic, with his first show back taking place in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Sir Elton John had to temporarily postpone two shows in Dallas after testing positive for COVID-19 and experiencing mild symptoms, and resumed the tour again after making a full recovery.

Sir Elton John has tour dates across the UK for 2022 and 2023, when the tour will wrap up.

Sir Elton John performed "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" at the memorial service for Australian cricketer Shane Warne on 30 March 2022.

On 4 June 2022, Sir Elton John was projected on to the facade of Buckingham Palace playing "Your Song" at the Platinum Party at the Palace to mark the Queen's Platinum Jubilee.

Sir Elton John is a fellow of the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors.

Sir Elton John's voice was once classed as a tenor; it is a baritone.

Sir Elton John's piano playing is influenced by classical music and gospel music.

Sir Elton John used Paul Buckmaster to arrange the music on his studio albums during the 1970s.

Sir Elton John ended the relationship two weeks before their intended wedding, after being advised by Taupin and Long Sir Elton John Baldry.

In 2020, Sir Elton John helped pay for Woodrow's medical fees upon her request, despite having lost contact with her 50 years previously.

Sir Elton John married German recording engineer Renate Blauel on 14 February 1984, in an extravagant wedding ceremony at Darling Point, New South Wales, Australia.

Sir Elton John had come out as bisexual in a 1976 interview with Rolling Stone, and in 1992 he told Rolling Stone in another interview that he was "quite comfortable about being gay".

In 1993, Sir Elton John began a relationship with David Furnish, a former advertising executive and now filmmaker originally from Toronto.

On 21 December 2005, Sir Elton John and Furnish were among the first couples to form a civil partnership in the United Kingdom, which was held at the Windsor Guildhall.

The elder, Zachary Jackson Levon Furnish-Sir Elton John, was born via surrogacy on 25 December 2010 in California.

The younger, Elijah Joseph Daniel Furnish-Sir Elton John, was born on 11 January 2013 via the same surrogate.

Sir Elton John has 10 godchildren, including Sean Lennon, David and Victoria Beckham's sons Brooklyn and Romeo, Elizabeth Hurley's son Damian Hurley, and Seymour Stein's daughter.

In 2008, Sir Elton John said he preferred civil partnerships to marriage for gay people, but by 2012 he had changed his position and become a supporter of same-sex marriage in the United Kingdom.

Sir Elton John is an art collector and is believed to have one of the largest private photography collections in the world.

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In 2000, Sir Elton John admitted to spending £30million in just under two years—an average of £1.

In June 2001, Sir Elton John sold 20 of his cars at Christie's, saying he never had the chance to drive them because he was out of the country so often.

In 2003, Sir Elton John sold the contents of his Holland Park home—expected to fetch £800,000 at Sotheby's—to modernise the decoration and to display some of his contemporary art collection.

Every year since 2004, John has opened a shop called "Elton's Closet", in which he sells his secondhand clothes.

In October 2021, Sir Elton John was named in the Pandora Papers which allege a secret financial deal of politicians and celebrities using tax havens in an effort to avoid the payment of owed taxes.

At a 2022 concert in Indianapolis, Sir Elton John said he cleaned himself up after spending time with the family of Ryan White.

John and King remain friends and co-host an annual pro-am event to benefit AIDS charities, most notably the Elton John AIDS Foundation, of which King is a chairperson.

Sir Elton John, who maintains a part-time residence in Atlanta, Georgia, became a fan of the Atlanta Braves baseball team when he moved there in 1991.

At the 2nd Empire Awards in 1997 Sir Elton John presented the comedy group the Empire Inspiration Award.

On 22 April 2017, Sir Elton John was discharged from hospital after two nights of intensive care for contracting "a harmful and unusual" bacterial infection during his return flight home from a South American tour in Santiago, Chile, and was forced to cancel all his shows scheduled for April and May 2017.

In October 2021, Sir Elton John required hip surgery after "falling awkwardly on a hard surface".

Sir Elton John became the chairman and director of Watford FC in 1976, after supporting the team since his youth.

Sir Elton John appointed Graham Taylor as manager and invested large sums of money as the club rose three divisions into the English First Division.

Sir Elton John sold the club to Jack Petchey in 1987, but remained president.

Ten years later, Sir Elton John repurchased the club from Petchey and became chairman.

Sir Elton John stepped down in 2002 when the club needed a full-time chairman, but continued as president.

In 2005 and 2010, Sir Elton John held a concert at Watford's home stadium, Vicarage Road, and donated proceeds to the club.

Sir Elton John has remained friends with a number of high-profile players in football, including Pele and David Beckham.

From late 1975 to 1976, Sir Elton John was a part-owner of the Los Angeles Aztecs of the North American Soccer League.

Sir Elton John called the occasion "one of the greatest days of my life".

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Sir Elton John's paternal cousin Roy Dwight was a professional footballer, who scored for Nottingham Forest in the 1959 FA Cup Final before breaking his leg later in the same match.

Sir Elton John has performed at a number of events involving the British royal family, such as the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales at Westminster Abbey in 1997, the Party at the Palace in 2002 and the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Concert outside Buckingham Palace in 2012.

In 2013, Sir Elton John resisted calls to boycott Russia in protest at the Russian gay propaganda law, but told fans at a Moscow concert that the laws were "inhumane and isolating", and he was "deeply saddened and shocked over the current legislation".

On 24 September 2015, the Associated Press reported that Putin called Sir Elton John and invited him to meet in the future to discuss LGBT rights in Russia.

In 2016, Sir Elton John performed at Radio City Music Hall in New York City during Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign.

In October 2020, Sir Elton John called attention to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Sir Elton John is well known for his philanthropic efforts, being involved in charity fundraising events since 1986.

Sir Elton John was recognised by Elizabeth II for his services to charity twice, receiving a knighthood in 1998 and being appointed a member of the Order of the Companions of Honour in 2020.

Sir Elton John became more closely associated with AIDS charities following the deaths of his friends Ryan White in 1990 and Freddie Mercury in 1991, raising large amounts of money and using his public profile to raise awareness of the disease.

Later Sir Elton John sang "Delilah" with Tom Jones and "Big Spender" with Shirley Bassey.

Sir Elton John performed "I'm Still Standing" during the One World: Together At Home television special, a benefit concert curated by Lady Gaga for Global Citizen to raise funds for the World Health Organization's COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund.

Sir Elton John was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility in 1994.

Sir Elton John was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1995.

In October 1975, Sir Elton John became the 1,662nd person to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Sir Elton John was awarded Society of Singers Lifetime Achievement Award in 2005.

Sir Elton John received a Kennedy Center Honor in 2004 and a Disney Legends Award in 2006.

In 2019, Sir Elton John featured on a series of UK postage stamps issued by the Royal Mail.

In 2022, after Sir Elton John performed at the White House, President Joe Biden surprised him by presenting him with the National Humanities Medal.

Sir Elton John has received five Brit Awards, including the 1991 award for Best British Male, and awards for Outstanding Contribution to Music in 1986 and 1995.

In 2013, Sir Elton John received the first Brits Icon award in recognition of his "lasting impact" on UK culture, which was presented to him by his close friend Rod Stewart.

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