|
 Main Page
Introduction
The
Fifties
The Sixties
The Seventies
The Eighties
Extra!
Special
Features
Shop
(UK)
Shop
(USA)
Help
About Us
Contact Us
Contribute
Media
Room
Links
|
|
Elton John
Reginald Dwight began playing piano as a schoolboy to supplement
his earnings as a tea boy at a London music publishing company. At
the age of 16 he was earning £1 per night for banging out
bar-room favourites such as Roll Out The Barrel at the
local pub, to save up enough money to buy an electric piano so
that he could join the semi-pro group Bluesology.
In the early days playing with Bluesology, Dwight earned the
meagre sum of £15 per week, out of which came his contribution
to petrol and maintenance for their shared van. The band backed a
roster of stars including visiting US acts such as The Ink Spots
and Patti LaBelle and the Bluebelles. Apparently the band were
once due to do a show with Wilson Pickett but he sought
alternative musicians after hearing them rehearse!
By the end of 1966 they were Long John Baldry's regular
backing band, but disbanded less than a year later when Baldry's
bookings became increasingly cabaret-oriented. Around that time,
Reg changed his name to Elton Hercules John - his inspiration
coming from Bluesology's sax player Elton Dean, and Long John
himself. Elton concentrated on writing songs with lyricist Bernie
Taupin until 1969, when his first album Empty Sky failed
to make an impression.
In February 1971, three years after his first record release,
Elton's ballad Your Song hit Number 7 in the UK to give
him his first hit single. It was not to be his last.
Elton re-signed with MCA Records in the USA in July 1974 for a
five album deal worth $8 million to the singer. At the time it was
the most lucrative recording contract in rock's history.
Elton was so upset when the office boy at his record company
was killed in a motorbike accident in 1978 that he wrote Song
For Guy as a tribute. In 1979 he became the first
western rock star to tour the Soviet Union, playing eight shows in
Leningrad.
A 1987 throat operation failed to dim Elton's powers, and in
that same year, the English tabloid newspaper The Sun
published front-page stories claiming Elton had indulged in sex
and drugs orgies with male homosexuals. Elton sued them for libel
and in October the newspaper admitted the stories were false,
printed an apology and paid him £1 million in damages.
Elton's long-time bass player, Dee Murray, died on 15 January
1992 following a massive stroke in Nashville. Murray, 45, had been
battling cancer for eight years. Elton commented, "I loved
him dearly and will miss him".
|
|
.
|
