Elton John – A Musical Icon

Elton John, over time, has proven to be one of the most influential musicians of his time. His time spans several decades, and his legion of fans spans several generations. John has been performing for more than 30 years to enraptured audiences.

The Beginning

The beginning for Elton was in 1947, when he was born, in England. He was mostly brought up by the women in his life as his father, a squadron leader in the RAF, was absent from home a lot.

Elton had a great talent for being able to hear a tune just a few times on the radio, and then being able to play it by ear. His talent on the piano kept growing until by the age of 11 he won a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music.

He left however before he finished the course because he wanted to concentrate on his specific field of interest, and this in part led to his particular unique style.

Elton’s career in the early days.

In his early days Elton played in such bands as The Corvettes and Bluesology and they toured many of the popular venues throughout England during this time. They also acted as support bands for a number of bigger names at this time.

His time with Bluesology did not last for too long, for a variety of reasons, and on leaving he formed a partnership which is still going strong to this day.

Success in his career.

His success really came out of his failure with an audition at Liberty Records. It was here that he met and eventually teamed up with Bernie Taupin, and it was during this time that he changed his name to Elton John. Together Elton and Bernie got ready for the hugh success which they experienced in the 1970′s.

The first such success was the release of his album Honky Chateas, in 1972. It spent five weeks at number one and included such hits as Rocket Man and Honky Cat.

Things then really started to take off and his nine albums (at time of writing) and 31 releases have sold hundreds of millions of copies all around the world.

Awards/Acknowledgements

John is revered by millions, both inside the music industry and by the public in general. He has been recognized in several ways. John has won five Grammy Awards, although this is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of his recognition. In 1995, John won an Academy Award for Best Music, Song for “Can You Feel the Love Tonight,” featured in The Lion King. He won a Golden Globe Award that same year for Best Original Song – Motion Picture for the same score. In 1996, he was appointed a Commander of the British Empire (C.B.E.), and in 1998, he was Knighted by Queen Elizabeth for his contribution to music and fund-raising for AIDS charities. Finally, in 2000, John won a Tony Award for Best Original Musical Score for his work with Aida. John was also inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994.