Elton John

Elton John married Renate Blauel in February 1984. The two parted ways four years later.

In 1988, he came out as gay and in 1993, he begain a relationship with David Furnish.

In 2005, when the Civil Partnership Act came into force, Elton John and David Furnish were amongst the first couples in the UK to form a civil partnership.

Elton John was born as Reginald Kenneth Dwight on March 25, 1947, in Pinner, Middlesex, England, to Stanley Dwight and Sheila Eileen.

He gained his education from Pinner Wood Junior School, Reddiford School and Pinner County Grammar School. However, he left studies before A-Level examinations to pursue a career in music.

He started playing piano at an early age, and at the age of 11, he won a junior scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music. Such were his abilities that he started composing music at an early age. Elton studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London for five years.

Elton John’s first job was as a weekend pianist at a pub. Thereafter, he took up several roles, forming a band with friends, working in a music publishing house, performing solo at hotels. In 1962, he formed the band Bluesology.

In 1967, he collaborated with lyricist Bernie Taupin. He wrote musical compositions for the latter’s lyrics. This led to the beginning of the historic partnership that still survives today. ‘Scarecrow’ was the first song recorded by the two. Meanwhile, Dwight changed his name to Elton John after Bluesology musicians.

In 1968, Elton John and Taupin became successful staff songwriters for DJM Records. They were writing and composing song for other singers and musicians. Starting off with easy lyrics and catchy music, they switched to more complex forms.

In 1969, Elton John received his first break as a singer and came up with his debut album ‘Empty Sky’. He soon backed it with a follow-up album, ‘Elton John’ that was released in April 1970. The album soon became his first hit album, reaching number four on the US Billboard 200 and number five on the UK Albums Chart.

The tremendous success of Elton John’s second album gave him impetus to continue making music. Consequently, in 1972, he released ‘Honky Château’, which went on to become his first US number one album. This was just the beginning as what followed was a streak of seven consecutive US number one albums.

The decade of 1970s was the most successful period for John, as his seven consecutive albums reached number one spot in the US, beginning with ‘Honky Château’, ‘Don't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano Player’, ‘Goodbye Yellow Brick Road’ and so on. Six of his albums made it to the Rolling Stone’s list of ‘500 Greatest Albums of All Time’. Three of his albums from this period gained five stars from Allmusic.

Interestingly Elton John’s tribute single dedicated to the late Princess Diana, titled ‘Candle in the Wind 1997’ is the best-selling single in the history of the UK and US singles charts. It sold over 33 million copies worldwide.