The Pink Spotlight on Sir Elton John

Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE* (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight on 25 March 1947) is an English pop/rock singer, composer and pianist. In a career spanning five decades, Elton John has sold over 250 million records and has over 50 Top 40 hits, making him one of the most successful musicians of all time.

John was one of the dominant commercial forces in the rock world during the 1970s, with a string of seven consecutive #1 records on the U.S. album charts, 23 Top 40 singles, 16 Top 10 ones, and six #1 hits. His success had a profound impact on popular music, and contributed to the continued popularity of the piano in rock and roll. Key musical elements in John's success included his melodic gifts matched with the contributions of his lyricist partner Bernie Taupin, his rich tenor and gospel-chorded piano, aggressive string arrangements, and his flamboyant fashion sense and on-stage showmanship.

In the early 1990s, John publicly revealed the personal costs of his rock-star extravagance: his ongoing struggle with drug abuse, depression and bulimia. He continues to be a major public figure, and has been heavily involved in the fight against AIDS since the late 1980s. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994 and was knighted in 1998, and has remained an enduringly successful artist.

Life and career


Reginald Kenneth Dwight was born in Pinner, Middlesex, a London suburb. His father, Stanley Dwight, was an officer in the Royal Air Force and was frequently away. When the elder Dwight was home, he was demanding, disapproving, and difficult to please, exuding a frightening countenance. Reggie's mother, the former Sheila Harris, was strict, but in contrast to her husband was Elton's true mentor, confidant, and confidence booster. Years later, she said that her son grew up "a bundle of nerves." Reggie's childhood was marred by terrible arguments between his parents. But something happened in 1950 that would set his life on an immutable course: At age three, he started playing the piano by ear.

The home's general tunefulness encouraged Reggie's entry into music. Standley Dwight had once played trumpet with and American-styled big band called Bob Miller and the Millermen. He and Sheila were avid record buyers, exposing Reggie to the music of pianists Winifred Atwell, Nat King Cole, and George Shearing, and to signers Rosemary Clooney, Frank Sinatra, Kay Starr, Johnny Ray, Guy Mitchell, Jo Stafford, and Frankie Laine. By the time he was four, his parents recognized Reggie's talent, and would often ask him to play at parties.

In 1956, Reggie discovered Elvis Presley. Soon his mother was buying him records by rock 'n' roll acts like Presley and Bill Haley and the Comets. By the time he started attending the Royal Academy of Music on a scholarship at age 11, Reggie's musical mind was firmly wedded to rock'n'roll.

Reggie preferred playing by ear. Subprofessor Helen Piena once said that upon the boy's entrance into the Academy, she'd played him a for-page piece by Handel, which he promptly played back for her like a "gramophone record." Reggie enjoyed playing Chopin and Bach and singing in the choir during his Saturday classes at the Academy, but was not otherwise a diligent classical student. As he remembered decades later, "I kind of resented going to the Academy. I was one of those children who could just about get away without practicing and still pass, scrape through the grades." Sometimes, he would play truant and ride around the tube. Yet Piena saw Reggie as a "model student."

A student at the Academy for five years, Reggie rounded out the little free time he had with a newspaper route and a job at a wine shop on Saturday afternoons after class. At Pinner Country Grammar School, he was more advanced musically than his peers, and had an aptitude for songwriting, dashing off good melodies for his composition assignments.

Reggie's record collection grew rapidly. He took sustenance in the early rock'n'roll piano pioneers, annoying his father, who wanted him to concentrate on the classics, and frightening his mother with a fascination for music of the sexual, androgynous Little Richard. Reggie gained some notoriety by playing like Jerry Lee Lewis at Pinner Country Grammer functions, and even sang.

In 1962, Reggie's embattled parents finally divorced, in the wake of Sheila Dwight's friendship with a painter named Fred Farebrother. Later, Stanley married again and had four children.

Personal life
John has had a complicated personal history in both his sexual orientation, as well as personal battles with drugs and spending.


Sexual orientation and extended relationships
While married to Katie, Elton John disclosed his bisexuality in 1976 in a Rolling Stone magazine interview. He married German recording engineer Renate Blauel on Valentine's Day, 1984, but they divorced four years later. John later renounced the bisexual claim and announced he was gay.

He met his partner David Furnish, a former advertising executive and now film maker, in 1993. On 21 December 2005, they entered into a civil partnership. A low-key ceremony with only their parents in attendance was held at the Guildhall, Windsor, followed by a lavish party at their Berkshire mansion. The Sun newspaper marked the event with the headline "Elton Takes David Up the Aisle".

John does not have any children, but does have ten godchildren as of March 2006. Besides the aforementioned Sean Ono Lennon, these include Elizabeth Hurley's son Damian Charles and David and Victoria Beckham's son Brooklyn.

Within the music industry, Elton is sometimes known as "Sharon", a nickname originally given to him by good friend Rod Stewart. In return, Elton calls Rod "Phyllis".


Drugs, alcohol and health
During his career, John has battled addictions to alcohol, cocaine and rumoured financial difficulties caused by his profligate spending. In the mid-late 1990s, John formed a friendship with colleague Michael Jackson. Because of the help John gave him during his addiction to painkillers, Jackson dedicated the 1997 album Blood on the Dance Floor to him. John remained silent during the Jackson trial in 2005.

In 1987 he had an operation to remove polyps from his vocal cords. He has used marijuana extensively and this may have contributed to the polyp formation. [11]. John has also gone public about his battle with the eating disorder; bulimia.

The death of teenager Ryan White, as a result of AIDS in 1990, confronted Elton with the immense importance of time and life, and motivated him to tackle his problems of alcohol and drug addiction. John checked himself into a rehabilitation clinic to finally overcome his demons.

In July 1999, he was fitted with a pacemaker due to an irregular heart beat.


Charity
John has long been associated with AIDS charities after the deaths of his friends Ryan White and Freddie Mercury, raising large amounts of money and using his public profile to raise awareness of the disease. For example, in 1986 he joined with Dionne Warwick, Gladys Knight, and Stevie Wonder to record the single "That's What Friends Are For", with all profits being donated to the American Foundation for AIDS Research. The song won Elton and the others the Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal (as well as Song of the Year for its writers, Burt Bacharach and Carole Bayer Sager). In April 1990, John performed "Skyline Pigeon" at the funeral of White, a teenage hemophiliac he had befriended.

John founded the Elton John AIDS Foundation in 1992 as a charity to fund programmes for HIV/AIDS prevention, for the elimination of prejudice and discrimination against HIV/AIDS-affected individuals, and for providing services to people living with or at risk of contracting HIV/AIDS. This cause continues to be one of his personal passions. In early 2006, Elton donated the smaller of two bright-red Yamaha pianos from his Las Vegas show to auction on eBay to raise public awareness and funds for the foundation

Every year since 2004, he has opened a shop (this year in Manhattan, before in London and Atlanta), selling his second hand clothes. Called "Elton's Closet" the sale this year of 10,000 items was expected to raise $400,000.

Happy Birthday Sir Elton!

*He was made a CBE in 1996. In the 1998 New Year's Honours list he was made a Knight Bachelor. The latter confers no postnominal letters, hence he is Sir Elton John CBE.