Elton John
- Profession: Musician
- Place/Date of Birth: Pinner, England, 25 March 2020
- Associated with: David Furnish
I’m still listening - June 04
Soccer fan Elton John made sure he didn’t miss out on any of the action last Thursday. The star made sure he was equipped with an earpiece throughout his annual White Tie and Tiara ball, which clashed with England’s Euro 2004 clash with Portugal.
Elton found out too late that his party clashed with the match and rather than ruin the serene and sophisticated atmosphere with a big screen TV he chose to listen through an earpiece as his best mate Becks missed a penalty and England went out of the tournament.
Elton auction - June 04
Bespectacled maestro Elton John is to auction of his huge collection of glasses. Elton had some kind of implant recently which means he no longer suffers with the short sightedness, which has caused him to buy some of the most outlandish specs known to man over the years.
"They’re not much use to me now," Elt was quoted as saying "I’ve just had implants in my eyes so I have 20/20 vision now. All the glasses are just sitting there.I feel an auction coming on!"
Havin’ a ball - June 04
Elton John’s White Tie and Tiara bash was a hit, as usual. The stars turned out in force for Elton’s annual celebrity bash last week. The singer and his partner, David Furnish hosted the charity ball at their Windsor mansion with celebs ranging from Liz Hurley to Kelly Osbourne braving the rain and neglecting the England v Portugal match.
Although David and Victoria Beckham couldn’t attend the event, the stars still managed to clock up quite an impressive donation for Elton’s AIDs charity.
Elton shuns Ivy - June 04
Elton John has threatened to shun the Ivy after he was mobbed by fans at the swish eatery.
The pop star was trying to have a quiet night out with friends when he was rushed by a number of fans who got in to the restaurant while the door was unattended. Elton is said to be furious and is threatening never to go back to the star studded venue.
Elton’s charity spectacular - 22/07/03
Robbie Williams is to return to the Royal Albert Hall to headline a show for The Prince Of Wales’s charity that will also feature Elton John and Victoria Beckham.
Liz Hurley will host the event, called Fashion Rocks, on October 15 when 18 of the world’s leading fashion houses will work with leading celebrities.
The idea is to fuse catwalk and concert and Robbie will be strutting his stuff for the designers as well as performing.
Hugh’s coming to dinner? - 30/06/03
Actor Hugh Grant has agreed to pay ?200.000 for dinner with Elton John.
The actor was at an auction at Elton John’s annual White Tie and Tiara ball, the lot gave the highest bidder the chance to invite 10 friends to the dinner party, hosted by Elton and his partner David Furnish.
The Four Weddings and a Funeral actor agreed to up the ante to ?200,000, if a rival bidder promised to pay his ?190,000 offer too.
The star-studded evening raised ?930,000 for Elton’s Aids Foundation charity from the auction alone - which included a Bentley Continental bought by another mystery businessman for ?320,000.
Clearing out his closet - 20/06/03
Elton John is clearing out his Holland Park home, selling hundreds of paintings, furniture and hundreds of other items.
The A-list star is planning on refurbishing his home, which means that a collection of more than 400 items, expected to fetch in excess of ?800,000, will be up for grabs.
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Then there is his seemingly endless love affair with shopping, as revealed in that recent court case, where the world found out that Elton spent about ?250,000 a year on flowers, and didn’t even notice that ?10million was missing from his account. He even takes the mickey out of own spending habits in a new advert for the Post Office.
So what if Elton doesn’t believe in saving and hoarding money, he has no children or family, so he spends. Big deal. He spends on himself, yes, but also huge amounts are showered on others and on charities, particularly his AIDS charity. He recently told Heat magazine that he’d leave everything to David, his partner of nine years.
Amongst the tantrums and tiaras it’s too easy to forget that the fact that he’s got so much money to throw around in the first place, is that he’s one of the world’s most commercially successful entertainers of the last 30 years, and writes a cracking good tune to boot.
Elton John was born Reginald Dwight (!) on March 25, 2020 to a middle-class family living in Pinner, England. He won a scholarship to study at the Royal Academy of Music but dropped out shortly before graduation, to tour England with Bluesology who were backing bigger-name blues performers.
In 1967 Elton met lyricist Bernard Taupin through a newspaper ad, and the duo became a professional song writing team and went on to have million selling worldwide hits. Working with producer Gus Dudgeon, Elton and Taupin released a new album for MCA Records in 1970, Elton John, with which he first found fame. His 1971 follow-up, the concept album Tumbleweed Connection, was another big hit, reaching the Top 10.
The prolific pair put together several more albums during 1971-72, culminating in 1972’s Honky Chateau, John’s first No.1 album. Its big single, "Rocket Man", inaugurated a string of hits for the singer-pianist, who scored 16 consecutive Top 20 hits between late 1972 and mid-1976, releasing up to three albums a year. Hits like "The Bitch Is Back," "Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting," "Bennie and the Jets," "Yellow Brick Road," "Don’t Let the Sun Go Down On Me," "Someone Saved My Life Tonight" and "Crocodile Rock" became pop classics, turning Elton John into a bona fide superstar. 1975’s Captain Fantastic became the first album ever to debut at No.1.
In 1977 John announced that he would no longer perform live, due to ’exhaustion’, and would limit his record output. In the light of recent revelations from Elton about this period of his life, it’s probably closer to the truth to say he was close to killing himself, through drugs or other means. Also, he and Bernard Taupin had fallen out and had ceased working together, with Elton bringing in other songwriters and Taupin penning lyrics for other artists.
In the 80’s Elton continued to have hits such as "I Guess That’s Why They Call it the Blues" and 1984’s "Sad Songs (Say So Much)," but moved from rock/pop to a more mellow adult contemporary sound. He also took an interest in AIDS research, forming the Elton John AIDS Foundation in 1991; he also announced that he would donate all future royalties from his singles to AIDS charities. John mounted another comeback with 1992’s The One, which went double platinum. That same year he and Taupin signed a publishing deal with Warner/Chappel Music for nearly $40 million.
In 1994 Elton John scored his biggest hit in years with "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" from The Lion King soundtrack, winning five Grammy nominations and three Oscar nominations. That same year, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Elton John released the album The Big Picture in September 1997. Earlier that month, he captured the hearts of millions when he sang a re-written version of "Candle in the Wind" at the funeral of Princess Diana. A recording of the song, released as "Candle in the Wind 1997" became the first single to outsell Bing Crosby’s "White Christmas." All proceeds from the sale of the single were donated to the Princess of Wales Memorial Fund.
His latest, Songs From The West Coast, came out in 2001, and has widely been seen as a return to form, back to the Elton of old, an album full with really, really good tunes. He too seems to be happier than ever, touring, performing, collecting art, clothes, cd’s and shoes, buying flowers, appearing in ads for the Post Office, getting teen idols like Justin Timberlake to play him in his videos, and of course spending time with David. Bless.
Biography by Liz McGrath 04/02
October 2007