Elton John

At 77 years old, Elton John has this physical status:

Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight, 1948) is an English singer, guitarist, pianist, and composer.

Bernie Taupin, a lyricist, has collaborated on more than 30 albums.

John has sold more than 300 million albums, making him one of the world's top-selling musicians.

He has more than fifty Top 40 hits, as well as seven consecutive top-one albums in the United States, 58 Billboard Top 40 singles, 27 Top ten singles, four of which have peaked at number two, with four of which reached number one.

His tribute song, "Candle in the Wind 1997," rewritten in honour of Diana, Princess of Wales, has sold over 33 million copies worldwide and is the best-selling single in the UK and US singles charts.

He has also produced records and appeared in films occasionally.

Early life

Elton John was born in Pinner, Middlesex, England, the eldest child of Stanley Dwight (1925–1991) and Sheila Eileen's only child (née Harris, 1925–2017). He was born in a Pinner council house by his maternal grandparents. When the family migrated to a nearby semi-detached home, his parents married in 1945. He was educated at Pinner Wood Junior School, Reddiford School, and Pinner County Grammar School until age 17, when he dropped out right before his A-Level exams to pursue a career in music.

As John began to think about a career in music, his father, who served in the Royal Air Force, climbed to the rank of sergeant and spent time in Iraq in 1949, led him to a more traditional career, such as banking. After such a restrictive childhood, John says that his wild stage costumes and performances were his way of letting go. Both his parents were musically inclined, with his father being a trumpet player with the Bob Millar Band, a semi-professional big band that appeared at military dances. The Dwights were avid record collectors, exposing John to the hottest singers and musicians of the day, and he has admitted that he was immediately addicted to rock and roll as his mother brought home music from Elvis Presley and Bill Haley & His Comets in 1956. "I heard Little Richard and Jerry Lee Lewis and that was it," the young boy claims. I didn't set out to be something else. I'm more of a Little Richard stylist than a Jerry Lee Lewis, I guess. Jerry Lee is a specialized piano player and an excellent performer, but Little Richard is more of a pounder."

As a young boy, John began playing his grandmother's piano, and within a year, his mother would hear him pick out Waldteufel's "The Skater's Waltz" by ear. He began formal piano lessons at age seven after appearing at dances and family gatherings. He demonstrated musical aptitude at school, including the ability to compose melodies, and gained some notoriety by playing like Jerry Lee Lewis at school functions. He received a junior scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music at age 11. After hearing it for the first time, John reverted to his instructors, like a "gramophone record," a four-page piece by George Frideric Handel.

John attended Saturday classes at the Academy in central London, and he has enjoyed playing Frédéric Chopin and Johann Sebastian Bach and singing in the choir at Saturday classes, but not so much as a diligent classical student. "I kind of resented going to the Academy," he said. "I was one of those kids who could not get out without studying and also passing, so I guess I should have been able to get away without studying and still passing." On the London Underground, he has said he would sometimes miss classes and ride around. Several teachers have affirmed that he was a "model student" and that over the past few years, he sought advice from a private tutor in lieu of his Academy classes. He left the Academy before taking the final exams.

John's mother, though strict with her son, was more vivacious than her husband, and there was a hint of a free spirit. John was mostly raised by his mother and maternal grandmother, with Stanley Dwight uninterested in his son and often absent. The Dwights had vehement arguments that had greatly distressed John when he was home. They divorced when he was 14 years old. Fred Farebrother, a local painter who also helped his mother with his caring and understanding stepfather who John affectionately referred to as "Fred" ("backwards). They were moved to No. 2 in the building. Frome Court, an eight-unit apartment building, is not far from both previous homes and the former one. Theresa John wrote the songs that launched his career as a rock star; he lived in the United States Top 40 until he had four albums on the same page.

Personal life

John was scheduled to be married to his first love, secretary Linda Woodrow, who is featured in the film "Someone Saved My Life Tonight." At the time, Woodrow was assisting John and Taupin with financial assistance. After being advised by Taupin and Long John Baldry, John and his family split two weeks before their intended wedding date. Despite having lost touch with her 50 years ago, John helped pay for Woodrow's medical expenses on her own in 2020.

He left virginity and started his first gay friendship with John Reid, Tamla Motown's head coach who later became John Reid, right after his first US shows in Los Angeles. The relationship came to an end five years ago, but Reid remained his boss until 1998.

In an extravagant wedding reception at Darling Point, New South Wales, Australia, John married German recording engineer Renate Blauel on February 14, 1984. After John told her that he wanted to break the marriage, Blauel attempted suicide during their honeymoon in St-Tropez. In 1988, the couple's marriage ended in divorce. "She was the most beautiful woman I've ever met," John said, but it wasn't meant to be. "I was living a lie." Blauel's mother, Elton John Official Autobiography, was sued by John in 2020 for writing about their marriage in his book Elton John Official Autobiography, which she said violated the terms of their divorce contract. The lawsuit was settled later this year.

In a 1976 interview with Rolling Stone, John came out bisexual, and in 1992 he told Rolling Stone that he was "quite comfortable being gay."

John first started a relationship with David Furnish, a former advertising executive and now filmmaker from Toronto, in 1993. John and Furnish were among the first couples to establish a civil partnership in the United Kingdom on December 21, 2005 (the day the Civil Partnership Act came into existence), and the Windsor Guildhall was the first two couples to form a civil partnership in the United Kingdom. On the ninth anniversary of their civil union in the United Kingdom, John and Furnish married in Windsor, Berkshire, on November 21.

Both John and Furnish have two sons. Zachary Jackson Levon Furnish-John, the elder, was born in California on December 25th by surrogacy. Elijah Joseph Furnish-John, a younger boy, was born on January 11, 2013 via the same surname. Seymour Stein's nieces were also included in John's ten godchildren, which included Sean Lennon, David and Victoria Beckham's sons Brooklyn and Romeo, Elizabeth Hurley's son Damian Hurley, and Seymour Stein's daughter.

Some Christian organizations in the United States chastised John after he described Jesus as a "compassionate, super-intelligent gay man who understood human problems" in 2010. Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League for Civil Rights and opposer of gay rights, responded: "To call Jesus a homosexual is to identify him as a sexual deviant." What else can we expect from a man who said, "I would have completely ban religion from my point of view." In his autobiography Me, John said he had received numerous death threats as a result of his words. After releasing a YouTube video stating: "We're here today to tell Elton John that we're here to warn him that he has to die," Neal Horsley, a Christian Reconstructionist from Bremen, Georgia, United States, was arrested for terrorist attacks. The charges were eventually dropped, but they were not dismissed.

John said,

He said in 2014 that Jesus would have favoured same-sex marriage.

The Sunday Times Rich List estimated John's wealth at £175 million (US$265 million) in April 2009, ranking him as the third richest person in the United Kingdom. In the 2019 Sunday Times Rich List, John was expected to make more than £320 million, making him one of the top ten richest people in the British music industry a decade later. John owns residences in Atlanta, London, Los Angeles, Nice, and Venice, in addition to his main home, Woodside, Berkshire. His house in Nice is on Mont Boron. John is an art dealer and is believed to have one of the world's biggest private photography collections.

In 2000, John admitted to spending £30 million in just under two years — the lowest level of £1.5 million a month. He spent more than £9.6 million on house and £293,000 on flowers between January 1996 and September 1997. In June 2001, John Christie sold 20 of his cars at Christie's, saying he never had the opportunity to drive them because he was out of the country so often. The auction, which featured a 1993 Jaguar XJ220, the most expensive at £234,750, as well as many Ferraris, Rolls-Royces, and Bentleys, raised nearly $2 million. In 2003, John sold the contents of his Holland Park house, which was expected to sell for £800,000 at Sotheby's, to modernize the interior and expose some of his contemporary art works. Every year since 2004, John has opened "Elton's Closet," in which he sells his secondhand clothes.

In October 2021, John was included in the Pandora Papers, citing a clandestine financial contract between politicians and celebrities using tax havens in an attempt to prevent the payment of owed taxes.

The pressures of stardom had already taken a toll on John by 1975. He had a cocaine overdose during "Elton Week" in Los Angeles this year. He also had the food disorder bulimia. King asked if John was aware of Diana, Princess of Wales' eating disorder in a 2002 CNN interview. "Yes, I did," John replied. We were both bulimic." In a July 2019 Instagram post, John said he had been sober for 29 years. After spending time with Ryan White's family at a 2022 concert in Indianapolis, John said he cleaned himself up. "I knew that my life was erratic and out of order." ... I can't thank them enough because, without them, I'd certainly die." In a 2014 interview, he attributed his sobriety to Kate Bush and Peter Gabriel's "Don't Give Up" from 1986, particularly the Bush lyric, "Rest your head." You're worrying too much. It's going to be all right. If times are tough, we can all recall what we're missing. Don't give up. "She [Bush] was instrumental in my rebirth," he says. I loved it so much."

Billie Jean King's World Team Tennis team, the Philadelphia Freedoms, was a long-distance tennis fan who released the song "Philadelphia Freedom" in honor of his friend Billie Jean King's "Philadelphia Freedom" in 1975. At the time, King was a player-coach for the team. Both John and King are friends and co-host an annual pro-am event to benefit AIDS charities, most notable the Elton John AIDS Foundation, of which the King is a chairperson. When he first arrived in Atlanta, Georgia, John, who now lives in Atlanta, Georgia, became a fan of the Atlanta Braves baseball team.

Among other things, John has appeared in commercials for Diet Coke, the Royal Mail, Snickers, and John Lewis & Partners Department store. Authors Roger Blackwell and Tina Stephan wrote "the friendship of Elton John and Diet Coke is one of the classic success tales in the role of brand building." "The Boy & The Piano," John Lewis & Associates' Christmas advert in the United Kingdom, sees him reminisce about his childhood and work in reverse, culminating with Christmas Day in the 1950s when he received a piano for Christmas from his mother.

Monty Python enthusiast in 1975, he was one of a group of musicians who financed Monty Python and the Holy Grail. In 1997, John received the Empire Inspiration Award from the comedy group The Empire Inspiration Award was given to him at the 2nd Empire Awards.

During his return flight home from a South American tour in Santiago, Chile, John was released from hospital after two nights of intensive care for a "navigation and unusual" bacterial infection. After "falling awkwardly on a hard surface," John required hip surgery in October 2021.

John was both the chairman and director of Watford F.C. Since being devoted to the team since his youth, he began in 1976. As the club's three divisions advanced to the English First Division, John appointed Graham Taylor as manager and invested a considerable amount of money. The club finished runners up in the First Division to Liverpool in 1983 and then reached the FA Cup Final at Wembley Stadium in 1984. In 1987, John sold the club to Jack Petchey, but stayed president. John bought the team from Petchey ten years ago and became chairman once more. He resigned in 2002 when the club needed a full-time chairman but the president carried on as president. Despite being no longer the majority shareholder, John is nevertheless concerned about a major financial interest. In 2005 and 2010, John performed a concert at Watford's home stadium, Vicarage Road, and donated funds to the charity. Pelé and David Beckham, for example, have been friends with a number of high-profile football players, including Pelé and David Beckham. John was a member of the Los Angeles Aztecs of the North American Soccer League from 1975 to 1976. He appeared at Vicarage Road in Watford on December 13, 2014 with his wife and children for the opening of the "Sir Elton John stand." The occasion, he said, was "one of the best days of my life."

Roy Dwight, John's paternal cousin, scored for Nottingham Forest in the 1959 FA Cup Final before breaking his leg later in the same match.

Source

Career

John was recruited as a pianist at a nearby bar, the Northwood Hills Hotel, at age 15, with his mother's and stepfather's assistance. He performed a number of well-known styles, including songs by Jim Reeves and Ray Charles, as well as his own songs. The Corvettes, a short-lived company, brought him to an end his days. Although he was already sighted as a child, John began wearing horn-rimmed glasses to imitate Buddy Holly.

In 1962, John and some of his companions formed a band called Bluesology. He worked at a London hotel bar by day and divided his nights between solo gigs at a London hotel bar and working with Bluesology; by day, he was running errands for a music publishing company; he divided his nights between solo gigs and working with Bluesology. By the mid-1960s, Bluesology was supporting touring American soul and R&B musicians like the Isley Brothers, Major Lance, and the Bluebelles. The band debuted at the Marquee Club in 1966 and was played 16 times by Long John Baldry's support band.

John answered an advertisement in the British magazine New Musical Express, directed by Ray Williams, who later became Liberty Records' A&R manager. Williams gave John an unopened envelope of lyrics written by Bernie Taupin, who had appeared in the same spot at their first meeting. John wrote the lyrics and then sent it to Taupin, initiating a friendship that also continues. "Scarecrow" was the first John/Taupin song performed when the two groups first met in 1967. Elton John, the saxophonist Elton Dean and vocalist Long John Baldry, who were born in New York six months after. On January 7, 1972, he legally changed his name to Elton Hercules John.

In 1968, John and Taupin's staff joined Dick James' DJM Records as staff songwriters and developed songs for several artists, including Roger Cook and Lulu. Taupin will write a series of lyrics in under an hour and give it to John, who will write music for them in half an hour, if he does not appear to quickly. They've been writing easy-listening songs for James to peddle to singers for two years. "I Can't Go On (Life Without You)" was a contender for the United Kingdom's entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1969, for Lulu, was one of the early entries. It was the sixth of six songs in the series. On his first released single, "Mr. Boyd," by Argosy, a quartet formed by Caleb Quaye and Nigel Olsson, John provided piano for Roger Hodgson.

On the advice of music publisher Steve Brown, John and Taupin started writing more difficult songs for John, which were then released on DJM. The first was called "I've Been Loving You" (1968), which was produced by Caleb Quaye, Bluesology's former guitarist. With Quaye, drummer Roger Pope, and bassist Tony Murray, John recorded another single, "Lady Samantha," as well as an album, Empty Sky. Elton John, John, John, and Taupin enlisted Gus Dudgeon as producer and Paul Buckmaster as musical arranger for their follow-up album. Elton John was first recorded on DJM Records/Pye Records in the United Kingdom and Uni Records in the United States in April 1970, and he established the formula for subsequent albums: gospel-chorded rockers and poignant ballads. The album's first single, "Border Song," debuted at 92 on the Billboard Hot 100. "Your Song" was the second in the UK Singles Chart and number eight in the United States, becoming John's first hit single as a singer. The album debuted quickly, peaking at number four on the US Billboard 200 and number five on the UK Albums Chart and debuting at number four.

John's first American concert, backed by former Spencer Davis Group drummer Nigel Olsson and bassist Dee Murray, took place in Los Angeles on August 25, 1970, and was a hit. Tumbleweed Connection was released in October 1970 and debuted in the United Kingdom and the top five in the United States, with the concept album Tumbleweed Connection detonated in the UK and number five. On WABC-FM in New York City, the live album 17-11-70 (titled 11–17-70 in the United States) was broadcast. When an east-coast bootlegger performed the set a few weeks before the official album, not just the 40 minutes selected by Dick James Music, the live album took home a lot of money in the United States.

The soundtrack to the 1971 film Friends was written by John and Taupin, followed by the album Madman Across the Water, which debuted in the United States and featured hit songs "Levon" and "Tiny Dancer" as the album's opening track. Davey Johnstone performed on guitar and backing vocals with the Elton John Band in 1972. Honky Château, first released in 1972, became John's first top-one album, spending five weeks at the top of the Billboard 200, and began a string of seven consecutive US number-one albums. The album debuted at number two in the United Kingdom, as well as the hit singles "Rocket Man" and "Honky Cat."

John appeared at the Royal Variety Festival in 1972, where he was upstaged by the dancing of "Legs" Larry Smith, the drummer with the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band. Smith was invited to attend John's second US tour, but Smith later said: "...... he's still on the mend." I suggested including some other unexpected elements, such as me doing "Singin' in the Rain" as a song and dance performance with Elton playing piano. Kubrick's Clockwork Orange film had just released the song. In addition, I created 'Legstraganzas', which is also known as crazy, over-the-top costumes, and massive stage sets. "Elton loved every bit of it."

Don't Shoot Me I'm Just the Piano Player came out at the start of 1973 and became the most popular in the United Kingdom, the United States, and Australia, among other countries. The album featured hits "Crocodile Rock," his first US Billboard Hot 100 number one, and "Daniel," which debuted at number two in the United States and number four in the United Kingdom. The album and "Crocodile Rock" were respectively the first album and single on MCA Records' consolidated MCA Records label in the United States, replacing MCA's other brands, including Uni.

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, which was established in October 1973, received instant praise and topped the charts on both directions of the Atlantic, remaining at number one for two months. It also established John as a glam rock star for a short time. "Bennie and the Jets" was among the highlights on the album, as well as "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road," "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting" and "Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding".

John established The Rocket Record Company (distributed in the United States by MCA and initially by Island in the United Kingdom) and signed artists to it, including Neil Sedaka (John sang background vocals on Sedaka's "Bad Blood") and Kiki Dee, in which he had a personal interest. He signed an $8 million deal with MCA rather than releasing his own music on Rocket. MCA took out a $25 million insurance policy on John's life when the deal was signed in 1974. MCA also published Elton John's Greatest Hits, a UK and US number one that has been designated Diamond by the RIAA for US sales of 17 million copies.

In 1974, John Lennon collaborated with John Lennon on his cover of the Beatles' "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds," the B-side of Lennon's "One Day at a Time" in Lennon's "One Day at a Time." In the United States, it was number one for two weeks. In return, John was featured on Lennon's album Walls and Bridges on "Whatever Gets You Thru the Night." The pair performed these two number-one hits alongside the Beatles' "I Saw Her Standing There" at Madison Square Garden in New York later this year. Lennon made the rare stage appearance with John and his band to keep the promise he had made that if "Whatever Gets You Thru The Night" would be a US number one single. Caribou was released in 1974, becoming John's third top-one in the United Kingdom and a top the charts in the United States, Canada, and Australia. It was reported that it was recorded in two weeks between live appearances and "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me." In November 1973, "Step into Christmas" was released as a stand-alone single and appears on the album's 1995 remastered reissue.

Pete Townshend of the Who's hired John to appear "Local Lad" in the 1975 film version of the rock opera Tommy and to perform the song "Pinball Wizardry." John's version, which was based on power chords, was recorded and used in the film. In the United Kingdom, the song debuted at number seven. Later state glam rock icon Marc Bolan, who had adopted a glam aesthetic on stage, "had a great effect on me."

The 1975 autobiographical album Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy debuted in the United States, becoming the first album to do so, and stayed there for seven weeks. On the album, John revealed his previously ambiguous person, with Taupin's lyrics describing their beginnings as struggling songwriters and musicians in London. The lyrics and accompanying photo book are infused with a particular sense of place and time that are otherwise unhearded in his music. "Someone Saved My Life Tonight," John's career's hit single, "Someone Saved My Life Tonight," was a turning point in the singer's life. The album's release signaled the end of John Elton's band as an unhappy and overworked John dismissed Olsson and Murray. According to Circus, a spokesman for John Reid, the decision was made mutually by phone while John Reid was in Australia promoting Tommy. Davey Johnstone and Ray Cooper were retained, Quaye and Roger Pope returned, and Kenny Passarelli was the new bassist; this rhythm section had a heavier backbeat. James Newton Howard learned to order in the studio and to play keyboards. In May 1975, John Wembley Stadium in London announced the line-up.

The rock-orientated Rock of the Westies debuted on the US charts at number 1, as had Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy, a previously unattained achievement. Obstrich feathers, $5,000 spectacles that spelled his name in lights, and costumes including the Statue of Liberty, Donald Duck, and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart enriched John's stage wardrobe. He was named on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1975. "Island Girl" is the album's fifth US number one single. John performed a two-night, four-show stand at the Troubadour to commemorate five years since he first appeared at the venue in 1975. With seating capacity limited to under 500 people per show, the possibility to buy tickets was determined by a postcard lottery, with each winner receiving two tickets. Everyone who attended the performances received a hardbound "yearbook" of the band's history. He appeared on Kevin Ayers' Sweet Deceiver in piano and was one of the first and few white artists to appear on the African-American television series Soul Train. At the first annual Rock Music Awards in Santa Monica, California, on August 9, 1975, John was named the outstanding rock celebrity of the year. The live album Here and There was released in May 1976, followed by the album Blue Moves, which contained the single "Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word" in October. "Don't Go Breaking My Heart," his best seller in 1976, a duet with Kiki Dee that topped a number of charts, including those from the United Kingdom, Australia, France, and Canada.

1970--1976, which was John's most commercially successful period, is also remembered with the greatest esteem. John had seven consecutive albums reach number one in the United States from 1972 to 1975, something that had not been attempted before. All six of his albums to make Rolling Stone's list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" are from this decade, with Goodbye Yellow Brick Road ranked first at number 91. He had six singles debut the Billboard Hot 100 from 1972 to 1976, earning him to the top of the charts between 1972 and 1976.

In November 1977, John announced that he was going to be out of shows; Taupin began collaborating with others. John released A Single Man in 1978 with a new lyricist, Gary Osborne; the album had no singles that made it to the top 20 in the United Kingdom, but the two singles, "Part-Time Love" and "Song for Guy," made the top 20 in the UK, with the former topping the top 20 for the first time. John became one of the first Western artists to tour the Soviet Union and Israel in 1979, accompanied by Ray Cooper. With "Mama Can't Buy You Love," a song MCA rejected in 1977 that was recorded with Philadelphia soul producer Thom Bell, John returned to the top ten in the United States, rising to the top ten (number 9). Bell was the first one to teach him voice lessons and encouraged him to sing in a lower register, according to John. Victim of Love, a disco-influenced album, was poorly received. In 1979, John and Taupin reunited, but they did not collaborate on a complete album until 1983's Too Low For Zero. 21 at 33, which came as a result of his best hit in four years, "Little Jeannie" (number 3 US), with the lyrics by Gary Osborne, was a major career boost, as aided by his biggest success in four years, "Irregular Jeannie" (number 3 US). In May 1979, John performed eight concerts in the Soviet Union; four dates in Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg) and four in Moscow. Elton performed on the songs "Donner pour donner" and "Les Aveux," which were released as a pair in 1980 as a pair.

The album Jump Up!

With original band members Johnstone, Murray, and Olsson together again in 1983, John returned to the charts with the singles "I'm Still Standing" (No. 1). "I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues" and "I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues" in the United Kingdom and the United Kingdom, respectively, at number four on harmonica and ranked fourth in the United Kingdom and fifth in the United Kingdom. When he broke the United Nations' cultural boycott on apartheid-era South Africa in October 1983, he caused controversies by appearing at Sun City. Renate Blauel, his closest friend and sound engineer, married him on Valentine's Day 1984; the marriage lasted three years.

John was one of many celebrities at Live Aid, which was held at Wembley Stadium in 1985. He appeared on "Bennie and the Jets" and "Rocket Man"; then "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" with Kiki Dee for the first time since the Hammersmith Odeon; and "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" with George Michael, then of Wham! In 1984, he began Breaking Hearts, which included the song "Sad Songs (Say So Much)," number five in the United States and number seven in the United Kingdom. In 1985, John began working with Millie Jackson. On the record of the heavy metal band Saxon's album Rock the People in 1986, he appeared on two tracks.

In 1987, John won a libel lawsuit against The Sun, which published false allegations that he had sex with rent boys. He appeared at Madison Square Garden in New York in 1988, earning him 26 for his career. At Sotheby's in London, a net worth of over $20 million, 2,000 pieces of John's memorabilia were auctioned off.

During the 1980s, John had other hits, including "Nikita," whose music video was directed by Ken Russell. In the United Kingdom, the song debuted at number three and number seven in the United States, while in the United States, it debuted at number three and number seven. A live orchestral version of "Candle in the Wind" debuted in 1986, while "I Don't Want to Go on with You Like That" debuted at number six in the United States, while "I Don't Want to Go on with You Like That" debuted at number six in 1988. "That's What Friends Are For" was John's highest-charting single, as well as Dionne Warwick, Gladys Knight, and Stevie Wonder. In 1985, the song, Dionne and Friends, raised funds for HIV/AIDS research. His albums continued to sell, but only Reg Strikes Back (number 16, 1988) made it to the top 20 in the United States from the 1980s, out of those released in the second half of the 1980s.

John achieved his first solo UK number one hit single with "Sacrifice" from last year's album Sleeping with the Past; it remained at the top for five weeks. "Basque" received the Grammy for Best Instrumental, and a guest concert appearance at Wembley Arena John based on George Michael's "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" was released as a single and topped the charts in both the United Kingdom and the United States this year. John received Best British Male at the 1991 Brit Awards in London.

In 1992, John released the US number eight album The One, which featured the hit song "The One." It was his first album to be released solely sober. "I was used to making records under the haze of alcohol or opioids," John said in 2020, and here I was 100% sober, so it was difficult." But I managed to produce a good song, which was also the title of the album." He also produced "Runaway Train," a duet he recorded with his longtime friend Eric Clapton, with whom he competed on Clapton's World Tour. After a decade, John and Taupin signed a music publishing contract with Warner/Chappell Music worth $39 million, the highest cash advance in music publishing history, according to them. John appeared at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert at Wembley Stadium in April 1992, performing "The Show Must Go On" with the remaining members of Queen and "Bohemian Rhapsody" with Axl Roses and the Queen's remaining members. At the 1992 MTV Video Music Awards in September, John performed "The One" and concluded the event with Guns N' Roses on "November Rain." Duets followed a year in which he introduced collaborations with 15 artists, including Tammy Wynette and RuPaul. "Reality Love," Kiki Dee's latest collaboration, debuted on the UK charts, ranked in the top ten. The Bunbury Tails, a multi-artist charity collection, was released in the same year as the soundtrack to the British animated television series of the same name. "Up The Revolution" was John's route, as well as contributions from George Harrison, the Bee Gees, and Eric Clapton. The album was only available in the United Kingdom for a short time.

John and Tim Rice co-wrote the songs for the 1994 Disney animated film The Lion King. Three of the five Academy Award recipients for Best Original Song from The Lion King soundtrack were selected for the 67th Academy Awards. "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" was awarded by John for his "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" award. Both those things, as well as "Circle of Life," have become hits. At the 37th Annual Grammy Awards, "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" also received the Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. For nine weeks, The Lion King's soundtrack remained at the top of the Billboard 200. The RIAA issued The Lion King "Diamond" on November 10 for selling 15 million copies.

Guns N' Roses frontman Axl Rose in 1994 inducted John into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Made in England, the album from 1995, was released (number 3). The title track is an autobiographical retelling of a portion of his life. The album also had the song "Believe." At the 1995 British Awards, John performed "Believe" on "Believe" and received the Outstanding Contribution to Music award.

In December 1996, a duet with Luciano Pavarotti, "Live Like Horses," reached the top-ten in the United Kingdom. Love Songs, a compilation album, was released in 1996. John held his 50th birthday party in 1997, dressed as Louis XIV of France with 500 people. In Paris, he appeared with Le Presbytère N'a Rien Perso etée Unprecedented Dans Son Éclat, a work by French ballet legend Maurice Béjart that refers to the AIDS epidemic and the deaths of Freddie Mercury and the company's principal dancer, Jorge Donn, on January 17. Both close friends died in 1997: designer Gianni Versace was assassinated on July 15th, and Princess Diana of Wales Princess of Wales Diana of Wales died in a Paris car crash on September 31.

In early September, John asked Taupin to rewrite the lyrics of their 1973 album "Candle in the Wind" to honor Diana, which was not surprising. For the first time at Diana's funeral in Westminster Abbey on September 6, 1997, John performed "Candle in the Wind 1997" live on September 6th. The song became the fastest-selling single of all time, with over 33 million copies sold worldwide. It is the first single certified Diamond in the United Kingdom and the best-selling single in Billboard history, selling over 11 million copies. According to Guinness World Records, it is "the most popular single since UK and US singles charts began in the 1950s," with worldwide sales of 33 million copies. The Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund donated approximately £55 million to Diana's charities. In 1998, it received the Grammy Award for Best Male Vocal Performance at the 40th Annual Grammy Awards. As a double A-side, the album "Something About the Way You Look Tonight" was released.

John performed three songs solo ("Your Song") and "Live Like Horses") at the Royal Albert Hall on September 15, 1997, before concluding with "Hey Jude" with Paul McCartney, Eric Clapton, Mark Knopfler, and Sting. He appeared on BBC's Children in Need charity single "Perfect Day," which climbed to the top of the UK charts two months later. In December 1997, John appeared in the Spice Girls film Spice World as himself.

In 1997 and 1999, the Lion King musical premiered on Broadway and the West End. The Phantom of the Opera's 2014 records exceeded the previous record for both stage productions and films, surpassing the one previously held by Andrew Lloyd Webber's 1986 film The Phantom of the Opera. In comparison to The Lion King, John composed music for a Disney's musical production Aida in 1999, with lyricist Tim Rice, who received the Tony Award for Best Original Score at the 54th Tony Awards and the Grammy Award for Best Musical Show Album at the 43rd Annual Grammy Awards. The musical appeared at Atlanta's Alliance Theatre and then on to Chicago and later Broadway. Elton John One Night Only – The Greatest Hits, John John's Live compilation album on sale, featuring songs from his appearance at Madison Square Garden in New York City the same year. The musical Aida, Elton John and Tim Rice's Aida, was also released on an album that included the John duets "Written in the Stars" with LeAnn Rimes and Janet Jackson, as well as "I Know the Truth" with Janet Jackson.

By this time, John did not like appearing in his own music videos; the film "This Train Don't Stop Here Anymore" featured Justin Timberlake depicting a young John; and "I Want Love" featured Robert Downey, Jr. lip-syncing the song. With Eminem, John performed "Stan" at the 2001 Grammy Awards. One month after the 11 September attacks, John appeared on "I Want Love" and "Your Song" as a duet with Billy Joel at the Concert for New York City. "Are You Ready for Love," John's fifth UK number one single "Are You Ready for Love" debuted at number one in August 2003.

John created music for a Billy Elliot the Musical's West End performance in 2005 with playwright Lee Hall, who returned to musical theatre. After watching Billy Elliot's 2000 British coming-of-age film "He's like me", John was inspired to write the story. The show received four Laurence Olivier Awards, including Best New Musical, opening to strong praises. The London production, which starred Tom Holland for two years as Billy for two years, ran into April 2016 with 4,566 performances. Billy Elliot has been seen by over 5.25 million people in London and nearly 11 million globally (on Broadway, where it was recognized as Best Musical by the Tony Awards in Sydney, Melbourne, Toronto, Seoul, Seoul, and So Paulo, Brazil, etc.). ) More than $800 million was earned in worldwide, with over 80 in theatre awards going around the world. Lestat: The Musical, John's only theatrical project with Taupin, is based on Anne Rice's vampire stories. After 39 performances, it received critical feedback and was shuttered in May 2006. In July 2005, John appeared on rapper Tupac Shakur's posthumous album "Ghetto Gospel," which debuted on the UK charts.

In October 2003, John announced that he had signed an exclusive deal to appear 75 shows in Caesars Palace over three years. The show, The Red Piano, was a multimedia concert starring huge props and video montages created by David LaChapelle. He and Celine Dion produced shows at Caesars Palace throughout the year; although one performed, the other rested. On February 13, 2004 the first of these shows took place. "Sorry Seems to Be the Toughest Word" and "Saturday Night's Alright" were two of John and Dion's live performances at the venue in February 2006.

On October 9, 2006, the Walt Disney Company named John a Disney Legend for his contributions to Disney's films and theater performances. He told Rolling Stone that he planned to be in R&B and hip hop for his next record. "I want to work with Pharrell Williams, Timbaland, Snoop [Dogg], Kanye [West], Eminem, and just see what happens," he said. On his 2007 album "Good Morning" and "All of the Lights," West sampled John's "Someone Saved My Life Tonight" and invited him to his Hawaii studio in 2010 to play piano and sing on "All of the Lights."

In March 2007, John performed at Madison Square Garden for a record-breaking 60th birthday; the performance, as well as a DVD compilation of his greatest hits compilation album Rocket Man—Number Ones; and his back catalogue, which features more than 500 songs from 32 albums, became available for free download.

On July 1, 2007, John appeared at the Concert for Diana at Wembley Stadium in honour of Diana, Princess of Wales, on what would have been her 46th birthday, as well as to charities for which her sons Prince William and Prince Harry are patrons. "Your Song" opened the performance, "Your Dancer," "Saturday Night's Alright For Combat," and "Are You Ready For Love" concluded it.

On June 21, 2008, John performed his 200th show at Caesars Palace. In November 2008, Best Buy first offered The Red Piano as a DVD/CD set. "I'm going on the road again with Billy Joel next year," John said in a GQ interview in September 2008, referring to "Face to Face," a series of concerts starring the two performers. In March, the tour began.

John accepted Jerry Cantrell's invitation to perform with his band Alice in Chains in 2009. In the song "Black Gives Way to Blue," a tribute to the band's late lead singer, Layne Staley, who was the album's title track and closing song, which was released in September 2009. Staley's first concert was one of John's, and his mother said he was blown away by it. "Elton has a tremendous musical influence on many of us, especially me." My first album was Elton John's Greatest Hits. Now, we were actually told by Layne's stepfather that Elton was his first performance, so it was all very appropriate." Cantrell was long admired by John, who could not refuse the invitation.

At the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards, John performed a piano duet with Lady Gaga, which included two songs of Gaga's, before culminating in "Your Song." He appeared at the Ramat Gan Stadium on June 17th, 17 years to the day after his previous appearance in Israel; this was significant because of other then-recent cancellations by other performers in the months surrounding an Israeli raid on Gaza Flotilla. In his introduction to the concert, John said that he and other musicians should not "cherry-pick our conscience" in reference to Elvis Costello, who was supposed to perform in Israel two weeks after John did but had to cancel due to the aforementioned raid.

On October 19, 2010: John Wesley was published in the Union. The album, which was a joint effort with American singer, songwriter, and sideman Leon Russell, opened a new chapter in his recording career, he said, "I don't have to make pop music anymore." On September 28, 2011, he opened his new show The Million Dollar Piano at Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, and stayed there for the next three years. On October 8, 2011, he appeared at Caesars for his 3000th concert. Also in 2011, John appeared on "Snowed in at Wheeler Street" with Kate Bush for her album 50 Words for Snow. He visited Costa Rica for the first time on February 3, 2012, at the newly renovated National Stadium.

John appeared at Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee Concert at Buckingham Palace on June 4, 2012, performing a three-song set. He appeared in Kyiv, Ukraine, on June 30th in a joint concert with Queen + Adam Lambert for the Elena Pinchuk ANTIAIDS Foundation. In July 2012, Good Morning to the Night, a compilation featuring remixes of songs he recorded in the 1970s, was released. Pnau, an Australian company, produced the remixes, and the album debuted at number one in the United Kingdom. In honor of the 2012 British Olympic and Paralympics athletes, John, along with Michael Caine, Richard Branson, Simon Cowell, and Stephen Fry recited Rudyard Kipling's poem "If—" at the 2012 Pride of Britain Awards on October 30th.

At the 55th Annual Grammy Awards in February 2013, John performed a duet with singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran. He appeared on "Fairweather Friends" later in 2013. He said he was a fan of frontman Josh Homme's side project, Them Crooked Vultures, and he had phoned Homme to ask if he'd be able to perform on the album. In September 2013, John was the first Brits Icon Award for his "enduring influence" on the United Kingdom's culture. On stage at the London Palladium before the two artists performed a duet of "Sad Songs (Say So Much)" in honor of Rod Stewart. The Diving Board, John's 31st album, was released in September 2013 and ranked third in the United Kingdom and number four in the United States, with a debut in September 2013. On February 5, 2016, it was revealed that it would be his 32nd studio album, Wonderful Crazy Night, would be released. Burnett also made it. "Looking Up," the album's first single, was also released in the same month. This album was John's first full album with his touring band since 2006's The Captain & the Kid. He appeared in the action film Kingsman: The Golden Circle, which was released in September 2017, also as himself.

On January 26, 2017, it was announced that John will write the soundtrack for the Broadway musical version of The Devil Wears Prada and its film adaptation, with Kevin McCollum as producer and Paul Rudnick writing the lyrics and story. The musical's release date is yet to be announced. In June 2017, John appeared in Bernard MacMahon's award-winning documentary The American Epic Sessions. He shot live on the newly restored first electrical sound recording device from the 1920s in the film. "Two Fingers of Whiskey," written especially for the film by John, he created and edited a lyric by John. Burnett and Jack White appeared on camera, assisting Burnett and Jack White. Danny Eccleston of Mojo wrote out "Elton John arrives tote a box-fresh lyric by Bernie Taupin and spins it up in a flash," the song appears in front of the viewers' eyes as John and Jack White prepare. There's the magic right there." On June 9, 2017 the American Epic Sessions: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack "Two Fingers of Whiskey" was released.

On January 24, 2018, it was announced that John was stepping down from touring and that a three-year goodbye tour would follow shortly. On September 8, 2018, Allentown, Pennsylvania, hosted the first concert. "If you asked me if I would stop touring, I would have said no." John cited spending time with his family as the reason for his retirement: "Ten years ago, if you ask me if I would not stop touring." But we had children and that changed our lives. I have had a wonderful life and work, but my life has changed. "My children, my husband, and my family are now my top priorities." The tour is expected to conclude in New Zealand in January 2023, with more than 300 concerts around the world. In September 2018, John reportedly signed an agreement with Universal Music Group (UMG) to represent his new music "for the remainder of his career" in comparison to his previous work from the last 50 years.

Paramount Pictures produced Rocketman, a biopic about John's life from his childhood to the 1980s, which was released in May 2019. It was directed by Dexter Fletcher, who had also co-directed Bohemian Rhapsody, and Taron Egerton as John; John was previously seen as a fictionalized version of himself in the film Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017). "I'm Gonna) Love Me Again," John and Egerton's first song written for Rocketman, "I'm Gonna) Love Me Again," premiered on BBC Radio 2 in 2019. For the second time, John will receive the Academy Award for Best Original Song. "I" was John's first and only autobiography" in October 2019. Me was narrated by Egerton, with John reading the Prologue and Epilogue.

During a ceremony at the Élysée Palace in Paris, John was presented with France's highest civilian award, the Legion d'honneur, by President Emmanuel Macron. Macron called John a "melodic genius" and one of the first gay artists to speak out in the LGBT community. Mount Smart Stadium in Auckland, New Zealand, was cancelled on February 16, 2020. He had been diagnosed with walking pneumonia and had lost his voice on the program. He had been accepted to appear in the new show on February 19th. On Saturday, John attended the Western Sydney Stadium for the first time before the tour was postponed indefinitely due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In early 2020, John appeared on Ozzy Osbourne's "Ordinary Man," which was released in Osbourne's album of the same name. "Sine from Above," Lady Gaga's duet with her album Chromatica, was announced on May 29th. Regimental Sgt. John Kerry was named. Zippo was born on June 20, 2021. The album was shelved in favour of 1969's Empty Sky and released vinyl-only in 2021 for Record Store Day, despite being recorded as his debut album in 1968.

John revealed his new collaboration album The Lockdown Sessions on September 1, 2021, which he made during the first COVID-19 lockdown, which was released on October 22, 2021. Eddie Vedder, Miley Cyrus, Dua Lipa, Lil Nas X, Nicki Minaj, Young Thug, Rina Sawayama, and Stevie Nicks are among the artists he worked with on the album. In a reflection on the scheme, John explained that being in a different time of lockdown reminded him of his roots as a session musician in the 1960s.'I realised there was something strangely familiar about working like this.' I worked as a session musician at the start of my career, in the late 1960s. During lockdown, being with different artists during lockout reminded me of this. I'd come full circle: I was a session musician for the first time. "It was also a blast." On August 20,2021, Dua Lipa's "Cold Heart (Pnau remix)," the album's first single, was released on the 13th. In October 2021, it reached its high point in the United Kingdom, becoming John's first UK number one in 16 years since 2005's "Ghetto Gospel." He became the first solo artist to have top ten singles in the United Kingdom in six decades with this success. In November 2021, "Cold Heart" reached their highest position in Australia. John is the oldest artist to reach the top of the ARIA Singles Chart after 74 years, 7 months, and 14 days. John contributed to the Metallica Blacklist, which was released in September 2021, by sponsoring Miley Cyrus on a cover of Metallica's "Nothing Else Matters."

"Merry Christmas," John's festive duet with Ed Sheeran in December 2021, was announced. In the song's music video, the pair re-creates a scene from Love Actually, in which they pay homage to scenes from British Christmas hits past, including "Last Christmas" and "Merry Christmas Everyone." The Elton John AIDS Foundation and the Ed Sheeran Suffolk Music Foundation were among the UK's proceeds from the concert. On December 10, the song reached the UK Singles Chart for the ninth week in a row, becoming John's ninth UK number one. Later that month, John and Sheeran joined LadBaby on their 2021 Christmas single "Sausage Rolls for Everyone," a comedic interpretation of "Merry Christmas" with a sausage roll theme. The album debuted on the UK Singles Chart for John's first Christmas number one, John's third top-one of 2021, and tenth overall, ranking him joint ninth on the list of artists with the most top-one singles on the UK Singles Chart (with Calvin Harris and Eminem). For the first time since the pandemic started in January 2022, John's farewell tour began in New Orleans, Louisiana, where his first showback took place. After testing positive for COVID-19 and experiencing mild symptoms, John had to cancel two shows in Dallas and re-registered the tour after making a complete recovery. As the tour will end, John has tour dates around the United Kingdom for 2022 and 2023. On streaming services, John released a digitally remastered version of his Diamonds compilation album to commemorate his 75th birthday.

At the memorial service for Australian cricketer Shane Warne on March 30th 2022, John sang "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me." John was projected on to the facade of Buckingham Palace performing "Your Song" (pre-recorded at Windsor Castle) at the Royal Palace on June 4th, 2022, in honor of the Queen's Platinum Jubilee. In August, John worked with Britney Spears on the film "Hold Me Closer." In the same month as it was revealed that John had written the lyrics for a new musical about televangelist Tammy Faye Messner's life, with book by playwright James Graham and lyrics by Jake Shears. In October 2022, Tammy Faye, a musical, opens at the Almeida Theatre in London.

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