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Elton John: Royal Academy
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Elton John was born Reginald Kenneth Dwight in 1947. He began playing the piano at age four, and at age 11 received a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music. After studying for six years he left the academy in hopes of getting in to the music industry. He joined his first band, Bluesology, in 1961 and played both with the band and as a solo artist. By 1965 the band was backing many musicians.
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R[A]ised in the UK, Elton John attended the Royal Academy of Music from 1958 to 1964 on a piano scholarship at age 11. He dropped out just before final exams to pursue show business. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. He was married in 1984 to Renate Blauel who was a sound engineer. They divorced 4 years later, he entered rehabilitation for drugs, alcohol and bulimia. He afterward decided to not fight his emotionsand took a male lover.
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Along with Tim Rice, John wrote the songs for the 1994 Disney animated film The Lion King. (Rice was reportedly stunned by the rapidity with which John was able to set his words to music.) The Lion King went on to become the highest-grossing traditionally-animated feature of all time, with the songs playing a key part. Three of the five songs nominated for the Academy Award for Best Song that year were John and Rice songs from The Lion King, with "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" winning. (John acknowledged his domestic partner, Canadian film-maker David Furnish, at the ceremonies.) In versions sung by John, both that and "Circle of Life" became big hits, while the other songs such as "Hakuna Matata" achieved popularity with all ages as well. "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" would ... win John the Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. After the release of the soundtrack, the album remained at the top of Billboard's charts for nine weeks.
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In 1995 Elton and Tim Rice show off their Academy Awards for Disney's The Lion King. The soundtrack sold over ten million copies worldwide, while the film would be converted into a hit Broadway show that opened in late 1997.
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Some local PBS stations are offering the videocassette of ELTON JOHN AT THE ROYAL OPERA HOUSE as a Pledge gift. To order this gift, pledge now. Or you may purchase the VHS from WNET Video Distribution.
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