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Elton John
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Elton John was born Reginald Kenneth Dwight on March 25, 1947, in Pinner, Middlesex, England, to a middle-class family. His love for music began at an early age. When he was only four years old, he followed his mother's advice and began taking piano lessons. His natural talent eventually shone through, and Dwight won a scholarship with the Royal Academy of Music at age 11.
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In terms of sales and lasting popularity, Elton John was the biggest pop superstar of the early '70s. Initially marketed as a singer/songwriter, John soon revealed he could craft Beatlesque pop and pound out rockers with equal aplomb. He could dip into soul, disco, and country, as well as classic pop balladry and even progressive rock. His versatility, combined with his effortless melodic skills, dynamic charisma, and flamboyant stage shows, made him the most popular recording artist of the '70s. Unlike many pop stars, John was able to sustain his popularity, charting a Top 40 single every single year from 1970 to 1996. During that time, he had temporary slumps in creativity and sales, as he fell out of favor with critics, had fights with his lyricist Bernie Taupin, and battled various addictions and public scandals.
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A prolific songwriter and a flamboyant performer, Elton John had 30 different hits on the top 40 charts between 1970 and 1982. His theatrical stage appearances, with John changing into a succession of elaborate costumes and outlandish spectacles, helped make him a pop megastar. His hit tunes included "Goodbye, Yellow Brick Road," "Your Song," "Bennie and the Jets," and "Rocket Man." All were written with his longtime lyricist, Bernie Taupin. Although John lost a bit of his shine during the '80s, he re-emerged as a force in the 1990s, touring and recording and cementing his spot among the pop music aristocracy. He performed his song "Candle in the Wind" at the funeral of Princess Diana in 1997, and the song went on to become an international best-seller. John (like Paul McCartney) was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1997.
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The monumental career of international singer/songwriter and performer Elton John has spanned more than three decades. He is one of the top-selling solo artists of all time, with more than 200 million records sold worldwide. Elton has won a wide array of industry awards including Grammys, Tonys, and an Oscar®, and continues to add innovative work to his personal repertoire of 35 gold and 25 platinum albums.
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Selling over 250 million records and over 50 Top 40 hits, Elton John is arguably one of the most successful musicians of all time. He set out on his career in music at the tender age of four, when he began playing piano. The child prodigy earned a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music, where he studied for six years before embarking on his solo career as a performer. He met partner Bernie Taupin in 1966 when he wrote music to support Taupin's written lyrics, starting a friendship and collaboration that continues to this day. Their first hit, "Scarecrow", was recorded in 1967. They joined the staff of DJM Records in 1968 and spent the next two years writing songs for the label's various artists.
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Elton John continued to rise in notoriety by performing in front of crowds as large as 100,000 in Los Angeles and he continued to sell a large amount of Elton tickets. He even appeared in the movie Tommy and even ended up on the cover of Time Magazine (Time.com). Elton John continued to do what no other had done before; he had the first album ever to debut at number 1, Captain Fantastic, in 1975. Elton did not stop there; he ... was the first western artist to ever tour the U.S.S.R. in its peak of Communism. Elton John tickets were selling as fast as his albums were leaving the store shelves.
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Elton John