Elton John
Elton John was born Reginald Kenneth Dwight on 25 March, 1947 in Pinner, Middlesex, England. Dwight began playing piano at the age of four, and when he was 11, he won a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music. After studying for six years, he left school with the intention of breaking into the music business.

He joined his first group, Bluesology in 1961. In 1965, Dwight changed his name to Elton John, taking his first name from Bluesology saxophonist Elton Dean and his last from John Baldry. The same year he teamed up with Bernie Taupin. Bernie would write the lyrics and Elton would write the music.

Over the next two years, the duo wrote songs for pop singers like Roger Cook and Lulu. By the summer of 1968, he had begun recording singles for release under his own name. By 1970, Elton was beginning to become popular in the States and produced the Top 10 single, "Your Song." 1971 saw the release of the album Tumbleweed Connection, which climbed into the USA Top 10 and was the first Elton John album I personally bought. The early 70's demonstrated Elton's versatility, combining his melodic skills, charisma and flamboyant stage shows to make him the most popular recording artist of the decade.

Unlike many pop stars, John was able to sustain his popularity, charting a Top 40 single every single year from 1970 to 1996. Many of his songs, including "Your Song," "Rocket Man," "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road," and "Don't Let the Sun Go Down On Me", became contemporary pop standards. Throughout the '80s, John's albums would consistently go gold, and they always generated at least one Top 40 single; frequently, they featured Top 10 singles like "Sad Songs (Say So Much)" (1984), "Nikita" (1986), "Candle in the Wind" (1987), and " I Don't Want To Go On With You Like That" (1988).

For me, 1987's album Goodbye Yellow Brick Road marked the point where Elton began to gather more attention, as it topped the American charts for eight straight weeks. In many ways, the double album was a recap of all the styles and sounds that made John a star. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road is all over the map, beginning with the prog-rock epic "Funeral for a Friend (Love Lies Bleeding)" and immediately careening into the balladry of "Candle in the Wind", a beautiful song dedicated to Marilyn Monroe and which in 1998 was reworked as "Goodbye English Rose", a tribute to Princess Diana, who Elton Knew well. For the rest of the album, Elton leaps between pop, "Bennie and the Jets", ballads ("Goodbye Yellow Brick Road"), hard rock ("Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting"), novelties ("Jamaica Jerk-Off"), Taupin's literary pretensions ("The Ballad of Danny Bailey"), and everything in between.

While his career continued to be successful, his personal life was in turmoil. Since the mid-'70s, he had been addicted to cocaine and alcohol. Following a record-breaking five-date stint at Madison Square Garden in 1988, John auctioned off all of his theatrical costumes, thousands of pieces of memorabilia and his extensive record collection through Sotheby's. The auction was a symbolic turning point. Over the next two years, John battled both his drug addiction and bullimia, undergoing hair replacement surgery at the same time. By 1991, he was sober and the following year, he established the Elton John AIDS Foundation; he also announced that he would donate all royalties from his single sales to AIDS research.

In 1992, John returned to active recording with 'The One'. Peaking at number eight on the US charts and going double platinum, the album became his most successful record since Blue Moves, and sparked a career renaissance for John. He and Taupin signed a record-breaking publishing deal with Warner/Chappell Music in 1992 for an estimated $39 million.

In 1994, John collaborated with lyricist Tim Rice on songs for Disney's animated feature The Lion King. One of their collaborations, "Can You Feel the Love Tonight," won the Academy Award for Best Original Song, as well as the Grammy for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. John's 1995 album Made In England continued his comeback, peaking at number 3 on the UK charts and number 13 in the US; in America, the album went platinum. Made in England could almost have been the follow-up to Elton John's self-titled 1970 album. It was his first recording since the success of his songs for The Lion King soundtrack. Elton brought back some of his old associates, percussionist Ray Cooper, guitarist Davey Johnstone, and, orchestrator Paul Buckmaster, who gave the Elton John album its distinctive sound 25 years earlier. John remained a musical jukebox: "Please" had a twangy guitar riff that sounds like the 1965's Searchers. Guest organist Paul Carrack brought a soulful Booker T.-like feel to "Man." "Believe", the album's first single, displays the influence of Elton's friend John Lennon. Lyricist Bernie Taupin wrote mostly in short, simple, declarative sentences and gave his songs one-word titles ("House," "Cold," "Pain," etc.). His overall theme develops a positive conclusion with "Blessed" eventually triumphing over adversity ("Lies").

Elton's versatility, combined with his undoubted melodic skills, charisma, and flamboyant stage shows made him the most popular recording artist of the '70s. Unlike many pop stars of the time, Elton John was able to sustain his popularity, producing a Top 40 single every single year from 1970 to 1996.

Success didn't stop there though. In his next album 'The Road to El Dorado', Elton John hinted at his classic sound of the early '70s, and returned to that sound on his 2001 album, 'Songs From the West Coast'. This was an album that flowed easily and naturally, setting the mood with the story sketch "The Emperor's New Clothes" and then heading in a number of scenic directions. Of these, "American Triangle," his elegy for Matthew Shepard, deserved attention, but the most interesting were songs like the bluesy "The Wasteland" and "Ballad of the Boy in the Red Shoes" both of which recalled the Tumbleweed epics. Neo-Captain Fantastic tune "Dark Diamond," the soulful closer "This Train Don't Stop There Anymore," and "Birds," a terrific, spare, rolling country-rocker completed the collection. Songs From the West Coast won't make you forget Tumbleweed Connection, but it often reminded you of it.


Elton John - Greatest hits
Elton John's Greatest Hits
US | UK
  1. Your Song
  2. Daniel
  3. Honky Cat
  4. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
  5. Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting
  6. Rocket Man (I Think It's Going To Be A Long Long Time)
  7. Bennie And The Jets
  8. Candle In The Wind
  9. Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me
  10. Border Song
  11. Crocodile Rock

Elton John - Greatest hits II
Elton John's Greatest Hits II
US | UK

  1. The Bitch Is Back
  2. Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds
  3. Tiny Dancer
  4. I Feel Like A Bullet (In The Gun Of Robert Ford)
  5. Someone Saved My Live Tonight
  6. Philadelphia Freedom
  7. Island Girl
  8. Grow Some Funk Of Your Own
  9. Levon
  10. Pinball Wizard

Elton John - Love Songs
Elton John Love Songs
US | UK
  1. Can You Feel The Love Tonight
  2. The One
  3. Sacrifice
  4. Daniel
  5. Someone Saved My Life Tonight
  6. Your Song
  7. Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me - (with George Michael)
  8. Believe
  9. Blue Eyes
  10. Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word
  11. Blessed
  12. Candle In The Wind - (live)
  13. You Can Make History (Young Again) - ('96)
  14. No Valentines - ('96) 15. Circle Of Life

Elton John - Sleeping with the past
Sleeping With The Past
US | UK
  1. Durban Deep
  2. Healing Hands
  3. Whispers
  4. The Club at the End of the Street
  5. Sleeping With The Past
  6. Stones Throw From Hurtin'
  7. Sacrifice
  8. I Never Knew Her Name
  9. Amazes Me
  10. Blue Avenue

Elton John - Made in England
Made In England
US | UK
  1. Believe
  2. Made In England
  3. House
  4. Cold
  5. Pain
  6. Belfast
  7. Latitude
  8. Please
  9. Man
  10. Lies
  11. Blessed

Elton Jonn - Tubleweed Connection
Tumbleweed Connection
US | UK
  1. Ballad Of A Well-Known Gun
  2. Come Down In Time
  3. Country Comfort
  4. Son Of Your Father
  5. My Father's Gun
  6. Where To Now St. Peter?
  7. Love Song
  8. Amoreena
  9. Talking Old Soldiers
  10. Burn Down The Mission
  11. Into The Old Man's Shoes
  12. Madman Across The Water - (original version

Elton John - The Lion King
Lion King Soundtrack
US | UK
  1. Circle Of Life - Carmen Twillie
  2. I Just Can't Wait To Be King - Jason Weaver/Rowan Atkinson/Laura Williams
  3. Be Prepared - Jeremy Irons/Whoopi Goldberg/Cheech Marin/Jim Cummings
  4. Hakuna Matata - Nathan Lane/Ernie Sabella/ Jason Weaver/Joseph Williams
  5. Can You Feel The Love Tonight - Joseph Williams/Sally Dworsky/Nathan Lane/ Ernie Sabella/Kristle Edwards
  6. This Land - (instrumental)
  7. To Die For - (instrumental)
  8. Under The Stars - (instrumental)
  9. King Of Pride Rock - (instrumental)
  10. Circle Of Life - Elton John
  11. I Just Can't Wait To Be King - Elton John
  12. Can You Feel The Love Tonight (End Title) - Elton John)

Elton John - Goodbye yellow brick road
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
US | UK
  1. Funeral For A Friend (Love Lies Bleeding)
  2. Candle In The Wind
  3. Bennie And The Jets
  4. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
  5. This Song Has No Title
  6. Grey Seal
  7. Jamaica Jerk-Off
  8. I've Seen That Movie Too
  9. Sweet Painted Lady
  10. The Ballad Of Danny Bailey (1909-34)
  11. Dirty Little Girl
  12. All The Girls Love Alice
  13. Your Sister Can't Twist (But She Can Rock 'N Roll)
  14. Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting
  15. Roy Rogers
  16. Social Disease Harmony

Elton John - Live from Austrailia
Live in Australia
US | UK
  1. Sixty Years On
  2. I Need You To Turn To
  3. The Greatest Discovery
  4. Tonight
  5. Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word
  6. The King Must Die
  7. Take Me To The Pilot
  8. Tiny Dancer
  9. Have Mercy On The Criminal
  10. Madman Across The Water
  11. Candle In The Wind
  12. Burn Down The Mission
  13. Your Song
  14. Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me

Elton John Songs From The West Coast
Songs From the West Coast
US | UK
  1. The Emperor's New Clothes
  2. Dark Diamond
  3. Look Ma No Hands
  4. American Triangle
  5. Original Sin
  6. Birds
  7. I Want Love
  8. The Wasteland
  9. Ballad Of The Boy In The Red Shoes
  10. Love Her Like Me
  11. Mansfield
  12. This Train Don't Stop There Anymore

Elton John Peachtree Road
Peachtree Road
US | UK
  1. Weight of the World
  2. Porch Swing in Tupelo
  3. Answer in the Sky
  4. Turn the Lights Out When You Leave
  5. My Elusive Drug
  6. They Call Her the Cat
  7. Freaks in Love
  8. All That I'm Allowed
  9. I Stop and I Breathe
  10. Too Many Tears
  11. It's Getting Dark in Here
  12. I Can't Keep This from You

More Elton John
US | UK