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Elton John : Biography

Sir Elton Hercules John, whose birth name was Reginald Kenneth Dwight, was born on 25 March, 1947 in Pinner, Middlesex, England. Elton was the son of Stanley Dwight (an RAF Squadron Leader) and Sheila Dwight. Dwight was raised mostly by his mother and other female relatives and unfortunately saw very little of his father. When Dwight was 15, in 1962, his mother and father divorced.

Dwight started playing piano at the tender age of four and when he was 11, he won a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music. Dwight was somewhat of a prodigy since he had the ability to play by ear making it possible for him to play any melody he heart on radio or phonograph. After studying for six years at the Royal Academy, Dwight left school with the intention of breaking into the music business.

By 1960, Dwight and some of his friends formed a band called the 'Corvettes' which would later evolve into 'Bluesology'. In the mid-1960s Dwight and his band, 'Bluesology' were touring as backing bands for American soul and R&B artists, including, 'The Isley Brothers (a hugely popular African-American music group from Cincinnati, Ohio - known for their top hits like Twist and Shout, It's Your Thing and Contagious), Major Lance (a leading figure of Chicago's soul during the 60's and top selling artist for OKeh Records during the decade. Most of his songs were written by Curtis Mayfield and produced by Carl Davis. Major started out in boxing and later turned his interest toward music.), Doris Troy (an R&B singer, known to her many fans as "Mama Soul." Doris was born a daughter of a Barbadian Pentecostal minister in the Bronx. Unfortunately Doris' parents did not approved of "subversive" forms of music like rhythm & blues, so Doris cut her teeth singing in her father's choir.) and Patti LaBelle and the Bluebelles (was an American R&B/soul group, who successfully melded dance music with funk and glam rock, resulting in such memorable songs as "Lady Marmalade")'.

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