Slanted glasses and colorful outfits are his trademark. After more than 50 years in the music business, Elton John wants to retire. But his farewell tour has been going on for a few years now.
Next year should finally be over. If nothing else comes up, Elton John will say goodbye to the big stage in 2023.
He will take a seat at the piano one last time, as always on the left side of the stage, and perform classics like “Bennie And The Jets” and “Tiny Dancer”. Or «I’m Still Standing», which now seems like the musician’s motto.
Due to illness and corona, his farewell tour “Farewell Yellow Brick Road” had to be interrupted several times, and performances were postponed. But Sir Elton, who turns 75 this Friday, keeps coming back like a roarer.
Few musicians are as aptly named pop icon as the man who was born Reginald Kenneth Dwight on March 25, 1947 in the London suburb of Pinner. Back then, it was really not foreseeable that unusual glasses and colorful stage outfits would one day become his trademark and that he would be able to call himself Sir Elton after being knighted by the Queen.
“Before Elvis came along, before there was rock ‘n’ roll, 1950s Britain was a pretty grim place,” he recalls in his 2019 autobiography Me, Elton John. “It was sneaky, fearful and judgmental. It was a world where people peered grimly from behind the curtain.”
Until he heard Elvis Presley for the first time, the pianist Winifred Atwell was the shy Reggie’s greatest idol. It was probably his enthusiasm for the musician from Trinidad that prompted him to learn to play the piano as a young boy. His strict father, a Royal Air Force soldier who didn’t believe in rock ‘n’ roll, was predictably unimpressed by his son’s plans to pursue a career as a pop musician.
«My fingers are too short for a pianist»
At eleven he was accepted into the Royal Academy of Music, where he quickly impressed the teachers. However, he soon realized that he did not want to be a classical musician. “My fingers are too short for a pianist,” says John. “When you see concert pianists in photos, they all have hands like tarantulas. Also, it wasn’t what I wanted from the music – no room for improvisation.”
For several years he played with the group he founded, Bluesology, but he wasn’t satisfied. “I knew I could sing and play the piano, but I definitely wasn’t the pop star type,” he recalls in his autobiography. “I didn’t look like a pop star. Also, my name was Reg Dwight. It’s not a pop star name.” However, this should change.
Bernie Taupin enters his life
After the fateful encounter with the brilliant songwriter Bernie Taupin, whom he still counts among his closest friends to this day, he changed his name to Elton John. For this he used his bandmate Elton Dean and the musician Long John Baldry. “I thought it sounded good. Unusual. Noticeable.” He was laughed at by his bandmates when he announced his departure.
Just two years later, in 1969, his first album «Empty Sky» was released. Songs like “Val-Hala” or “Lady Samantha” are probably only remembered by long-time fans today. But his second record, which was simply called “Elton John” and contained the ballad “Your Song”, made the shy boy a star.
The years from 1970 to 1976 were the high point of his work and produced classic albums such as “Honky Chateau” with the lead single “Rocket Man” – or “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road”, which contained “Candle In The Wind”.
He re-recorded the ballad about Marilyn Monroe with new lyrics in 1997 as a tribute to the late Princess Diana, a close friend. This version became one of the best-selling singles in music history. He also sang the song at Diana’s funeral in Westminster Abbey.
Twelve albums in the 70s
In all, Elton John released a staggering twelve studio albums during the ’70s, though the quality waned towards the end of the decade as Taupin became less and less involved. The disco album “Victim Of Love” flopped in 1979.
But in the 80s, despite serious drug problems, Elton John continued to deliver hits with and without taupin. “Blue Eyes”, “I’m Still Standing”, “Sad Songs (Say So Much)” or “Nikita” still play regularly on the radio today. The death of an acquaintance finally prompted him to go into rehab in 1990.
In 1991, the new recording of his song “Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me”, sung live as a duet with George Michael, topped the charts in many countries. The soundtrack for the Disney film «The Lion King» (1994) was also a huge success. Elton John won an Oscar for his song Can You Feel the Love Tonight. The list of awards he has received is long and includes Grammys, Brit Awards, Golden Globes and the prestigious Ivor Novello Award.
A few years ago, Elton John made fun of his probably not quite accurate image as a diva in a commercial for a chocolate bar. He may be in other spheres as a pop star and one of the wealthiest musicians in the world, but he has been involved in charitable causes for decades, particularly the needs of people living with HIV.
The private life of the football fan, who owned English club Watford from 1976 to 1990, is not quite as colorful as his stage shows. In 1984 he married his close friend, the German sound engineer Renate Blauel. “I’ve thought more than once that she embodied everything I would have wanted in a woman if I were straight,” John said. “What if the only reason I slept with men for 14 years was because I couldn’t find the right woman? And what if that’s her now?” It wasn’t her. The marriage only lasted a few years.
A family
Elton John has only been openly gay since 1988. In 1993 he found happiness with Canadian filmmaker David Furnish. The couple reside in Los Angeles with sons Zachary and Elijah and have been married since 2014. Sir Elton wants to devote himself extensively to his family in the future.
A corona infection put him out of action only briefly in January. After a short break, the tour continued, which was even extended. Stadium concerts in Frankfurt/Main and Leipzig are planned for this summer, and a series of indoor shows in Hamburg, Berlin and Munich in April and May 2023, where he actually said goodbye to the German audience in 2019. Elton John will probably have his last major appearance in Finland.