49 Fun Facts About Elton John

What was Elton John's birth name?

He was born Reginald Kenneth Dwight on 25 March 1947 and became Elton Hercules John by deed poll in 1972, the middle name borrowed from the horse in Steptoe and Son.

Where in England was Elton John born and raised?

Elton John was born in Pinner, Middlesex, in 1947 and grew up there in a council house with his maternal grandparents, picking out tunes on his grandmother's piano.

Elton John's stage name honours which two members of his former band Bluesology?

Saxophonist Elton Dean and singer Long John Baldry were both in Bluesology, which backed touring American soul acts such as Patti LaBelle and the Isley Brothers.

At what age did Elton John win a junior scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music?

Elton John won a junior scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music at 11 and attended Saturday classes there for five years, having started formal piano lessons at seven.

How did Elton John first come to work with lyricist Bernie Taupin in 1967?

Liberty Records A&R man Ray Williams handed him an unopened envelope of Taupin's lyrics at their first meeting.

What was the title of Elton John's 1969 debut album?

Empty Sky was released on DJM Records in June 1969 with Bluesology's former guitarist Caleb Quaye playing on it; the album did not get an American release until 1975.

Which 1970 single became Elton John's first hit, reaching the UK and US top ten?

'Your Song' peaked at number seven in the UK and number eight in the US in January 1971, after first appearing as the B-side of 'Take Me to the Pilot'.

At which Los Angeles club did Elton John play his career-making first American concert on 25 August 1970?

Elton John opened a six-night stand at the Troubadour on 25 August 1970, introduced on stage by Neil Diamond; he returned in 1975 for a fifth-anniversary celebration.

Which was Elton John's first US Billboard Hot 100 number one?

'Crocodile Rock' topped the Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks in February 1973; it came from Don't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano Player, which also produced 'Daniel'.

'Rocket Man' was the lead single from which 1972 album?

Honky Château, recorded at the Château d'Hérouville outside Paris and released in May 1972, was his first US number-one album; producer Gus Dudgeon had also made David Bowie's 'Space Oddity'.

Which science-fiction writer's short story inspired 'Rocket Man'?

Ray Bradbury's 'The Rocket Man', collected in The Illustrated Man (1951), follows an astronaut whose job keeps him away from his family for months; Taupin has cited it as the song's starting point.

Which actor recorded a widely parodied spoken-word version of 'Rocket Man' in 1978?

William Shatner delivered his spoken-word 'Rocket Man', cigarette in hand, at the 1978 Science Fiction Film Awards; Kate Bush later cut a reggae-tinged cover for the 1991 tribute album Two Rooms.

'Tiny Dancer' opens which 1971 album?

'Tiny Dancer' opens Madman Across the Water, released in November 1971; Taupin wrote it about California and his first wife, Maxine Feibelman, a seamstress who worked on the band's clothes.

Which 2000 Cameron Crowe film gave 'Tiny Dancer' a second life with a tour-bus singalong scene?

Almost Famous, drawn from Crowe's own teenage years writing for Rolling Stone, has the band Stillwater and their entourage sing along to 'Tiny Dancer' on the tour bus after a falling-out.

How was the concert-hall atmosphere on 'Bennie and the Jets' actually created?

It is a studio track with crowd noise mixed in: producer Gus Dudgeon spliced in audience sound from Elton's 1972 Royal Festival Hall show and a Jimi Hendrix Isle of Wight set.

Which US TV show did Elton John appear on in May 1975, one of the first white artists to do so?

Elton John sang 'Bennie and the Jets' and 'Philadelphia Freedom' on Soul Train in May 1975; the first of those had crossed over to Black radio and charted on Billboard's soul singles list.

Which 1973 double album with 'Candle in the Wind' and 'Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting' topped US and UK charts?

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, released in October 1973, spent eight weeks at number one in the US and is his best-selling studio album.

Which 1975 Elton John album was the first ever to debut at number one on the US album chart?

Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy entered the Billboard 200 at number one in June 1975; the autobiographical album casts Elton as the Captain and Taupin as the Cowboy.

With whom did Elton John duet on the 1976 chart-topper 'Don't Go Breaking My Heart'?

Kiki Dee, signed to Elton's own Rocket Record Company, sang the duet that gave him his first UK number one single; they performed it again at Live Aid in 1985.

Which football club did Elton John chair from 1976 to 1987 and again from 1997 to 2002?

Elton John bought Watford in 1976; under his chairmanship the club climbed from the Fourth Division to First Division runners-up in 1983 and reached the 1984 FA Cup Final.

Which manager took Elton's football club from the Fourth Division to top-flight runners-up?

Graham Taylor, appointed in 1977, took the club from the Fourth Division to First Division runners-up in 1983 and an FA Cup Final in 1984; he later managed England.

As which cartoon character did Elton John dress for part of his 1980 Central Park concert?

Elton John came on for the encore dressed as Donald Duck, webbed feet included, before an estimated 400,000 people in Central Park on 13 September 1980.

In 1979, Elton John became one of the first Western pop artists to tour which country?

Elton John played eight concerts in the Soviet Union in May 1979, four in Leningrad and four in Moscow, accompanied only by percussionist Ray Cooper.

Whom did Elton John marry on Valentine's Day 1984?

Renate Blauel, a German sound engineer he met while recording Too Low for Zero, married him in Sydney on 14 February 1984; they divorced in 1988, and she sued him in 2020 over his memoir.

Which song, in 1990, finally gave Elton John his first solo UK number one single?

'Sacrifice' was reissued as a double A-side with 'Healing Hands' in 1990 and spent five weeks at number one, with Elton donating the royalties to AIDS charities.

Whose live duet with Elton John on 'Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me' topped the UK and US charts in 1991?

George Michael's duet, recorded at Wembley Arena in March 1991, topped both charts; the pair had first sung it together at Live Aid in 1985, while Michael was a member of Wham!.

With which lyricist did Elton John write the songs for Disney's The Lion King?

Tim Rice, who had finished Aladdin's lyrics with Alan Menken after Howard Ashman's death, wrote the words; three of the film's songs were nominated for Best Original Song at the 1995 Oscars.

Which song won Elton John his first Academy Award?

'Can You Feel the Love Tonight' won Best Original Song at the 1995 Oscars and the Grammy for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance; his second Oscar came 25 years later for a Rocketman song.

Who inducted Elton John into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994?

Axl Rose inducted him in January 1994; two years earlier the pair had sung 'Bohemian Rhapsody' together with the surviving members of Queen at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert.

The original 1973 'Candle in the Wind' was a tribute to whom?

Marilyn Monroe, born Norma Jeane Mortenson, is the subject: the opening line 'Goodbye Norma Jean' became 'Goodbye England's rose' when Taupin rewrote it for Princess Diana in 1997.

How many times has Elton John performed 'Candle in the Wind 1997' live?

Just once: he sang it at Westminster Abbey at Diana's funeral on 6 September 1997 and has said he would perform it again only at the request of her sons.

How many weeks did 'Candle in the Wind 1997' spend at number one on the Billboard Hot 100?

'Candle in the Wind 1997' spent 14 weeks at number one from October 1997, was certified Diamond by the RIAA, and its sales of over 30 million make it the best-selling single since charts began.

Elton John won the 2000 Tony Award for Best Original Score for which Broadway musical?

Aida won the 2000 Tony for Best Original Score; its 1999 concept album included 'Written in the Stars' with LeAnn Rimes and 'I Know the Truth' with Janet Jackson.

Which playwright wrote the words to Elton John's music for Billy Elliot the Musical?

Lee Hall, who also wrote the 2000 film's screenplay, supplied the book and lyrics; Elton wept at the film's Cannes premiere and proposed the musical, which opened in the West End in 2005.

In what year was Elton John knighted for services to music and charity?

Elton John was made a Knight Bachelor in the 1998 New Year Honours; in 2020 he was appointed to the Order of the Companions of Honour, which is limited to 65 members.

Who plays Elton John in the 2019 biopic Rocketman?

Taron Egerton, who had shared scenes with Elton in Kingsman: The Golden Circle, sang the songs himself; their duet '(I'm Gonna) Love Me Again' won Elton his second Oscar.

Which pop star's Elton John collaboration 'Cold Heart' hit number one in Australia in 2021?

Dua Lipa sang on the Pnau remix, which stitches together lines from four Elton songs; it topped the Australian and UK charts and led The Lockdown Sessions album.

Whose first release after the end of her conservatorship was the 2022 Elton John duet 'Hold Me Closer'?

Britney Spears released 'Hold Me Closer' in August 2022, her first new music since 2016's Glory; the title borrows a line from 'Tiny Dancer', which the track reworks alongside 'The One'.

What was the name of Elton John's final tour, at the time the highest-grossing tour ever?

Farewell Yellow Brick Road ran from September 2018 to a final show in Stockholm in July 2023, grossing over $900 million; its Glastonbury Pyramid Stage set was the last UK date.

Which award completed Elton John's EGOT in 2024?

The Primetime Emmy for Elton John Live: Farewell from Dodger Stadium, his Disney+ concert special, made him the 19th person to win an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony in competitive categories.

What is Elton John's husband David Furnish's profession?

David Furnish is a Canadian filmmaker who directed the 1997 documentary Tantrums & Tiaras about Elton; the pair formed a civil partnership in December 2005 and married on its ninth anniversary in 2014.

What is the title of Elton John's 2019 autobiography, described by him as his 'first and only'?

Me, written with Guardian music critic Alexis Petridis and published in October 2019, was promoted as his first and only official autobiography and runs up to the start of his farewell tour.

Why did the teenage Elton John start wearing glasses he did not need?

He wore horn-rimmed glasses to imitate Buddy Holly; by his own account they genuinely weakened his eyesight and began a lifetime of ever more outrageous stage eyewear.

Which relative of Elton John scored in the 1959 FA Cup Final before breaking his leg in the match?

Roy Dwight, his cousin, scored Nottingham Forest's opener against Luton Town in the 1959 final and broke his leg after half an hour; Forest held on to win 2-1.

Elton John's Apple Music radio show, where he interviews young artists, is called what?

Rocket Hour launched on Apple's Beats 1 in 2015 and has run for hundreds of episodes; it is where Elton first championed many of the young acts who later joined him on The Lockdown Sessions.

As which French king did Elton John dress for his 50th birthday party in 1997?

Elton John arrived at his 1997 party at Hammersmith Palais dressed as Louis XIV, in a towering powdered wig and a train so large he had to be delivered in a removal van.

Which photographer created the props and video montages for John's Las Vegas show The Red Piano?

David LaChapelle directed The Red Piano's video montages and props, including giant inflatables; the residency opened at Caesars Palace in February 2004 on a deal for 75 shows over three years.

Elton John's 1975 hit 'Philadelphia Freedom' was a tribute to a team in which sport?

His friend Billie Jean King was player-coach of the World Team Tennis side the Philadelphia Freedoms.

Which North American Soccer League club was Elton John a part-owner of in 1975-76?

He has stayed friends with footballers including Pelé and David Beckham.