Happy Birthday to award-winning composer Elton John, born Reginald Dwight on March 25, 1947, in London. He began playing piano at age 4. At age 11, he won a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music but quit before graduating to join a local band. When that combo separated, John and bandmate Stu Brown formed Bluesology. After releasing two singles,“Come Back Baby” (which you can listen to below) and “Mr. Frantic,” the group became the backup band for Long John Baldry, but within a year they disbanded.
John then answered an ad for songwriters and met lyricist Bernie Taupin, with whom he has written ever since. In 1968, the duo joined DJM Records as staff writers. A year later, John released his debut solo album, Empty Sky, followed by Elton John (1970), which included the Top 10 hit “Your Song” (which you can watch below) and brought him Grammy nominations for album of the year and best new artist. The next year, John earned another Grammy nod for the score to the 1971 film Friends.
John followed with a string of commercial and critical successes, including Honky Château (1972), Don’t Shoot Me I’m Only the Piano Player (1973), and Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (1973). In 1975, he made his acting debut as the Pinball Wizard in the film Tommy (which you can watch below) and his Broadway debut with Bette Midler’s rendition of “The Bitch Is Back” in Clams on the Half-Shell. He then earned Grammy nominations for Caribou and “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me” as album and record of the year (1975) and for Captain Fantastic … as album of the year (1976).
John won his first Grammy for his performance on “That’s What Friends Are For” (1985) (which you can watch below) and his second for his composition of the 1991 instrumental “Basque.” In 1992, he formed the Elton John AIDS Foundation, for which he was awarded the Commander of the Order of the British Empire (1996) and Knighthood of the British Empire (1998). Other honors in the decade include induction into the American Songwriters Hall of Fame (1992) and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (1994).
John worked with lyricist Tim Rice on The Lion King (1994), earning Oscar nominations for “Hakuna Matata,” “Circle of Life,” and “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” (which you can watch below) and Grammy nominations for the latter two, with the song “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” bringing John his first Oscar, first Golden Globe, and third Grammy. He then received his first Tony nomination for the show’s 1997 Broadway premiere and his first Olivier nomination for the show’s 1999 West End premiere.
John asked Taupin to revise “Candle in the Wind” for Princess Diana’s 1997 funeral. It became the best-selling single of all time and brought John his fourth Grammy. He next worked with Taupin on the film The Muse (1999) and Grammy-nominated album Songs from the West Coast (2002) and with Rice on the film The Road to El Dorado (2000) and Broadway musical Aida (2000), for which he won both Tony and Grammy awards. Below are Heather Headley and Adam Pascal singing “Written in the Stars” from Aida.
In 2004, John received the Kennedy Center Honors. Two years later, he returned to Broadway with Lestat (lyrics by Taupin), which closed after 39 performances. He fared better on Billy Elliot (lyrics by Lee Hall), earning an Olivier for its 2005 West End premiere and his second Tony nod for its 2008 Broadway premiere. His third Tony nomination came for producing the play Next Fall (2010) and his second Oscar and Golden Globe wins for writing “I’m Gonna Love Me Again” (lyrics by Taupin) in Rocketman (2019), which you can watch him and Taron Egerton perform below.
John’s other recent work includes the Golden Globe nominated songs “The Heart of Every Girl” for Mona Lisa Smile (2003) and “Hello, Hello” (lyrics by Taupin) for Gnomeo and Juliet (2011). His musical adaption of The Devil Wears Prada (lyrics by Shaina Taub, book by Paul Rudnick) is scheduled to premiere next year in Chicago.