Elton was born Reginald Kenneth Dwight to Stanley and Sheila on March 25th, 1947 in Pinner, Meddlesex, England. His father wanted him to become a banker and although Elton's love was music, his father banned all rock and roll from the house. His mother felt sorry for her son and would smuggle in the odd album. Elton was a gifted piano player at a young age and won a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music when he was 11, from which he attended until he was 15.

He started his career by playing in local bands, including Bluesology, the backing group for singer John Baldry. It was Baldry and saxophonist Elton Dean which influenced him so tremendously that he adopted their names as a tribute.

Elton quit Bluesology in 1967 and teamed with lyricist Bernie Taupin and they released their first album in 1970 called Empty Sky. It wasn't until their 2nd album Elton John was released that their 1st hit appeared. It was Your Song.

By the early 70's the pair became the 1st act since the Beatles to have four albums in the American top 10 simultaneously. John was making a name for himself with his wild sage persona which was in contrast to his moving, heartfelt songs.

The mid 70's saw the zenith of John's career. He appeared in the movie "Tommy," graced the cover of Time magazine, played two L.A. concerts to more than 100,000 people, had his star added to Hollywood walk of fame, and co-wrote a hit song with friend John Lennon (who joined him onstage to perform it at Madison Square Garden).

With all the fame and an unrelenting schedule of engagements and tours John was nearing burnout. In 1977 his partnership with Taupin disintegrated and in 1978 he announced his retirement. His retirement was short lived and in 1979 he became the first Western singer to tour the Soviet Union. He reunited with Taupin in 1980 to write for two more albums 21 at 33 and The Fox.

He married Renate Blauel in 1984 and divorced four years latter. Although Elton had acknowledged to Rolling Stones Magazine that he was bisexual in the late 70's, he failed admit that he was 100% homosexual.

By 1990, Eltons failed marriage, sexuality issues, drove him deeper into a world of drugs and alcohol and he checked himself into a drug rehab center in Chicago.

Since then, clean and sober Elton has roared back to the top of the charts with several songs off Disney's soundtrack for "The Lion King," for which he won an Oscar for Best Achievement in Music for "Can You Feel the Love Tonight." He was also inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and launched his own London-based film and TV production company, Rocket Pictures.

In July of 1999, Elton had an operation to install a pacemaker after an irregular heartbeat was discovered. He recovered at his home in Nice, France and plans to tour lightly in the year 2000. Elton said the only long term effect: "is that I have to carry a card explaining why I set off the alarms when I walk through airport securtiy."