Choose from Elton John Tribute Artists/Acts; Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE (born March 25, 1947) is a rock music singer, composer, and pianist, and is one of the most successful solo artists in music history. He has recorded a long string of records and participated in a number of musical projects over a career that is approaching its fifth decade. His flamboyant fashion sense, on-stage showmanship, and public struggles with his private life have combined with his talent to make him a legend to his many fans around the world. John was the dominant commercial force in the rock world in the 1970s, as evidenced by seven consecutive #1 records on the U.S. album charts. His piano-based sound has helped keep that instrument relevant in a guitar-oriented genre. He has maintained a strong public presence in the fight against AIDS, and has had renewed moments of commercial triumph, such as his defiant hit "I'm Still Standing" and his award-winning work on the immensely popular animated film The Lion King. Film work He has also done work both for and in films. In 1971, he wrote the soundtrack for the movie Friends.In 1972 he appeared in the Marc Bolan's musical film 'Born to Boogie' In 1975, he appeared as the Pinball Wizard in Ken Russell's over-the-top movie version of the rock opera Tommy. In 1994, along with Tim Rice, he wrote the songs for the Disney animated film The Lion King. (Rice was reportedly stunned by the rapidity with which John was able to set his words to music.) The Lion King went on to become the best-grossing traditionally-animated feature of all time, with the songs playing a key part. Three of the five songs nominated for the Academy Award for Best Song that year were John and Rice songs from The Lion King, with "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" winning. In versions sung by John, both that and "Circle of Life" became big hits, while the other songs such as "Hakuna Matata" achieved popularity with all ages as well. "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" would also win John the Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. Five years later, John wrote the score for The Muse, and a year later composed songs for another animated film, DreamWorks' The Road to El Dorado. In 2001, his 1970s hit, "Tiny Dancer" was featured on the Almost Famous soundtrack, and his most recent movie song was "The Heart of Every Girl" (the end title song from 2003's Mona Lisa Smile). Musicals In addition to a 1998 adaptation of The Lion King for Broadway, John has also composed music for a Disney production of Aida (2000) with lyricist Tim Rice, for which they received the Tony Award for Best Original Score and the Grammy Award for Best Musical Show Album. John also composed music for a West End production of Billy Elliot (2005) with Lee Hall, and The Vampire Lestat with Bernie Taupin, based on the Anne Rice vampire novels. Personal life John has had a complicated personal history. Coming out first as bisexual in 1976, he married (1984) and quickly divorced (1988) Renate Blauel. He subsequently stated that he was gay and has lived with his partner David Furnish for a number of years. He plans to marry Furnish after the British civil partnership law comes into effect in December 2005. He has battled addictions to cocaine and rumoured financial difficulties caused by his profligate spending. In 1976 Elton John became involved in Watford Football Club and fulfilled a childhood dream by becoming chairman and director. He resigned in 2002 when the club needed a full-time chairman. He remains lifelong president. John has long been associated with AIDS charities after the death of his friends Ryan White and Freddie Mercury, raising large amounts of money and using his public profile to raise awareness of the disease. For example, in 1986 he joined with Dionne Warwick, Gladys Knight, and Stevie Wonder to record the single "That's What Friends Are For", with all profits being donated to the American Foundation for AIDS Research. The song won Elton and the others the Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal (as well as Song of the Year for its writers, Burt Bacharach and Carole Bayer Sager). John founded the Elton John AIDS Foundation in 1992 as a charity to fund programmes for HIV/AIDS prevention, for the elimination of prejudice and discrimination against HIV/AIDS-affected individuals, and for providing services to people living with or at risk of contracting HIV/AIDS. Aside from his main home in Windsor, England, John splits his time in his various residences in Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Nice, France; London, England; and Venice, Italy. He is a noted art collector, and is believed to have one of the largest private photography collections in the world. Musical style and voice In the 1970s, Elton John's sound was immediately set apart from others by being piano-based in a rock world dominated by guitars. Another early characteristic was a set of dynamic string arrangements by Paul Buckmaster. Coupled with Taupin's often opaque but emotionally resonant lyrics, the results were unique for their time. Songs in this style included "Sixty Years On", "Burn Down the Mission", "Take Me to the Pilot", "Levon", "Madman Across the Water", and the best-known of these, "Tiny Dancer". "Your Song", one of his earliest and most popular hits, incorporates some other features found in many of his songs: * It is in binary form, with the verse repeated before the chorus begins; John also has a distinctive vocal style. In particular, his phrasing is often a bit metronomic and sometimes has a curiously off-kilter, "rushed" quality especially at the end of lines (example: the phrase "like a puppy child" in the song Amoreena). He also, at least in his classic period in the 1970s, would sometimes sweep up from his normal tenor into a Four Seasons-like falsetto. Elton John underwent throat surgery to remove potentially cancerous nodules from his vocal chords in January 1987 whilst on tour, a necessity he originally said was due to an infection, but later said was the result of excessive drug abuse. The problems with his voice can clearly be heard in his raspy singing on the Live In Australia album (released 1987). He made a full recovery but continued to engage in drugs for a few years yet. The surgery in 1987 also had a dramatic affect on John's voice, and he found that he could no longer sing in falsetto as well as he previously could and that he now sang in a lower range. The change in Elton John's voice has been one that he has largely played down, with Elton commenting fifteen years after the surgery that he was "singing better than ever." The use of studio effects were evidently added to his voice on his first UK #1 Hit "Sacrifice" (1990). The release of Songs From The West Coast, his 2001 album showed very clearly how different his voice is to his prime. It is a matter of opinion which singing style is better but few would deny that Elton John remains an excellent and operatic singer. Quotations * "You can call me a fat, balding, talentless, old queen who can't sing--but you can't tell lies about me." (After successfully winning a libel case against the London 'Sun' in 1987 for alleged underage sex.) * "I haven't made a good album in a long while. Not since 1976 and Blue Moves." * "If there is a better singer in England than Craig David, then I am Margaret Thatcher." * (After being asked about his sexuality in the 1970s) "I think people should be free to engage in any sexual practices they choose; they should draw the line at goats, though." * "Nowadays, record companies want the quick buck from the Backstreet Boys, Britney Spears, Travis Miscia, S Club Seven, Steps. They've always been around, I'm not knocking the music perhaps, but it's like packets of cereal. There are too many of them, too many of them are just mediocre. And I think it damages real people's chance, real talent, of getting airplay. It's just fodder." * "Anyone who lip-synchs in public on stage when you pay £75 to see them should be shot. That's me off her Christmas card list. But do I give a toss? No." (about Madonna) * "If I had one finger left, I'd play for you." (After breaking his fingernails by playing too hard) * "I thought it was a bit of an anti-climax, to be honest. The thought behind it was fantastic, but Hyde Park is a charisma-free zone. There was no sense of occasion and from a musical point, I didn't think there were too many highlights. I was very pleased to be a part of it, but I didn't think it was anywhere near as good as the first one. How could it be?" (about Live 8) * "The great thing about rock and roll is that someone like me can be a star."
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