What type of singer is elton john

User Contributions: 1. Elton John is amazing! I loved his colaboration with Lady Gaga. He's an inspiration, and he's done so much to help so many charities! Keep rockin'! Louis armijo. Did elton die? I have been a fan since when "your song" came out. I have seen him 7 times in concert and loved every one! I learned to play by ear when I was 3 and my parents got me lessons so I could read music.

My teacher was a classical teacher and I played on radio so many times. In I told her one elton song a week and one classical. People were amazed that I could play his music. Love lies bleeding wasn't out yet so I learned it by ear!

My music teacher was amazed! Elton has been in my life for so long and if he didn't die I want him to know I love him and God be with you! Love diane randall. Comment about this article, ask questions, or add new information about this topic: Name:. E-mail: Show my email publicly. Human Verification:. Public Comment: characters.

John, captivated by the sounds of early rock and roll, wanted to pursue a career in pop music. And much to his father's dismay, John dropped out of school at 17 to follow his dream.

He started playing with a group called Bluesology, and he cobbled together his stage moniker from the names of two members of the group. In John answered an ad for a songwriter for Liberty Records. He got the job and soon teamed up with lyricist Bernie Taupin. The duo switched to the DJM label the following year, writing songs for other artists. John got his first break as a singer with his album Empty Sky , featuring songs by John and Taupin.

While that recording failed to catch on, his self-titled effort featured John's first hit, "Your Song. Elton John and his long-term songwriting partner, lyricist Bernie Taupin, in One of the top acts of the s, John became equally famous for his live shows.

He dressed in fabulous, over-the-top costumes and glasses for his elaborate concerts. In an interview with W , John explained that "I wasn't a sex symbol like Bowie , Marc Bolan or Freddie Mercury , so I dressed more on the humorous side, because if I was going to be stuck at the piano for two hours, I was going to make people look at me.

He soon decided to take a break from music, focusing his energies on his soccer team that he co-owned in England. Around this time, John also publicly announced that he was bisexual he later came out as a gay man. At the time, John was ridiculed and taunted for his sexuality. The controversy died down, and he made a triumphant return to music in with the album A Single Man. While not producing smash hits in the s, John still did well on the charts. Some of the most memorable songs from this period include the ballads "Little Jeannie" and "Empty Garden Hey, Hey Johnny ," the latter written as a tribute to his friend John Lennon of the Beatles, who had been killed in Branching out in different directions, John teamed up with lyricist Tim Rice for several projects.

John received a number of honors around this time. In he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. While he enjoyed all of the recognition and praise, he soon found himself rocked by grief. During the summer of , John lost two good friends — fashion designer Gianni Versace and Princess Diana. The decline in his record sales was also due to his exhaustion. After , John cut his performance schedule drastically, announcing that he was retiring from live performances in , and started recording only one album a year.

His relationship with Taupin became strained following the release of 's double album Blue Moves , and the lyricist began working with other musicians. John returned in with A Single Man , which was written with Gary Osborne ; the record produced no Top 20 singles.

That year, he returned to live performances, first by jamming at the Live Stiffs package tour, then by launching a comeback tour in accompanied only by percussionist Ray Cooper.

In , he signed with Geffen Records and his second album for the label, Jump Up! While his career continued to be successful, his personal life was in turmoil. Since the mid-'70s, he had been addicted to cocaine and alcohol, and the situation only worsened during the '80s. In a surprise move, he married engineer Renate Blauel in ; the couple stayed married for four years, although John later admitted he realized he was homosexual before his marriage.

In , he underwent throat surgery while on tour, but even after he successfully recovered, he continued to abuse cocaine and alcohol. Following a record-breaking five-date stint at Madison Square Garden in , John auctioned off all of his theatrical costumes, thousands of pieces of memorabilia, and his extensive record collection through Sotheby's.

The auction was a symbolic turning point. Over the next two years, John battled both his drug addiction and bulimia, undergoing hair replacement surgery at the same time. In , John returned to active recording with The One. Peaking at number eight on the U. John 's album, Made in England , continued his comeback, peaking at number three on the U.

With the profits earmarked for Diana's favorite charities, and with a debut performance at Diana's funeral, "Candle in the Wind " became the fastest-selling hit of all time in both Britain and the U. For his next project, John reunited with Lion King collaborator Tim Rice to write songs for Disney's Broadway musical adaptation of the story of Aida ; an album of their efforts featuring a who's-who of contemporary pop musicians was released in early , going gold by the end of the year.

In late , John landed a TV special with CBS, performing a selection of his greatest hits at Madison Square Garden; a companion album drawn from those performances, One Night Only , was issued shortly before the special aired. Released in , Songs from the West Coast was a return to form for John , who found critical success for the first time since the '80s.

However, it wasn't until 's popular Peachtree Road album that he managed to match that success commercially. John busied himself with stage work and a Vegas show before he unexpectedly recorded a duet album with Leon Russell , releasing the T-Bone Burnett -produced The Union in the fall of The Union revived Russell 's career and the duo supported the record with a limited tour. John settled into another Vegas stint in , signing a contract with Caesars Palace to deliver a show called The Million Dollar Piano over the next three years.

Despite this long-term commitment, Elton pursued other projects: He published an autobiography called Love Is the Cure in the summer of and, around the same time, the Australian dance duo Pnau reworked many of his classic '70s recordings on the Good Morning to the Night album. Wonderful Crazy Night saw release in February Elton John launched his final tour, dubbed Farewell Yellow Brick Road, in September , the first in a series of retrospective events that ran through At the end of , John published his memoir, Me.