Elton John

Elton John is one of the biggest pop superstars of the late 20th century, and is also an innovative and influential piano stylist. Elton met his long-time lyricist collaborator Bernie Taupin in the late 1960s, and they started off writing songs for other artists. By the early 1970s, Elton’s solo albums were charting in Britain and America, and he hit the peak of his commercial success between 1972 and 1976, with seven consecutive Number One albums and sixteen consecutive Top 20 hit singles. He effortlessly blended pop, rock, and soul styles, and brought a unique melodic sensibility to his song craft. In the late 1970s and early ’80s, his sales slumped somewhat, but he bounced back strongly with 1983’s Too Low for Zero album, which generated another string of hit singles. In the ’90s, he began writing songs for Disney productions (The Lion King and Aida) and in 1997 he recorded a new version of his song “Candle in the Wind” as a tribute to Princess Diana, which became his biggest-ever hit.

Recommended listening:

• Tumblewood Connection, 1971 (UNI)
• Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, 1973 (Rocket/Island)
• Two Low for Zero, 1983 (MCA)