Elton's 1977 sessions with Philly Soul producer Thom Bell gave him with a #1 UK hit in 2003 with Are You Ready For Love, when it was re-released due to demand from influential British DJs. In the 1980s he had hits with the albums 21 At 33, Jump Up! (which included the smash single Blue Eyes and the much-loved Lennon tribute Empty Garden), and Too Low For Zero, the home of two of Elton's live favourites, I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues and I'm Still Standing.
In 1992 in the US, and in 1993 in the UK, Elton established the Elton John AIDS Foundation, his pioneering charity dedicated to breakthrough work on behalf of those around the world suffering from HIV and related illnesses. Together, the two organizations have raised more than $275 million in support of worthy projects in 55 countries around the world.
1993 saw the release of the double-platinum album The One. During the 1990s Elton collaborated with Tim Rice on music for Disney's The Lion King , winning a Best Male Pop Grammy, and also his first Academy Award for Can You Feel The Love Tonight? Elton later worked with Tim Rice on the Broadway smash Aida. This musical, which opened in 2000 and gave 1,852 performances, earned four Tonys, including Best Musical Score. Billy Elliot The Musical , with music by Elton John and lyrics by Lee Hall, was launched on the London stage in 2005. It is staggeringly successful with audiences and critics on both sides of the Atlantic and has won multiple awards including 10 Tonys.
1993 saw the release of the double-platinum album The One. During the 1990s Elton collaborated with Tim Rice on music for Disney's The Lion King , winning a Best Male Pop Grammy, and also his first Academy Award for Can You Feel The Love Tonight? Elton later worked with Tim Rice on the Broadway smash Aida. This musical, which opened in 2000 and gave 1,852 performances, earned four Tonys, including Best Musical Score. Billy Elliot The Musical , with music by Elton John and lyrics by Lee Hall, was launched on the London stage in 2005. It is staggeringly successful with audiences and critics on both sides of the Atlantic and has won multiple awards including 10 Tonys.
Only one artist can have the biggest selling single of all time, and since 1997 Elton has held that record. Candle in the Wind 1997, Elton and Bernie's heartfelt tribute to the late Diana, Princess of Wales, has sold over 33,000,000 copies, and raised millions for the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund. In 1998, Elton received a knighthood from HM Queen Elizabeth II for "services to music and charitable services" and became Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE.
This millennium has seen Elton at the top of his game, continuing to play frequent, sell-out concerts all over the world. In 2004, Elton and the band began a residency with The Red Piano show at the Caesars Palace Colosseum in Las Vegas. Originally booked for 75 shows over three years, The Red Piano exceeded all expectations and proved so popular with audiences that Elton completed the original commitment in only 18 months, and the run was extended by an additional 166 shows to a final engagement total of 241, ending in April 2009.
Five decades since the 1969 release of his first album, Empty Sky, Elton John continues to create superb music. The 2001 album Songs From The West Coast gave him another smash hit single with I Want Love, as well as the fan favourite, Original Sin. In 2005, following the release of the deluxe edition of Peachtree Road, which included three new songs from Billy Elliot The Musical, Elton achieved another hit single with the Billy Elliot song Electricity. The following year fans were delighted when Elton and Bernie at last wrote a sequel to Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy, the much-loved The Captain And The Kid.
In 2007, Elton released Rocket Man - The Definitive Hits, a single CD album that features 18 classic hit songs. Also in 2007, for the first time ever, Elton's entire back catalogue of nearly 500 tracks (90 singles and 32 albums) became available to download legally. In 2010 he recorded a new studio album, The Union, in collaboration with his and Bernie's musical hero Leon Russell, which was produced by T-Bone Burnett. This international hit album reached #3 in the Billboard Hot 100 album chart and was also voted #3 inRolling Stone's top albums of 2010. In April 2011, the Tribeca Film Festival opened with the world premiere of Cameron Crowe's documentary, The Union, which captured, for the first time ever, the writing and recording of an Elton John album.
The release of Rocket Man marked a huge anniversary for Elton — on March 25, 2007, he celebrated his 60th birthday while breaking his own record with an unmatched 60th concert at the legendary Madison Square Garden in New York. No other entertainer has come close to matching this record.
Besides his knighthood, Elton's landmark awards include Best British Male Artist Brit Award, 1991; induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, 1994; Grammy Awards in 1986, 1991, 1994, 1997 and 2000; Polar Music Prize, 1995; Grammy Legend Award, 2001; Kennedy Center Honor, 2004 and 12 Ivor Novello Awards between 1973 and 2000. In 2002, he was awarded an honorary doctorate from the Royal Academy of Music.
Elton entered into a civil partnership with David Furnish on December 21, 2005, the first day it was possible to do so in Britain. Their first son, Zachary, was born by surrogacy on December 25, 2010, and their second son, Elijah, was born by surrogacy on January 11, 2013. Rocket Pictures, the film company headed up by David Furnish, is highly successful and in 2011 Elton and David were co-producers of the animated filmGnomeo & Juliet, with Elton writing the music. The film took nearly $200,000,000, and plans are now firmly under way for a sequel.
Five decades since the 1969 release of his first album, Empty Sky, Elton John continues to create superb music. The 2001 album Songs From The West Coast gave him another smash hit single with I Want Love, as well as the fan favourite, Original Sin. In 2005, following the release of the deluxe edition of Peachtree Road, which included three new songs from Billy Elliot The Musical, Elton achieved another hit single with the Billy Elliot song Electricity. The following year fans were delighted when Elton and Bernie at last wrote a sequel to Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy, the much-loved The Captain And The Kid.
In 2007, Elton released Rocket Man - The Definitive Hits, a single CD album that features 18 classic hit songs. Also in 2007, for the first time ever, Elton's entire back catalogue of nearly 500 tracks (90 singles and 32 albums) became available to download legally. In 2010 he recorded a new studio album, The Union, in collaboration with his and Bernie's musical hero Leon Russell, which was produced by T-Bone Burnett. This international hit album reached #3 in the Billboard Hot 100 album chart and was also voted #3 inRolling Stone's top albums of 2010. In April 2011, the Tribeca Film Festival opened with the world premiere of Cameron Crowe's documentary, The Union, which captured, for the first time ever, the writing and recording of an Elton John album.
The release of Rocket Man marked a huge anniversary for Elton — on March 25, 2007, he celebrated his 60th birthday while breaking his own record with an unmatched 60th concert at the legendary Madison Square Garden in New York. No other entertainer has come close to matching this record.
Besides his knighthood, Elton's landmark awards include Best British Male Artist Brit Award, 1991; induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, 1994; Grammy Awards in 1986, 1991, 1994, 1997 and 2000; Polar Music Prize, 1995; Grammy Legend Award, 2001; Kennedy Center Honor, 2004 and 12 Ivor Novello Awards between 1973 and 2000. In 2002, he was awarded an honorary doctorate from the Royal Academy of Music.
Elton entered into a civil partnership with David Furnish on December 21, 2005, the first day it was possible to do so in Britain. Their first son, Zachary, was born by surrogacy on December 25, 2010, and their second son, Elijah, was born by surrogacy on January 11, 2013. Rocket Pictures, the film company headed up by David Furnish, is highly successful and in 2011 Elton and David were co-producers of the animated filmGnomeo & Juliet, with Elton writing the music. The film took nearly $200,000,000, and plans are now firmly under way for a sequel.
Elton John and David Furnish
Elton remains committed to his music and to touring, becoming more, rather than less, busy as time passes. In 2011, as well as touring in Europe, Australia and North America both solo and with his band, now augmented with Croatian duo 2CELLOS, Elton returned to The Colosseum, Caesars Palace, Las Vegas with his all-new show, The Million Dollar Piano. This production, which received fantastic reviews and included a welcome return to the show for Elton's former percussionist Ray Cooper, is set to run for at least three years. In 2012 he returned to the recording studio with producer T Bone Burnett, and recorded an album for release in 2013, and toured North, Central and South America, before heading to Europe. 2012 also gave Elton a UK #1 album, his first in 22 years, with Good Morning To The Night, the remix project by Elton John versus Pnau. This album introduced Elton's music to a new, young audience who sang along heartily to Your Song when Elton performed it at a summer festival in Ibiza. Elton's summer tour of Europe included an unforgettable appearance at The Queen's Diamond Jubilee concert at Buckingham Palace.
Elton and his band continue to tour throughout 2013, and plans are now under way to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the 1973 release of Goodbye Yellow Brick Road later this year.
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