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| Wednesday, 10 March 2004 |
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Sir Elton John Flamboyant superstar by Derrick Schokman
Elton John, the ultimate rock star, has had a prolific music career having written and recorded more than 500 songs over the past 34 years. Blessed with an extraordinary talent as a pianist, greatly influenced by the rumbustious Winifred Atwell, Russ Conway's singalong toe-tapping style and the flamboyant liberace, he developed into a glittering phenomenon on stage, well known for his wigs and outrageous costumes. On 25 March 1997 Elton John celebrated his 50th birthday. That year, according to him, was his most momentous. He received honorary membership of the Royal Academy of Music, an accolade previously awarded to Mendelsson, Liszt and Richard Strauss. Candle in the Wind Then on 6 September, watched by an estimated two billion people the world over, he sat down at a piano in Westminster Abbey to sing the reworked "Candle in the Wind" at the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales. It was a superlative moment when the people's pop star sang at the funeral of the peoples' princess. Royalties from the CD of that sons raised more than 150 million dollars, which he donated to the Princess of Wales Memorial Fund. More than 31 million copies of that CD were sold in 5 weeks. According to the Guiness Book of Records that was a new record. The previous holder was Bing Crosby whose "White Christmas" sold 30 million copies over 55 years. The crowning achievement of that year (1997) was the Knighthood he received from the Queen for his services to music and his work for AIDS charity via the Elton John AIDS Foundation which had raised over 20 million dollars. One year later he won two Ivor Novello awards, one for the sales of "Candle", and the other for the message in the song. Two years later he won a Grammy, the American world's musical award equivalent to an Oscar, for the best male pop vocal performance for the year on "Candle in the Wind '97". Among other awards he was also given an honorary Doctorate from the Royal Academy of Music. Best songs Elton's song writing partner from 1967 was Bernie Taupin. Some of their best songs are featured in a triple CD entitled Greatest Song Hits 1970-2002, namely Your Song, Honky Cat, Rocket Man, Crocodile Rock, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, Daniel, Tiny Dancer, Candle in the Wind, Don't let the Sun go down on me, Sacrifice, Made in England, This train doesn't stop there anymore, Lucy in the sky with diamonds, Something about the way you look tonight, Blue Eyes, Nikita and others. Elton has collaborated with Tim Rice of Jesus Christ Superstar fame to provide the music in 1994 for the Disney-backed film The Lion King. Elton sang on three of the songs in that album. Three of his songs were nominated for Oscars, and "Can you feel the love tonight" won a Grammy and an Oscar in 1995. Mellowed Time has mellowed the flamboyant superstar. Wigs and outrageous costumes are a part of his distant past, yet he still continues to thrill and entertain as one of the world's top-class performers. In his own words: "Apart from helping those less fortunate, I just want to continue composing music which appeals to others, because that's what I really love doing." **** Back **** |
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