Portrait
Elton John
Born
25 March 1947Pinner, England
Singer, songwriter and pianistUnited Kingdom

Elton John

A singer and songwriter whose public life also became a platform for the fight against AIDS.

Elton John was born in Pinner in 1947. Originally named Reginald Dwight, he won a childhood scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music. In 1967 he began writing with the lyricist Bernie Taupin, starting a partnership that would produce songs including “Your Song”, “Rocket Man” and “Tiny Dancer”.

During the 1970s his piano playing, theatrical costumes and energetic performances made him an international star. He spoke publicly about being bisexual in 1976. His marriage to the sound engineer Renate Blauel ended in divorce in 1988, and he later described himself as gay. He also spoke openly about addiction and recovery.

After losing friends to AIDS, he established the Elton John AIDS Foundation in 1992. Its work has supported HIV prevention, treatment and efforts to challenge stigma, raising hundreds of millions of dollars.

John and the filmmaker David Furnish entered a civil partnership in 2005 and married in 2014. Knighted in 1998, he continued performing for decades. His farewell tour ended in 2023, closing his touring career after more than three hundred concerts.

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