Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is an English singer, songwriter, pianist, and composer. Collaborating with lyricist Bernie Taupin since 1967 on more than 30 albums, John has sold more than 300 million records, making him one of the best-selling music artists. He has more than fifty Top 40 hits in the UK Singles Chart and US Billboard Hot 100, including seven number ones in the UK and nine in the US, as well as seven consecutive number-one albums in the US. His tribute single "Candle in the Wind 1997", rewritten in dedication to Diana, Princess of Wales, sold over 33 million copies worldwide and is the best-selling single in the history of the UK and US singles charts. He has also produced records and occasionally acted in films. John owned Watford F.C. from 1976 to 1987 and from 1997 to 2002. He is an honorary life president of the club.
Before he came out, Elton John courted controversy with this song about a schoolboy crush
Elton John, the knighted (and EGOT earning!) rock legend who has been one our most prominent, prolific, and powerful LGBTQ+ icons for decades.In fact, John is such an integral part of our culture, it’s easy to forget that he wasn’t always “out.” John made a name for himself with a larger-than-life, flamboyant stage presence, and rocketed to fame at a time when some of the biggest stars in music (his contemporaries include David Bowie and Queen) were pushing up against traditional gender norms—at least aesthetically.Subscribe to our newsletter for your front-row seat to all things entertainment with a sprinkle of everything else queer.However, it wasn’t until a 1976 interview with Rolling Stone that John called himself bisexual, and later in the ’90s when he began more publicly identifying as gay.But, roughly a decade into his career, John released his first song performed form the perspective of a gay man—one fittingly titled “Elton’s Song”—which he now considers his first “recorded as a homosexual song.” (Though, notably, John’s first song about a queer character was actually the tragic lesbian tale “All The Girls Love Alice” from 1973.)Initially recorded in 1979 and released as part of John’s 1981 album The Fox, “Elton’s Song” was co-written by Tom Robinson, the out queer musician and activist known for the 1978 hit “Glad To Be Gay.” It tells the story of a young person’s unrequited love for a classmate, observing them around school all while daydreaming about their “grace and style” and “razor blade smile.”Though it begins as a sweet ode to an innocent crush, the number gradually reveals the deep loneliness of its narrator, ending on a final line both romantic and dark: “But I would give my life / For a single night beside you.”Notably, the lyrics keep things just vague enough so as to not explicitly mention the gender or sexuality of either character, but it’s not difficult to read between the lines here and see that this infatuation, this story, is inextricably.
