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.
Elton John and husband David Furnish are parents of two sons, Zachary and Elijah, both born via surrogate. However, during an appearance on Dua Lipa’s new podcast, Sir Elton revealed that they had initially tried to adopt a child from an orphanage in Ukraine they visited, but were turned down.
The rock icon recounted the story for iHeartRadio’s “Dua Lipa: At Your Service”. READ MORE: Elton John And Stevie Wonder Celebrate Life In Heartwarming Music Video For ‘Finish Line’ “I was carrying this little boy around for hours.
We had a press conference at the end and they said ‘You seem very fond of this little boy. Would you think of adopting him?’ and I went ‘I’d actually love to!'” he recalled. “Of course, not thinking about social media, it went around the world straight away,” he continued. “It was ‘Elton John wants to adopt two children.'” However, he noted that he and Furnish were deemed ineligible to adopt due to their sexuality. READ MORE: Sir Elton John Steps Out With Walking Stick As He Receives Top Honour From Prince Charles “Because I was gay I wasn’t allowed to anyway,” he explained. “After that happened, David said, ‘Well, what do you think about having kids?’ I always said no but this little boy was telling me something.
He was saying ‘C’mon you can be a dad,’ and that’s when we decided to have children, because of this little boy in Ukraine.”