So Elton John started life as Reginald Dwight and started his musical career when he was 17. He played piano since he was younger, able to pick out songs by ear which is pretty tough to do. He started formal piano lessons at 7, and won a junior scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music at 11. He did well at the academy, but he was so naturally talented that he pretty much didn't need to practice and somewhat resented being there. His mother and stepfather helped him get a gig playing piano at a pub when he was 15. In 1962 he and his friends made a band called Bluesology, so he split his time between performing alone and with the group. The band successfully became a touring band for a bunch of groups and by 1966 became the supporting band for Long John Baldry. In 1967, he answered an ad for a record label, and went in to add music to lyrics written by Bernie Taupin, and they signed together as songwriters to a label. The same year he took the stage name Elton John, which is an homage to Long John Baldry, and the saxophonist in Bluesology Elton Dean. He ended up legally changing his name to that in 1972. His debut album came out in 1969, followed by five more albums by 1971. He kept making albums, then started his own label in 1974. In 1975 he released an autobiographical album, which became the first album ever to debut at number 1. I've barely cracked his discography and this is already getting pretty long, so I'm going to cut it off here and continue next time I feature another of his songs. The gist is that the man has not stopped writing and performing ever, and soon a biopic on him will be coming out, which will feature Taron Egerton, whom was chosen because he sang this song for the movie Sing. I thought it was a pretty cool fact, hope you do too.
Peace.
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