Gallery Follow Elton John Through the Years

Gallery Follow Elton John Through the Years

Gallery: Follow Elton John Through the Years Movies for Grownups

Elton John Through the Ages

How the singer grew up to be a star and producer of his own biopic ' Rocketman'

In honor of , the slightly fictionalized jukebox musical about Elton John's spectacular life, we present some of the wildest scenes from the singer's real life, in which he goes from young unknown to beloved elder statesman of rock. of Launchpad Rocketman In his first photo shoot, in 1968, Elton John had a full head of hair but no hits. His debut, “I'll Be Loving You,” tanked, but before fame struck, he did sing on Tom Jones’ hit “Delilah” and earned $9.60 by playing piano on the Hollies’ “He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother."
of From Folkie to rocker John's first record sounded quiet and sensitive, but after he accidentally kicked over his piano stool onstage and the crowd roared, he started doing it on purpose, rocking out and winning instant fame.
of Dress for excess John grabbed attention with eye-catching costumes like this 1974 Minnie Mouse outfit. He also performed as Donald Duck, Amadeus, the devil, a giant chicken and Chopin — though audiences thought he resembled Marie Antoinette. “I thought I was Chopin; to everybody else I was Marie Antoinette,” he said. “Story of my life!" of Dancing with royals The outrageous singer was catnip to royalty: He danced to “Rock Around the Clock” with Queen Elizabeth at Prince Andrew's 21st-birthday party. But he was closest with Princess Diana, whom he honored with history's best-selling song, “Goodbye England's Rose.” And in 1998 the Queen dubbed him a knight, Sir Elton Hercules John.
of John Lennon and Elton John John befriended the Beatle during Lennon's drunken 1972 L.A. “Lost Weekend.” After Lennon recovered and John became an addict, Lennon said, “Look, I always admired you. Don't do this to yourself.” The Rocketman has been happily sober since 1990. of Rod vs. Elton John and Rod Stewart started out in the same obscure band and became lifelong rivals, as in this 1973 footrace at the soccer club that John owned. When John advised Stewart to spurn a film role in the Who's Tommy, then took the role himself, John recalled, “Rod was absolutely furious: ‘You bitch!’ ” of Elton John and Freddie Mercury John, partying with his dear friend Freddie Mercury and Mercury's pal Peter Straker in 1977, thought that Queen's “Bohemian Rhapsody” would flop, but it hit No. 1, and the film earned four Oscars and over $900 million — raising hopes for Rocketman's success. of Happy at last
For Elton John, Saturday night used to be for fighting, drinking and promiscuity. But in 1993, after decades of romantic disasters (with a pickle heiress, Linda Woodrow; his former manager, John Reid; and a record engineer, Renate Blauel, who was married to him from 1984 to 1988), he met ad executive David Furnish (now 56) and married him in 2014. The couple has two kids, Zachary and Elijah (Lady Gaga is their godmother). Now they write each other love notes every Saturday — because that's the day they met. of Duet of the Rocketmen John celebrated Rocketman's world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival by performing the title tune with Taron Egerton, who plays him in the film. “Even if the movie doesn't make one penny,” Elton told the crowd, “it is the movie I wanted to make."
of ADVERTISEMENT

More on Elton John

Featured AARP Member Benefits See more Entertainment offers > See more Entertainment offers > See more Entertainment offers > See more Entertainment offers > Cancel You are leaving AARP.org and going to the website of our trusted provider. The provider’s terms, conditions and policies apply. Please return to AARP.org to learn more about other benefits. Your email address is now confirmed. You'll start receiving the latest news, benefits, events, and programs related to AARP's mission to empower people to choose how they live as they age. You can also by updating your account at anytime. You will be asked to register or log in. Cancel Offer Details Disclosures

Close In the next 24 hours, you will receive an email to confirm your subscription to receive emails related to AARP volunteering. Once you confirm that subscription, you will regularly receive communications related to AARP volunteering. In the meantime, please feel free to search for ways to make a difference in your community at Javascript must be enabled to use this site. Please enable Javascript in your browser and try again.
Share:
0 comments

Comments (0)

Leave a Comment

Minimum 10 characters required

* All fields are required. Comments are moderated before appearing.

No comments yet. Be the first to comment!

Gallery Follow Elton John Through the Years | Trend Now | Trend Now