ELTON JOHN

ELTON JOHN: HE’S STILL STANDING

In a career that has spanned more than three decades, with more ups and downs than a Coney Island roller coaster, it shouldn’t have surprised anyone to see Elton John-resplendent and conservatively attired in black- sitting in a box at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC late last year alongside President George W and First Lady Laura Bush. Elton basked in the moment, accepting tributes from his peers as a recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors for his enduring contributions to the performing arts.

Known for being an outspoken liberal, Elton was on his best behavior, calling the recognition "the icing on the cake… it’s incredible for someone who’s British to be given such an accolade from America, which has given me so much already in my career.”

Despite being recognized for a lifetime’s contribution of work, the Rocket Man isn’t ready to cool his jets and retire to a rocking chair in his Atlanta home to sip mint juleps. Far from it. In fact, he’s operating at full throttle with a new album, two new stage musicals, worldwide concert appearances and his regular The Red Piano show at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas.

Larger than life
An elite member of the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame and holder of 16 top 20 hits in a row (1972-76), as well as six straight platinum albums (1973-75), Elton and his flamboyant lifestyle, outrageous costumes and opinionated views have sometimes upstaged his considerable contributions to pop music. Rather than being seen as a serious musician, at times he has been characterized more as a Las Vegas lounge lizard, a worthy heir to Liberace’s camp, sequined legacy.

Sir Elton (he was knighted by the Queen of England in 1998) is the first to acknowledge that his outlandish persona has often overshadowed his music.

"I know I’m a larger-than-life character,” he told the Washington Post. "I’ve made my own cross to bear. People still think of me as flamboyant, lavish; and people tend to forget about the music. But I just have to accept that sometimes I’m a victim of my own image. I made my bed and I’ve got to lie in it.”

Accepting accolades has become something of a habit for Elton. In addition to his clutch of Grammys for his pop music, he has also collected a Grammy and a Tony for his score for the stage musical Aida, as well as an Oscar and another Grammy for his contributions to the film version of The Lion King.

Humble beginnings
In 1947, long before he became Elton John, the performer was born Reginald Kenneth Dwight and raised in a London suburb. Son of a Royal Air Force trumpet player, Elton began playing piano at age four and received classical training as a pianist at the Royal Academy of Music. At 17, he dropped out of school and in 1961 formed his own band, Bluesology. He would later take his stage name from the band’s saxophonist, Elton Dean, and its charismatic front man, Long John Baldry.

If there’s such a thing as that one big break that all artists dream of, Elton’s came in 1966 when a Liberty Records executive introduced him to lyricist Bernie Taupin. It was a meeting that would result in a prolific, creative collaboration in the spirit of the great song writing teams from Rodgers and Hart to Lerner and Lowe, and one that has endured for almost 40 years. Like so many other aspects of Elton’s life, the partnership with Taupin can best be described as "unconventional”.

"Basically, the situation with Bernie and writing hasn’t changed from the early days when we first wrote together. We were living with my parents in Northwood Hills (north of London). I would be in the living room writing something; he’d be in the bedroom and I would bring him out once I’d finished the song and play it to him and see the reaction. And the pleasure on his face is something that hasn’t really changed, that excitement,” Elton told Billboard.

I love playing live, I love entertaining people, I love playing with a band. That’s what it’s all about.

By the time Elton’s self-titled breakthrough album and evergreen hit "Your Song” had introduced him to an international audience in 1970, the duo had honed their skills to such a high sheen that Taupin could turn out a lyric in half an hour and Elton could compose the music within an hour.

A few years later, the pair became separated by thousands of miles when Taupin moved to southern California. Elton now spends most of his time, when off the road, in England and the East Coast. Their creative relationship, however, has remained more or less the same for the past 36 years. But instead of composing under the same roof, Taupin first writes the lyrics, then sends them, usually via email, to Elton to compose the melody. They see each other only a couple a times a year and talk on the phone about once a month.

"He [Taupin] has always had that second sight with me,” said Elton in the Washington Post. "You don’t have to be on top of each other or live next door to know what’s going on. It is uncanny and also very rewarding to be able to sing a song that is about you.

"We’re so close and yet we’re so apart, and that’s the way it works,” he added. "And it’s so fresh because when I write a great melody and I call him into the room, it’s still the same result that I see in his face as when I wrote ‘Your Song’ 30-something years ago.”

Georgia on his mind
Peachtree Road, released late last year, is the pair’s latest creative effort and reflects Elton’s country-tinged lifestyle in the Peach State, with most of the CD recorded in Atlanta.

So why did Elton decide to call the center of the new South home? "Atlanta provides me with a respite from the glare of Hollywood,” Elton said. "The city is symbolic of a new, progressive American urban center. I can spend some quiet and peaceful time there and really decompress from the rigors of touring the world and the flashbulbs of the media. I just feel comfortable here.”

The CD, with the autobiographical track "Weight of the World”, has enjoyed brisk sales and positive reviews. Elton has described it as a mix of "country, soul, blues and a little bit of Philadelphia with the soul arrangement”.

"Weight of the World”, with Elton’s lilting melody and Taupin’s intuitive lyrics, mirrors the content frame of mind the Rocket Man finds himself in these days: Fortune and fame is so fleeting/These days I’m happy to say/I’m amazed that I’m still around/And the weight of the world is off my back/When we fell, we got up/And crawled out the cracks/Excuse me if I take comfort in that happy today, happy to play/With the weight of the world off my back.

The satellite connection
While once he rarely failed to reach the top spot, these days Elton, like other older artists, has more trouble seeing his CDs climb the sales charts. He attributes this partly to the narrow playlist on most broadcast radio stations, which afford most artists little airtime. He believes that listeners are being deprived of the variety they deserve on traditional radio. "Now you listen to satellite radio and think, ‘thank God for that’. Traditional radio stations, if they’re not careful, if they don’t change their ways, people are going to switch, because it’s ridiculous,” he told Billboard.

I just have to accept that somtimes I’m a victim of my own image. I made my bed and I’ve got to lie in it.

Elton is not sitting back idle on this issue. Late last year he began appearing in a national television advertising campaign for Delphi MyFi satellite radio, the first portable, hand-held unit for listening to XM Satellite Radio, the nation’s leading provider with more than 2.5 million subscribers. He has also been enlisted to provide other on-air feature shows for XM. "The people at XM love and appreciate music the same way I do, and it’s wonderful to be working with them to share my new album, as well as share songs by artists who have influenced and inspired me,” said Elton.

Taking flight
Through his XM connection, Elton is also soaring to new heights through a partnership the satellite provider has with AirTran Airways. Now, when cruising at 30,000 feet, passengers will be able to listen to Elton’s hits.

"To borrow from the lyrics of his latest single, the answer to why this partnership works is in the sky,” said Tad Hutcheson, AirTran Airways Director of Marketing. "We wanted to introduce XM Satellite Radio, a world-class inflight entertainment program, by teaming up with a world-class musician. Our passengers can now listen to Elton John and thousands of other musicians during their flight thanks to AirTran Airways’ innovative satellite radio programs.”

King of the charts
During the period between 1972-76, Elton had no trouble receiving airplay on radio. The John-Taupin team turned out an unprecedented three albums a year, including such enduring classics as Madman Across the Water, Tumbleweed Connection, Honky Chateau, Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy and Don’t Shoot Me I’m Only the Piano Player. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, with its string of number-one hit singles and two-month run at the top of the Billboard 100, became a pop classic. But by the late ’70s, Elton’s rocket seemed to run out of fuel. The hit songs and sold-out concerts came to a temporary halt. Elton’s career hit the skids as he waged a battle against some personal demons (including substance abuse). Fortunately, they were battles he would eventually win.

"From 1970-75, when we could do no wrong, it was all done on momentum and adrenaline and the fact we were having the greatest time meeting people. We had a great career surge during that time,” Elton told Billboard. "Then it’s someone else’s turn, and you switch off for a couple of years because you want a personal life or whatever. You lose that adrenaline and you don’t really get it back… At 57, you’re an old man now; you can’t possibly feel like you did when you were 20, 23. I have as much enthusiasm for music as I did at that age, but times have changed.”

The comeback kid
With his demons conquered, Elton and Taupin went back to work, and in the ’80s, returned to the charts with such Top 40 hits as "Nikita”, "Sad Songs (Say So Much)” and the rousing "I Don’t Wanna Go on With You Like That”.

In 1991, Elton established the Elton John AIDS Foundation- his pioneering charity dedicated to breakthrough work on behalf of those around the world suffering from HIV and related illnesses. The Foundation, based in Los Angeles and London, has distributed more than $50 million, with over 80% of all money raised going directly to patient-care grants.

The late ’90s were a time of intense personal tragedy for Elton with the loss of close friends, fashion designer Gianni Versace and Princess Diana. The untimely death of Diana would provide him with the single biggest hit of his career, a rewrite of the Marilyn Monroe tribute "Candle in the Wind”. There wasn’t a dry eye across the world as Elton gave an emotional rendition of the song at the Princess’s funeral. The recording went on to become the biggest selling single in the world, surpassing Bing Crosby’s "White Christma”.

Back at full throttle
Elton John may characterize himself as an old man, but his creative energies remain strong, his plate of projects full, and he still seems to be working at Mach speed. He and Taupin have composed the scores to the stage musicals Billy Elliot, based on the movie and soon to debut in London, and The Vampire Lestat, based on Anne Rice’s gothic novels, scheduled to open this fall on Broadway.

Despite all the composing success, Elton said he still loves the rush of performing before live crowds, mostly baby-boomers who grew up with him in the ’70s, but also the children of boomers who have introduced their kids to his timeless song book and showmanship. His recent concert tour with Billy Joel saw several generations of fans packing into arenas across the country.

"I love playing live, I love entertaining people, I love playing with a band. That’s what it’s all about, and that’s what has given me the greatest satisfaction through the years,” he said.

Elton is happy to fully acknowledge the rich life his success in America has afforded him. "America has given me everything,” he told the Washington Post. "I had my first hit record here, and my first album, my first tour. And as one gets older, one becomes more grateful and more reflective. To be honored this way by a country I desperately love is for me like the crown jewels. I’m so excited about it; I’m absolutely over the moon about it.”

Peel away the layers of jewelry, gaudy costumes, outrageous glasses and feather boas, and what you find is Sir Elton John, inspired pop superstar-it’s no wonder he’s still standing.

FABULOUS FIVE
Elton John is well known for outrageous glasses and stage costumes, but we found out that his flamboyant demands, and spending, can be just as extravagant:

1. Handling the Wind "I was staying in a hotel on tour in Germany, it was really windy outside and I couldn’t sleep, so I phoned my agent and said, ‘could you do something about this bloody wind outside? I can’t sleep!’”

2. Stock it, Man (I think it’s going to be a long, long bill) "I have no one to leave the money to. I’m a single man. I like spending my money.” Elton once spent nearly $80m in a 20-month period. "I could find a shop in the Sahara Desert,” he has said.

3. Don’t Go Breaking My Vase On his $80m shopping spree, Elton spent $200,000 on flowers. Asked why, he replied, "well, I like flowers.”

4. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (Hello Emerald City) The singer’s lavish lifestyle saw him spend more than $18m on property between Jan 1996 and Sept 1997, with houses in England, Atlanta and France.

5. I’m Still Spending Among his 2,500 pictures by some of the world’s greatest photographers, he can count Man Ray’s Noire et Blanche, which he bought for around $700,000.