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ELTON JOHN - Music
Elton John’s been a household name for 35 years, but this is a
whole new household.
This is Elton John creating new songs for the London stage version
of one of the most successful British films ever made. To do that,
he’s joined the movie’s creative team of director Stephen Daldry,
writer Lee Hall, choreographer Peter Darling and producer Jon Finn.
It has been a dream project for Elton. The parallels between Elton’s
childhood and Billy’s artistic journey are remarkably similar. Both
come from working class backgrounds and use artistic expression
as a passport to fulfill their dreams.
Elton co-wrote the songs for Billy Elliot during one of his busiest and
most prolific years, which saw him write and produce his current
studio album Peachtree Roadand encourage his writing partner
of four decades, Bernie Taupin, into his first theatrical foray, creating
songs for the forthcoming Broadway musical The Vampire Lestat.
Quite possibly first on Elton’s cv in terms of personal achievement
is his ambassadorial role in raising funds, and awareness, of the
humanitarian crisis of AIDS. He has headed the Elton John AIDS
Foundation since 1991, associating himself with the fight against
a disease that people were still afraid even to acknowledge in
those early days. To date, the Foundation has been responsible for
raising over £50 million worldwide.
Elton’s love and enthusiasm for music extends well beyond his own
work. He writes a regular column for Interview Magazine, championing
new artists often well before the mainstream media cottons on.
He was an early advocate of the Scissor Sisters, who went on to
be the UK’s bestselling album artists of 2004. He championed Ryan
Adams and is currently cheering for Rufus Wainwright, James
Blunt, Anthony and The Johnsons, Mylo and countless others.
All of that comes before we talk about three and half decades of
musical achievement. Peachtree Road is his 43rd album, but
for all of its glow of creative enthusiasm, it could be his first.
Or somewhere in the first half dozen, up there in that amazing
sequence during the first flush of worldwide acclaim that produced
records like Elton John, Tumbleweed Connection and Madman
Across The Water. It’s both a descendant of their spirit, and a natural
successor to 2001’s hugely successful Songs From The West Coast.
Born Reginald Kenneth Dwight in 1947, an ever-thankful student of
the Royal Academy of Music and an early road and studio warrior
with Bluesology. Lyricist Bernie Taupin’s melody man from 1966 to this
day, recreated as Elton John from ‘68, shining in the global spotlight
since a life-changing performance at LA’s Troubadour in the summer
of 1970, a resident in the Billboard Top 40 every year for a quartercentury,
Oscar-winner with The Lion Kingand a Tony award for Aida.
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