Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, songwriter and pianist. His music and showmanship have had a significant, lasting impact on the music industry, and his songwriting partnership with lyricist Bernie Taupin is one of the most successful in history. John was the 19th EGOT winner in history. He has sold over 300 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling music artists of all time.
John learned to play piano at an early age, winning a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music. In the 1960s, he formed the blues band Bluesology, wrote songs for other artists alongside Taupin, and worked as a session musician, before releasing his debut album, Empty Sky (1969). Throughout the next six decades, John cemented his status as a cultural icon with 32 studio albums, including Honky Château (1972), Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (1973), Rock of the Westies (1975), Sleeping with the Past (1989), The One (1992), Songs from the West Coast (2001), The Diving Board (2013) and The Lockdown Sessions (2021). His catalog of hit singles includes "Your Song", "Tiny Dancer", "Rocket Man", "Crocodile Rock", "Bennie and the Jets", "Don't Go Breaking My Heart", "I'm Still Standing", "Sacrifice", "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" and "Cold Heart". He has also had success in musical films and theatre, composing music for The Lion King (1994), Aida (2000), and Billy Elliot the Musical (2005). John's final tour, Farewell Yellow Brick Road (2018–2023), became the highest-grossing tour ever at the time. His life and career were dramatized in the 2019 biopic Rocketman.
John is an HIV/AIDS charity fundraiser and has been involved in the fight against AIDS since the late 1980s. He established the Elton John AIDS Foundation in 1992, which has raised over £300 million since its inception, and a year later he began hosting his annual AIDS Foundation Academy Awards Party, which has since become one of the biggest high-profile Oscar parties in the Hollywood film industry. John was the chairman and director of Watford Football Club from 1976 to 1987, and again from 1997 to 2002, and is an honorary life president of the club. From the late 1970s to the late 1980s, John developed a severe addiction to drugs and alcohol, but has been clean and sober since 1990. In 2005, he entered a civil partnership with his long-term partner, the Canadian filmmaker David Furnish. They married in 2014, when same-sex marriage was legalized in England and Wales.
John has had more than fifty top-40 hits on the UK Singles Chart and US Billboard Hot 100, including nine number ones in both countries, as well as seven consecutive number-one albums in the US. He is the most successful solo artist in the history of the US Billboard charts. His tribute single to Diana, Princess of Wales, "Candle in the Wind 1997", a rewritten version of his 1974 single, sold over 33 million copies worldwide and is the best-selling chart single of all time. In 2021, he became the first solo artist with UK top 10 singles across six decades. John's awards include an Emmy Award, five Grammy Awards, two Academy Awards, a Tony Award, two Golden Globes, a Laurence Olivier Award, and the Kennedy Center Honor. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1992 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994, and is a fellow of The Ivors Academy. He was appointed Knight Bachelor for services to music and charity in 1998 and was appointed a member of the Order of the Companions of Honour in 2020.
He made his musical guest debut on Saturday Night Live on April 17, 1982, the seventeenth episode of Season 7, hosted by country singer-songwriter Johnny Cash, where he performed "Empty Garden" and "Ball & Chain".
He returned to Saturday Night Live to host for the first time, as well as his 2nd musical guest stint and he also made his first appearance in 29 years on April 2, 2011, the eighteenth episode of Season 36 and he performed "Hey Ahab" and "Monkey Suit", both with Leon Russell.
He returned to Saturday Night Live for his 3rd musical guest appearance, along with Brandi Carlile on April 5, 2025, the sixteenth episode of Season 50, hosted by actor and comedian Jack Black.
He was also impersonated by longtime former cast member Phil Hartman on the March 19, 1994 episode, during the "Rockers To Help Explain Whitewater" sketch, by Will Ferrell on the September 27, 1997 episode during the "More Songs I Rewrote To Honor Dead People" sketch and on the November 8, 1997 episode during the "Set Our Nanny Free!" sketch, by another longtime former cast member Horatio Sanz ten times from February 12, 2000 to February 3, 2007, and by Justin Timberlake on the March 9, 2013 episode, during the "Memorial Service" cold opening sketch. Some people thought the first time when they saw it, he was impersonated by longtime former cast member Taran Killam. On November 15, 2014, he was impersonated by Beck Bennett, during the "Young Tars & Old Farts" pre-taped sketch, then by Aidy Bryant on May 19, 2018, during the "Royal Wedding Reception" sketch, and on December 15, 2018, during the "Happy Christmas, Britain" sketch, and most recently by current cast member Bowen Yang on December 5, 2020 during the pre-taped "Stu" sketch.
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