Elton John

1947–present

Elton John News: Singer Releases New Album with Brandi Carlile

Singer Elton John teamed up with longtime friend Brandi Carlile for a new collaborative album, Who Believes In Angels?, which came out on April 4. The duo recorded the 10-track pop rock album back in October 2023, wrapping the project in just 20 days.

“We had nothing. But that’s what excited me,” John, 78, told NPR ahead of the album’s release. “I didn’t want to know what was going to happen. I was wanting to be unprepared and have a big adventure.”

He and Carlile first previewed the album in late 2024 with the release of the single “Never Too Late.” The song was featured in the documentary of the same name about John’s rise to fame in the 1970s and his final North American concert in 2022. Both the title track, a power ballad, and the anthemic single “Swing For the Fences” came out earlier this year.

The pair performed as musical guests on Saturday Night Live on April 5 and hosted a CBS concert special, An Evening with Elton John and Brandi Carlile, the following day to promote the new album.

Who Believes In Angels? marks John’s first album since he retired from touring in 2023. On the heels of its release, his hit 1973 album Goodbye Yellow Brick Road was enshrined in the National Recording Registry, a U.S. Library of Congress database created to preserve songs, albums, and other recordings of cultural importance.

Listen to Who Believes In Angels? on Amazon Music, Apple Music, or Spotify

Thanks to his unique blend of pop and rock, British singer Elton John became one of the 20^th century’s biggest artists and remains an enduring music icon. He was musically gifted from a young age, and his self-titled second album from 1970 made him a huge international star. Some of his chart-topping hits include “Crocodile Rock,” “Philadelphia Freedom,” and “Candle in the Wind.” The five-time Grammy winner has also found success on Broadway, composing the Tony-winning score for Aida and another score for Billy Elliot. John was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1994, knighted in 1998, and achieved EGOT status in 2024.

FULL NAME: Elton Hercules John (originally Reginald Kenneth Dwight)
BORN: March 25, 1947
BIRTHPLACE: Pinner, United Kingdom
SPOUSES: Renate Blauel (1984–1988) and David Furnish (2005–present)
CHILDREN: Zachary and Elijah
ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Aries

Elton John was born Reginald Kenneth Dwight on March 25, 1947, in Pinner, an English city that lies on the outskirts of London. He discovered his passion for music at an early age and taught himself how to play the piano when he was only 4 years old. Proving to be a great talent, he won a scholarship to a youth program at the Royal Academy of Music in London.

John had a difficult relationship with his father, Stanley Dwight, a member of the Royal Air Force. His parents divorced when he was a teenager, and he and his father clashed over his future. John, captivated by the sounds of early rock ’n’ roll, wanted to pursue a career in pop music. And much to his father’s dismay, John dropped out of school at 17 to follow his dream.

He started playing with a group called Bluesology, and he cobbled together his stage moniker from the names of two members of the group. The budding musician eventually made his name change official, becoming Elton Hercules John.

In 1967, John answered a Liberty Records ad seeking a songwriter. He got the job and soon teamed up with lyricist Bernie Taupin. The duo switched to the DJM label the following year and continued writing songs for other artists.

Elton John and his long-term songwriting partner, lyricist Bernie Taupin, in 1985

John got his first break as a singer with his 1969 album Empty Sky, featuring songs he and Taupin wrote. While that recording failed to catch on, his 1970 self-titled effort featured his first hit, “Your Song.” It earned the emerging star his first Grammy nominations. In 1971, he vied for and lost Best New Artist, Album of the Year, and Best Contemporary Male Vocal Performance for his sophomore effort.

More hits soon followed, including No. 1 smashes such as “Crocodile Rock,” “Bennie and the Jets,” “Island Girl,” and “Philadelphia Freedom.” John also enjoyed a series of top-selling albums, including Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (1973) and Rock of the Westies (1975). Yellow Brick Road remains one of John’s most enduring works and was added to the National Recording Registry, part of the U.S. Library of Congress, in 2025.

One of the top acts of the 1970s, John became equally famous for his live shows. He dressed in fabulous, over-the-top costumes and glasses for his elaborate concerts. In an interview with W, John explained that “I wasn’t a sex symbol like Bowie, Marc Bolan, or Freddie Mercury, so I dressed more on the humorous side, because if I was going to be stuck at the piano for two hours, I was going to make people look at me.”

Elton John performs in May 1974 in Watford, England.

In 1976, John hit the top of the charts again with “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart,” his duet with Kiki Dee. He soon decided to take a break from music, focusing his energies on his soccer team that he co-owned in England. Following the two-year reprieve and controversy over his sexuality, he made a triumphant return to music in 1978 with the album A Single Man.

While not producing smash hits in the 1980s, John still did well on the charts. Some of the most memorable songs from this period include the ballads “Little Jeannie” and “Empty Garden (Hey, Hey Johnny),” the latter written as a tribute to his late friend John Lennon of the Beatles who had been killed in 1980. The decade also saw John win his first Grammy Award for “That’s What Friends Are For,” a collaboration with Dionne Warwick, Gladys Knight, and Stevie Wonder.

Branching out in different directions, John teamed up with lyricist Tim Rice for several projects. Among them was the soundtrack for the 1994 animated hit The Lion King, and one of the movie’s songs, “Can You Feel the Love Tonight,” brought John his first Academy Award win for Best Original Song as well as a Grammy for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. John and Rice later netted a Tony Award for Best Original Score in 2000 for their musical Aida. Its soundtrack also saw them collect a Grammy.

Even more honors were in store for John. Also in 1994, he was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Queen Elizabeth II made John a Commander of the Order of the British Empire the following year. The queen knighted him several years later, making him officially Sir Elton John.

While he enjoyed all of the recognition and praise, he soon found himself rocked by grief. During the summer of 1997, John lost two good friends: fashion designer Gianni Versace and Princess Diana. He reworked one of his classic songs “Candle in the Wind” as a tribute to Princess Diana, with the song’s proceeds going to a charitable trust established in her honor. “Candle in the Wind 1997” proved to be a tremendous success, selling more than 30 million copies that year and earning the pop icon another Grammy.

To start the 21^st century, John received the Grammy Legend Award. He continued recording new music such as 2006’s The Captain & the Kid, a sequel to his earlier autobiographical effort Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy (1975). He also teamed up with Leon Russell for 2010’s The Union, which led to a joint tour.

John remained an in-demand songwriter and was instrumental in bringing Billy Elliott the Musical to the stage. The show, adapted from the 2000 film, opened on Broadway in 2008. It quickly became a critical and commercial success, and John earned another Tony nomination for his work on the musical’s score. He then worked on the 2011 animated movie Gnomeo & Juliet, serving as a producer and a composer.

Even with a toned-down stage persona, John continued to be a very popular live act. In 2012, he performed with Ozzy Osbourne, Eric Clapton, Stevie Wonder, and Paul McCartney, among others, in celebration of Queen Elizabeth II’s 60 years on the throne.

Wonderful Crazy Night, his 33^rd studio album, arrived in February 2016 to generally positive reviews. The record featured the Elton John Band, with whom he last collaborated a decade prior. Continuing to evolve his sound, John teamed up with younger pop artists like Dua Lipa, Lil Nas X, and dance music trio Pnau for The Lockdown Sessions, a 2021 collaboration album. His newest album is also a genre-blending joint project. He and Brandi Carlile released Who Believes In Angels? in April 2025. The music legend has said his sound’s variety over the decades contributed to the longevity of his career. To date, John has sold more than 300 million records.

John relied on his past Hollywood work as he and his husband began working on a biopic about the legendary musician titled Rocketman. Starring Taron Egerton, the movie finally reached the finish line with its premiere at the May 2019 Cannes Film Festival, drawing attention for its whimsical musical scenes as well as its unflinching portrayal of John’s sexuality. The artist followed with the publication of his autobiography, Me, later that year.

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In January 2020, John and Bernie Taupin claimed the Best Original Song – Motion Picture at the Golden Globe for Rocketman’s “(I’m Gonna) Love Me Again.” Amazingly, it was their first shared award after more than a half-century of creating some of popular music’s biggest hits together. The duo then picked up their second joint honor, also for Best Original Song, at the Academy Awards the following month.

On January 24, 2018, John announced he would retire from the road after his planned Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour. “My priorities have changed,” he said, citing his desire to spend more time with his husband, David, and their kids. “In 2015, David and I sat down with a school schedule... I don’t want to miss too much of this.”

The year 2018 also brought an end to his Las Vegas residency, The Million Dollar Piano, which wrapped with a May 17 performance at Caesar’s Palace.

Elton John performs one of his last concerts in the United States in November 2022 as part of his record-breaking Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour.

Ultimately, fans had plenty of opportunities to see John before he entered a new phase of his career. The international Farewell Tour kicked off on September 8, 2018, and was scheduled to end in 2021. But the COVID-19 pandemic forced a delay, which was then extended so John could recover from a hip injury. Restarting in January 2022, John played his last show in the United States that November in Los Angeles before completing his 330^th—and final—concert on July 8, 2023, in Stockholm.

“I don’t think it will sink in for a while yet that I’ve finally finished touring,” John said in a statement to Entertainment Weekly after the final show. “I can’t tell you how much I’m going to miss the fans and how much their support has humbled me—it will stay with me forever.”

The Farewell Tour became the first concert series to earn more than $800 million in ticket sales before also breaking the $900 million mark. Those records propelled it to an even bigger feat as the highest-grossing tour in history. By the end of its run, the Farewell Tour generated $939.1 million in revenue. However, the title was short-lived as Taylor Swift broke John’s record with her Eras Tour in December 2023.

The British pop icon memorialized his goodbye tour with a live-streamed concert special titled Elton John: Farewell from Dodger Stadium. It captured John’s final U.S. concert on November 20, 2022, in Los Angeles. Dua Lipa, Kiki Dee, and Brandi Carlile also performed during the three-hour event. In January 2024, John achieved EGOT status when the special, for which he was an executive producer, won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Live Variety Special. He became the 19^th person to have won an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony Award.

Preparations for the Dodger Stadium concert were highlighted in a second documentary Elton John: Never Too Late (2025). The film also covered John’s height of popularity in the first half of the 1970s.

Celebrity Net Worth estimates Elton John’s total fortune around $650 million as of February 2025. He has spent some of his money amassing a notable art collection with pieces by Andy Warhol, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and others that’s worth up to $200 million.

Elton John married his husband, David Furnish, in December 2005. They have two sons, Elijah and Zachary.

John, who is gay, met his longtime partner David Furnish at a dinner party in 1993. The pair got married in a civil ceremony on December 21, 2005, the same day the Civil Partnership Act 2004 went into effect. Nine years after their civil ceremony, on December 21, 2014, the couple wed after laws allowing gay marriage took effect that same year in the United Kingdom.

With the help of a surrogate, the couple welcomed their first son, Zachary, in December 2010 followed by their second child, Elijah, in January 2013.

John decided to retire from performing so that he can spend more time with his family, a thing he cherishes above all. “This is the greatest feeling I have had in my life, more than having the first No. 1 album on Billboard,” the musician said in 2024. “Yeah, that was really nice for about five minutes. This is a lifetime.”

The musician was previously married to sound engineer Renate Blauel from 1984 to 1988. Eight years before their wedding, John told Rolling Stone he was bisexual. “There’s nothing wrong with going to bed with somebody of your own sex. I think everybody’s bisexual to a certain degree,” he said in a 1976 article. “It’s not a bad thing to be.”

Many disagreed. At the time, John was ridiculed and taunted for his sexuality. The controversy eventually waned, and in 1992, he came out as a gay man. John told Variety he realized he was queer long before that when he was 23.

As John wowed fans onstage and over the airwaves, he struggled behind-the-scenes with addiction. The flamboyant performer first turned to cocaine as a way to overcome his surprising shyness early in his career. That led to years of substance abuse, which might have triggered severe epileptic seizures. Finally, in 1990, John went into rehabilitation and has been sober ever since.

Realizing how lucky he was to have remained HIV-negative despite the start of the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s, John soon founded his own charitable organization to help in the fight against the disease. Established in 1992, the Elton John AIDS Foundation has brought in more than $600 million to support HIV/AIDS programs around the world.

In addition to his own foundation, John supports a number of different charities and arts organizations, including the Globe Theatre and the Royal Academy of Music. In March 2020, John hosted the iHeart Living Room Concert for America to raise funds for coronavirus relief efforts. Alicia Keys, Dave Grohl, and Sam Smith were among the artists who performed from their homes for the benefit.

Beyond his substance abuse, the musician has experienced a number of health problems over the years. He battled an eating disorder and wrote about his dealing with bulimia in his 2019 memoir. That, in turn, inspired fellow musician Ed Sheeran to recognize his own eating disorder.

In July 2013, John abruptly walked off stage mid-concert due to stomach pain. After being diagnosed with appendicitis, he canceled a slate of performances to focus on his recovery. “I’m lucky to be alive,” the star told The Sun. “I was a ticking time bomb. I guess I could have died at any time.” His appendix was removed the next month, and he was back tour come fall.

Four years later, he survived another “potentially deadly” infection, this one caused by bacteria. He was hospitalized in intensive care for two nights during the ordeal.

The music icon has had several surgeries, including a right hip replacement. Both of his knees were replaced in 2024. That December, John revealed he lost his vision after battling a severe eye infection. Although he continues to recover, it leaves his ability to record new music in doubt.

• Music has healing power. It has the ability to take people out of themselves for a few hours.
• I’ve been touring since I was 17 in the back of a van. I’ve had the most incredible life. I’ve been so lucky, and I’ve loved every single minute of it.
• Fame is a dangerous thing if you don’t have something else, and that something else is honesty, and if you don’t have honesty to go with fame, then you’re going to be in real, real trouble, like I was before I got sober in 1990.
• On my tombstone, I don’t want it to say he sold a million records. I just want it to say he was a great dad and great husband.
  

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