Elton John

Birth name: Reginald Kenneth Dwight
Date of birth: 25 March 1947
Place of birth: Pinner, Middlesex
Career highlights: Knighted in 1998, Five-time Grammy Award winner
Highest Charting Singles Include: Don’t Go Breaking My Heart, number one, 1976, Don’t Let The Sun GoDown On Me, number one, 1991, Candle In The Wind, number one, 1997

Almost as famous for his outrageous wardrobe as his music, Sir Elton John is one of Britain’s best-loved and most prolific artists.

He began playing piano aged three, and by four years old his parents were asking him to entertain their friends with his music.

He went on to become a weekend pianist at local pubs in his area and by the mid-60s he’d formed a band called Bluesology and was touring America supporting the likes of R&B legends The Isley Brothers.

Then, on answering an advert in music weekly NME, talent scout Ray Williams teamed the flamboyant Elton up with the gifted songwriter Bernie Taupin.

The pair went on to pen Elton’s first solo album, Elton John, followed by the wackier Tumbleweed Connection album in 1970. It was then that his musical career was truly established.

Elton and Taupin then created album after album of chart-topping material, before he announced he was retiring from music. But all was not lost, because the formidable performer returned stronger than ever in the 80s with hit after hit, including I’m Still Standing, Nikita and Blue Eyes.

He is renowned for his gay rights activism and friendships with many famous people, including the late Gianni Versace and late Princess Diana, to which he dedicated a version of Candle In The Wind.

Elton was the biggest-selling pop act of the 70s, and is the only artist to have charted every year in the UK and US from 1971 to 1999. He has sold more than 150 million records worldwide.