Sir Elton at 70: From barroom pianist to music royalty

Like most great stories, this one begins at a pub. At the age of 15, Sir Elton John held a weekend job entertaining patrons of the Northwood Hills Hotel bar by playing standards as well as a few songs he had written himself.

Later in 1962, Sir Elton (then called Reginald Dwight) rounded up a group of friends to form his first true band. Perhaps more impressive than the fact that they rocketed to prominence, backing acts like The Isley Brothers and Patti LaBelle, is the fact that by the age of 15, Dwight already had his trademark glasses.

In 1967, two things happened that would change Reginald Dwight forever. First, he met Bernie Taupin, a lyricist and songwriter with whom he still collaborates today. Second, in honor of Bluesology members Elton Dean and Long John Baldry, Dwight changed his name to Elton John.

A year after they met, John and Taupin became in-house songwriters for DJM records. The story goes that Taupin would write song lyrics in less than an hour and shoot them over to John, who would compose the music in under 30 minutes.

It took six years from Reginald Dwight's start at Northwood Hills Hotel for him to finally record and release his own singles. Bernie Taupin collaborated with John for his first two singles, "I've Been Loving You" and "Lady Samantha."

Later in 1969, Elton John (with Taupin's help, of course) released his debut album "Empty Sky." AThough it did not find any chart success until its American release in 1975 after John was a legitimate star, its follow-up, "Elton John," did. Of course it did — it had "Your Song" on it.

Fresh off of "Your Song" reaching No. 8 in the United States, Elton John planned an American concert in Los Angeles. It was a massive hit, and it paved the way for live performances and recordings across the country in the early '70s. 

1972 saw the release of Elton John's first No. 1 album in the USA, "Honky Château." It sat there for five weeks on the strength of singles like "Rocket Man." This kicked off what was perhaps Elton John's strongest stretch of songwriting. Between 1972 and 1974, John wrote the vast majority of the hits we know him for today: "Crocodile Rock," "Bennie and the Jets," "Candle in the Wind" and, well, pretty much all of the other songs on "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" and "Don't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano Player."

Famously, when Elton John signed his contract with MCA, the label took out a $25 million insurance policy on John's life — an amount that now seems paltry given the success that was to come. Later, in 1974 — just 12 years after he first started playing the piano at that pub — his first "Greatest Hits" album was released.

The mid-'70s also saw Elton John collaborating with the biggest names of the British invasion. He collaborated with John Lennon, even performing "I Saw Her Standing There" with him at Lennon's final major live performance. More prominently, The Who tapped Elton John to perform "Pinball Wizard" for the film version of "Tommy."

At this point in his career, John was understandably a bit stressed out, touring, performing and churning out music nonstop for the past 13 years. The story is that this led to John parting ways with two core members of his band, Nigel Olsson and Dee Murray. He formed a new band, but this marked the de facto end of the most successful period in Elton John's career.

In 1977, things were looking a bit bleaker for John. Bernie Taupin was no longer his exclusive lyricist, and he announced that he was retiring from performing. He also, um, released a disco album that's best left unmentioned. But in 1980, he came back in full force, re-enlisting Olsson and Murray into the band and performing a free concert in Central Park for over 400,000 fans.

With his new old band back together, his 1983 album "Too Low for Zero" was able to chart after John's extended absence from the Billboard Hot 100, thanks to the strength of singles like "I'm Still Standing" and "I Guess Like That's Why They Call It the Blues."

The early '80s saw a resurgence for Elton John through the releases of multiple hit albums and performances at huge events like Live Aid. However, this work took a toll. While he was on tour in Australia, he lost his voice. This forced him to have surgery, and once he was under the knife, surgeons discovered a large amount of benign polyps in his vocal cords. This would forever change John's singing voice.

Before his surgery, however, he collaborated with Dionne Warwick, Stevie Wonder and Gladys Knight on the No. 1 hit "That's What Friends Are For." And even after his surgery, he didn't slow down. The 1988 album "Reg Strikes Back" reached No. 16 in the USA when it was released.

The '90s began with a bang for Elton John, with "Sacrifice" becoming his first-ever solo U.K. No. 1 single. In 1991, he took home a Grammy in the Best Instrumental category for "Basque," and then later in the year, he won the Brit Award for Best British Male. Later, in 1992, he had high-profile collaborations with Eric Clapton (including "Runaway Train") and played a large role at the Freddy Mercury Tribute Concert at Wembley Stadium.

Elton John started 1993 out strong with "Duets," an album that featured longtime friend and collaborator Kiki Dee, as well as other artists including RuPaul and Tammy Wynette. Then in 1994, he (along with Tim Rice) wrote the music for "The Lion King," which netted him a heaping helping of Grammy nominations and wins. The soundtrack to "The Lion King" went diamond, and the success of the film (and its music) led to a major Broadway production.

1997 was a banner year for Elton John, for both happy and tragic reasons. Though his 50th birthday extravaganza was a high point, he was crushed by the tragic death of Princess Diana. This inspired him to contact Bernie Taupin once again,and ask him if he could update the lyrics to "Candle in the Wind" to make the song about Princess Diana. Upon its release, this revised version of the song became the fastest- and biggest-selling single ever released. 

Though it was not his first appearance at the Tony Awards, (he was nominated for Best Original Musical Score for his work on "The Lion King" back in 1998), 2000 marked John's first Tony Award win. He took home the prestigious award for his work scoring the hit musical "Aida." The show ended up taking home three more Tonys and went on to enjoy a four-year Broadway run until it closed on Sept. 5, 2004.

Four years later, in a significant moment given Eminem's homophobic lyrics, Elton John joined Eminem on stage at the Grammys for a performance of "Stan." Just two years later, John announced a residency at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, where he would exclusively perform for the next three years. That didn't stop him from creating, however. In 2005, John returned to musical theater, composing music for "Billy Elliot," one of the longest-running musicals in West End history. 

Since 1998, Elton John had been hosting summer parties at his estate in Old Windsor in order to raise money for his charity, the Elton John AIDS Foundation. 2008 marked the 10th anniversary of the White Tie and Tiara Ball, which featured a surprise guest speaker in President Bill Clinton. The night also featured Elton John performing together with Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys. All told, the event raised well over 2 million pounds for AIDS research and prevention.

Though he turned 60 in 2007, John could not be slowed. Since the 2010 Grammy Awards, where he performed with Lady Gaga, he has collaborated with artists like Ed Sheeran, Queens of the Stone Age and countless other contemporary acts. He has developed a very close relationship with Gaga in particular, going as far as to name her the godmother of his son Elijah. 

2017 promises to be an especially important year for Sir Elton. In addition to starring in the upcoming movie "Kingsman: The Golden Circle," he will also write the music for the musical adaptation of "The Devil Wears Prada." Hopefully he can find time between all of that work to don his Louis XIV outfit and throw a wild 70th birthday party.