Photos: Courtesy Elton John
His peculiar outfits, an Aston Martin with the representative colors of his football team and his eccentric personality didn’t prevent him from being one of the most acclaimed artists of all time and his compositions will be heard throughout the world.
Reginald Kenneth Dwight was the real name of Elton John. He was born on March 25th, 1947, in England and at just three years old he dazzled his family by sitting at the piano and playing The Skater’s Waltz by ear, that was just the beginning of a talented musical career until he retired from the stage at 76-year-old, breaking the record with his final tour of over 300 shows as the highest-grossing tour of all time and grossing more than 900 million dollars.
Stockholm was fortunate to witness his last concert and enjoyed songs like: “Bennie and the Jets,” “Rocket Man,” “Someone Saved My Life Tonight,” “Candle in the Wind,” “Cold Heart,” and “Your Song.”
Before opening with “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road,” the last song of Saturday’s show in Sweden, John took a moment to review his spectacular body of work.
“I’ve had the most wonderful career, beyond belief,” he told the audience. “Fifty-two years of pure joy playing music. How lucky am I to play music? But you know, I wouldn’t be sitting here and talking to you if it wasn’t for you,” and continues “You bought the singles, the CDs, the albums, the cassettes, but more importantly, you bought the tickets to the shows. You know how much I love to play live. It’s been my lifeblood to play for you guys. You’ve been absolutely magnificent… I will miss you guys so much, but I’ll see you much sooner than you think. I love you guys!”
The legendary musician was awarded a “Knight Grand Cross British Empire” in 1998 by Queen Elizabeth II, who bestowed upon him the title of “Commander of the British Empire” in 2004.
Over the course of his career, Sir Elton has achieved 1 diamond, 32 platinum or multi-platinum, and 21 gold albums, over 70 Top 40 hits and he has sold more than 300 million records worldwide. He also holds the record for biggest selling single of all time, Candle In The Wind 1997, which sold over 33 million copies.
Sports... his other passion
Elton has a genuine passion for sport, and he founded Rocket Sports Management in 2012, with the aim of guiding the sport’s rising stars throughout their careers, no matter what the ups and downs.
“After music, sport is the great love of my life. Over my decades as an artist, I have learnt the importance of good management and collaborating with the right partners. We set up Rocket Sports to do things differently and put passion into the sports world that I love so much,” said John
For iconic British artist his enthusiasm by football, and especially for Watford, is so great that he even did some shows at the stadium to raise funds and has sponsored the team on several occasions. He was President of Watford football club for several years and he drove a yellow 1978 Aston Martin V8 Vantage Coupé with a red and black stripe, which he named “The Beast.”
Watford Football Club supported him in his childhood and publicly recognizes him as the team that saved his life. At his last Farewell Yellow Brick Road show at Vicarage Road, home ground of The Hornets, he promised to take a more active role in the club. So, from August, the rock star will be more actively involved in the 2023/2024 season.
“I said to Scott Duxbury, next year when I finish, I’m going to take a much more active role in the club because I won’t have any gigs to do,” the singer-songwriter expressing his love for the club. He wants to “get his hands dirty again.”
The award-winning musician told the crowd that “let’s put last season behind us, it’s next season that’s important.” He also said, “next August 1st, when they play their first home game, there should be as much noise as he received tonight at Vicarage Road.”
“It’s time to come off the road so I can fully embrace the next important chapter of my life.” Elton John
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