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"Your Song" made Elton John a household name on both sides of the Atlantic in 1970, then the album Tumbleweed Connection that followed fast that same year only solidified his grip on the public imagination. The 1970s were truly his with 1972's "Rocket Man" marking the start of a four-year streak of 16 Top 20 hits in a row. He founded Rocket Records in 1973, producing albums by Neil Sedaka and Kiki Dee. He co-wrote "Whatever Gets You Through the Night" with John Lennon, and he persuaded the ex-Beatle back onstage for a 1975 Madison Square Garden concert on Thanksgiving Day. That was Lennon's last live performance.
John's singles "Crocodile Rock" and the ineffably moving "Daniel" became classics. His albums Don't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano Player, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, Caribou, the precocious Greatest Hits, Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy, and the fun-punning Rock of the Westies, all released between 1973 and 1975, each went platinum. Captain Fantastic became the first album in history to enter the American charts in the No. 1 spot. The frantic pace slowed in 1976 when an exhausted John announced he would cut back his live appearances and record only one album a year. Still, the 1980s saw little slowing down in John and Taupin's Top 40 singles, all the way to 1990's "Sacrifice"-- a hit spawned by the album Sleeping with the Past that became John's first No. 1 hit in his British homeland. In 1993, The One became the first album ever to receive multi-platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994, the same year his collaboration with Tim Rice for the soundtrack of Disney's "The Lion King" entered the Top Forty. In 1995, "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" from "The Lion King" earned John his first Grammy for Best Vocal Pop Performance.
The stage version of The Lion King opened on Broadway in November 1997, garnering 10 Tony nominations and winning the Tony for Best Musical. He followed the extraordinary success of his first musical with AIDA, which earned five Tony nominations and won a Tony Award for Best Score. He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth in 1998, the year after "Candle in the Wind 1997" became the second biggest single in history, after Bing Crosby's "White Christmas." He continues his work with the Elton John AIDS Foundation and has given more than $20 million to help people living with HIV and AIDS. He is returning to musicals with a project to be based on the film "Billy Elliot," premiering at Victoria Palace in London in March 2005.
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