- Title: Elton John due to make special announcement about his future
- Date: 24th January 2018
- Summary: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (FILE - SEPTEMBER 18, 2017) (REUTERS) ****WARNING: CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** MUSICIAN ELTON JOHN AND DIRECTOR MATTHEW VAUGHN BEING DRIVEN DOWN ORANGE CART AT KINGSMAN: THE GOLDEN CIRCLE PREMIERE WEST HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (FILE - FEBRUARY 26, 2017) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF ELTON JOHN WITH HUSBAND DAVID FURNISH AT OSCARS VIEWING PARTY
- Embargoed: 7th February 2018 13:06
- Keywords: British musician Elton John announcement career
- Location: DAVOS, SWITZERLAND / LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM / WEST HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES
- City: DAVOS, SWITZERLAND / LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM / WEST HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES
- Country: Various
- Topics: Celebrities,Arts / Culture / Entertainment
- Reuters ID: LVA0017ZH1CUL
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: British pop musician Elton John is expected to make a special announcement about his future on Wednesday (January 24).
No official details have been released regarding the statement, which the 70-year-old star is due to make around 1730 GMT.
With a penchant for fancy costumes and an ear for piano rockers and ballads that made music history, John has dominated the pop industry for five decades.
Once a hard-partying tearaway with a voracious appetite for cocaine and alcohol, John has achieved a long-lasting fame among British acts matched only by the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and David Bowie.
Raised in a modest family, he started playing the piano when he was just three. A magazine advert in 1967 put him in touch with English lyricist Bernie Taupin and together they wrote some of the best-loved songs of all time - transforming shy Reg Dwight of suburban north London into global star Elton John.
Mixing ballads like "Candle in the Wind", "Your Song" and "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" with pounding rockers "Crocodile Rock" and "Bennie and the Jets" proved to be a winning formula: he has sold more than 300 million records.
With fame came riches, drugs and controversy, though his friends described him as a thoughtful and self-deprecating person at heart.
He serenaded mourners at Princess Diana's 1997 funeral in Westminster Abbey with a reworked version of "Candle in the Wind" that included the lyrics: "Goodbye England's rose, may you ever grow in our hearts." It became one of the best-selling singles in history.
He has campaigned vigorously for gay rights and founded one of the world's biggest AIDS charities, the Elton John Foundation, raising hundreds of millions of dollars and helping millions of people. - Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
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