Elton John

Elton’s career achievements to date are unsurpassed in their breadth and longevity. Elton is one of the top-selling solo artists of all time, with 38 gold records and 31 platinum and multi-platinum albums, over 50 Top 40 hits, and he has sold more than 300 million records worldwide. He holds the record for the biggest-selling single of all time, “Candle in the Wind 1997,” which sold over 33 million copies. ‘Diamonds’ the Ultimate Greatest Hits album, reached the Top 5 of the UK album charts on its release in November 2017, becoming Elton’s 40th UK Top 40 album in the process, reaching Gold status before the end of the year. This release celebrated 50 years of his songwriting partnership with Bernie Taupin. August 2018 saw Elton named as the most successful male solo artist in Billboard Hot 100 chart history, having logged 67 entries, including nine No. 1s and 27 Top 10s.

He has also written the music for stage and screen successes Billy Elliot: The Musical, Elton John and Tim Rice’s Aida, and The Lion King, which was named the highest-grossing stage show or film release in the world. Elton announced the ‘Farewell Yellow Brick Road’ tour at New York’s Gotham Hall earlier this year. Encompassing 5 continents, and over 300 dates, this 3-year-long tour started in September and marks his retirement from touring after more than 50 years on the road. To date, Elton has delivered more than 4,000 performances in more than 80 countries since launching his first tour in 1970. April 2018 saw the release of ‘Revamp’, an album of the world’s biggest musical stars covering some of Elton’s best loved Songs.

Among the many awards and honours bestowed upon him are five GRAMMYs including a GRAMMY Legend award, a Tony and an Oscar, a Best British Male Artist BRIT Award, induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame, the Kennedy Center Honor, Legend of Live Award, 13 Ivor Novello Awards and a knighthood from HM Queen Elizabeth II for “services to music and charitable services.”

In 1992, Elton established the Elton John AIDS Foundation, which today is one of the leading non-profit HIV/AIDS organisations and has raised over $400 million to date in the global fight against HIV/AIDS. In January 2018, he received the Crystal Award for this long- standing fight against HIV/AIDS at the World Economic Forum in Davos. At the 2018 International AIDS Conference in Amsterdam, Sir Elton John and Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, announced the launch of the MenStar Coalition; an over $1.2 billion global partnership, that seeks to engage men in new and innovative ways to break the cycle of HIV transmission and ultimately end the AIDS epidemic by 2030.