“Walking around the house, not bathing for three or four days, staying up watching pornography all the time, drinking a bottle of scotch a day. 1 albums in a row and being by far the biggest album act of the 1970s), John did descend into a well-publicized spiral of substance abuse and isolation before finding salvation in rehab and therapy. John admired Baldry as one of the few people in the music scene who was both openly gay and highly esteemed.ĭespite world-beating success (seven U.S. ![]() But the John came not from Lennon but from Elton’s early mentor Long John Baldry, whose various blues bands had nurtured some of British rock’s top talents (including Mick Jagger, Charlie Watts, Jack Bruce, Jimmy Page, and Rod Stewart) and who hired Bluesology as his backup band in 1966. Elton did adopt his first name from a Bluesology bandmate, saxophonist Elton Dean (later with rock band Soft Machine). Some members of this band reformed as Bluesology in 1964 and by a year later were indeed backing visiting American soul artists like the Isley Brothers and Patti LaBelle and the Bluebelles. Reg responds by borrowing the bandmate’s first name (Elton) but is flummoxed by what to choose as a last name until, asked by music publisher Dick James for his name, he spots a photo of John Lennon on the wall and inspiration strikes.Īs early as 1963, an Elvis-besotted John was in a band playing Ray Charles and Jim Reeves covers at a hotel, rather than a pub, near his native Pinner outside of London. soul acts, leading one of his bandmates to point out Reg needs a name that’s a bit more rock ’n’ roll. Realizing his heart is in rock ’n’ roll, Reg ( Kingsman star Taron Egerton) starts playing with a small band in pubs on Saturday nights. ![]() “As soon as I’d finished, he played it straight back to me just like a gramophone.” Biographer Philip Norman wrote that “ Even as a toddler, Reggie Dwight could hear a piece of music just once, then sit at the piano and replicate it note for note.” He did win a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music, which he attended on Saturdays for four years, and his ability at the academy to reproduce even long and intricate pieces of music after a single listen is backed up by his teacher: “I remember once playing him a prelude by Handel, four pages long,” Helen Piena recalls in Norman’s biography. According to a story repeated both on John’s website and in multiple biographies, young Reg shocked his family by sitting down and playing The Skater’s Waltz by ear. He doesn’t prepare a piece for his audition but instead is admitted after replicating the piece he hears the teacher practicing. At the age of 11, he wins a scholarship to Britain’s prestigious Royal Academy of Music. If he's reading this, perhaps he'll consider adding "Rocket Man" to the setlist.In the film, the first inkling of little Reg Dwight’s talent comes when, as a tot, he picks out a melody on the family piano after hearing it on the radio, impressing his kindly grandmother and his glamorous if self-absorbed mother, who decide piano lessons are a good investment. You can currently catch Thugger on tour with J. Lil Uzi Vert, Tracy T, Lil Baby, Gunna, and Wheezy all make appearances. Though there's no Elton on the tracklist, there's plenty to write home about. Last Friday, Young Thug released his new Young Stoner Life Records compilation project Slime Language. "I'm hoping it gets officially released and mixed," he added. A couple months later, Thug was photographed with Elton looking like lifelong best friends. I built a new beat around the ‘Rocket Man’ a cappella, sent it in, and Thug cut it that night. So I reached out to Thug's A&R Geoff Ogunlesi, hoping there would be some way we could bring them together. Producer Stelios Phili told Complex: "I remember reading an article in 2016 where Elton John said he was a fan of Young Thug and I was like, ‘Wow, this makes so much sense.' They’re both icons of individuality. ![]() And you should be able to do things like that but we don't live in that kind of world anymore." "I remember when Blind Faith came out, with a nude girl and John and Yoko, you had to buy it in a black plastic bag. "I love all of that, it's unexpected," he told Noisey back in 2015 when asked about Thugger's penchant for inspiringly bold fashion, not unlike the looks John was serving in the '70s. Sir Elton previously compared Thugger to the late John Lennon.
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