Facts About Elton John

- In his four-decade career, John has sold more than 200 millionrecords making him one of the most successful artists of all time.

- He has been heavily involved in the fight against AIDS since the late 1980s.

- He was knighted in 1998.

- He entered into a civil partnership with David Furnish on 21December 2005.

- In 2008, Billboard magazine released a list of the top 100 most-frequently-charting artists in the history of the Billboard Hot 100.John was listed at #3, behind only Madonna and The Beatles.

- He was educated at Pinner Wood Junior School, Reddiford Schooland Pinner County Grammar School until the age of 17, when heleft just prior to his GCE A Level examinations to pursue a careerin the music industry.

- When John began to seriously consider a career in music,his father, who served as a Flight Lieutenant in the Royal AirForce, tried to steer him toward a more conventional career,such as banking.

- Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994 and, with longtime collaborator Bernie Taupin, into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1992

- During the '70s alone he had seven consecutive #1 albums and 15 hit singles

- His 50 albums produced 86 hit singles between 1969 and 2005