"I think Jesus was a compassionate, super intelligent gay man who understood human problems. On the cross, he forgave the people who crucified him. Jesus wanted us to be loving & forgiving. I don't know what makes people so cruel. Try being a gay woman in the Middle East ... you're as good as dead."
A man who changes his name from Reginald Kenneth Dwight to Elton Hercules John cannot be anything but gay, & Elton John with the flamboyant eye glasses, extreme shopping habits (he & husband- David’s household expenses are said to be more than 2 million dollars a month) & multiple platinum record sales, is certainly out & proud gay.
Reginald Kenneth Dwight knew the road he was to travel travel early in his life, winning a scholarship to Royal Academy of Music at 11years old. Until he started working with lyricist Bernie Taupin, with whom he had the biggest hits of his career, Elton had many jobs: he ran errands for a London publishing house, played piano in a hotel, he played backup for Patti LaBelle & The Bluebells & recorded cover versions of pop songs to be sold in supermarkets..
His first album was released in 1969, & between 1972 & 1976 there was no stopping Bernie & Elton. The year after he co-wrote John Lennon's comeback single, Whatever Gets You Through The Night, Elton's Captain Fantastic album became the 1st LP to go straight to #1 in the USA. Although his career took a dip at the end of the 1970s, MTV helped send the singles from his 1983 album Too Low For Zero back to the top of the charts. Sir Elton has sold more than 250 million records in a career that just entered its 5th decade. His single Candle in the Wind 1997, which he sang at Princess Diana’s funeral, is the best selling single of all time. He has had more than 50 Top 40 hits. Sir Elton has won 5 Grammy awards, an Oscar, a Golden Globe, & a Tony Award. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994.
Because of his admitted bisexuality (he later admitted that it was a compromise, because he was afraid to admit he was gay), Elton lost many of his fans. In 1984, with much turmoil in his personal life (bulimia, cocaine addiction & alcoholism) Elton married German sound engineer Renate Blauel, but the union was short & the couple divorced in 1988. Elton later admitted that he knew he was gay before he tied the marriage. Now in the 21st century, Elton has been in a stable relationship for more than 19 years with filmmaker David Furnish. They married in December 2005. Elton: "Every Saturday for 16 years, we've sent each other a card, no matter where we are in the world, to say how much we love each other. We've never been jealous. We talk about the sexual side of things, things that normally would have frightened me before."
He raises millions of dollars every year with his charity- the Elton John AIDS Foundation, hosting an annual ball at his Windsor mansion that is attended by the great, the good, and the terminally glamorous. He continues to be a champion for LGBT rights. Sir Elton John turns 65 years old.
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