Sir Elton Hercules John has written some of the most iconic songs ever recorded, including Your Song, Tiny Dancer, Rocket Man, Candle in the Wind and the Lion King’s Circle of Life and Hakuna Matata. He is one of the most celebrated British performers of all time; selling more than 300 million records. He has had at least one single in the top 100 US charts for more than thirty-one years. But what is is Elton John’s net worth? Cormac Rae finds out
Married to David Furnish, Elton John has just announced his retirement from touring in order to spend more quality time with his husband and two children Elijah and Zachary. After announcing his Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour, he is set to perform more than 300 times in five different continents which he will tour over the next three years. His astonishing musical success has seen him conquer the American and UK album and singles charts for over four decades.
Born Reginald Kenneth White, in London March 25th, 1947, he started his musical career as a pub pianist before founding his first band Bluesology in his early twenties. Starting out primarily as a blues musician, Bluesology’s musical influences ranged from Muddy Waters to Django Reinhart and were signed by Fontana Records.
Sir Elton John’s musical evolution drifted towards pop after he found his long term song-writing partner Bernie Taupin in 1967, who replied to an advert he placed in the NME. His first album Empty Sky was released in 1969 while his first major industry break was in 1974, when he signed for MCA for approximately £5,600,000. In 1974 he signed a contract with MCA earning him £5.6 million and his 1975 album Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy debuted at number one in the US and remained there for six weeks.
Related
In 1988 he made around £14 million for five sold out shows at New York’s Madison Square Garden and signed a nine year deal with Warner/Chappell Music worth £27.3 million.
His musical career went from strength to strength, winning eight different awards at the Grammys, including Best Male Vocal Pop Performance for his 1997 cover of Candle in the Wind, reproduced as a charity single in memory of Princess Diana. He was nominated four times throughout his career for the Tony awards, winning Best Original Score for Aida at the 1999-2000 award ceremony.
Famed for his altruism he established the Elton John Aids Foundation in 1992, raising more than £140 million for the charitable organisation. He regularly holds 2nd hand clothes fairs, where his prized belongings are sold in aid of charity. His annual £1 million pound clothes bill meant his burgeoning wardrobe made his charity around £500,000 at auction with prized items were sold such as his £50,000 Louis XIV inspired suit as well as touring costumes going for as little £6 to please his hard-core fan base.
His rigorous touring schedule meant Sir Elton John was time poor but asset rich which influenced his decision to sell his 1993 Jaguar XJ220, Rolls Royce, Bentleys and Ferraris for an estimated £2.3 million at auction.
Content from our partners
He was knighted in 1996 and was recognised for his services to music and charity in 1998 with a Knight Bachelor. In 1997 his hit single Candle in the Wind 1997 sold 33 million copies worldwide, raising money for charitable causes that Princess Diana cherished.
In 2011, Elton John created the Rocket Music Entertainment Group and Rocket Sports Management in 2012. He is a Watford FC football supporter and a former owner; he is now President of the club for life. The East stand was named after him in 2014, a moment he described as ‘one of the greatest days in my life’.
He received around £912,000 for the sale of his Holland Park home in London and his Greatest Hits tour of 146 shows between 2011 to 2012 netted him a gross income of £26 million. His 2013 touring revenue exceeded £143 million and Elton John has made over £28 million from touring every year since.
Sir Elton John is 4th Richest British musician in the world and 402nd place in the Sunday Times Rich List 2017.
Cormac Rae is a graduate journalist at Spear’s
