Elton John

Elton John, born Reginald Kenneth Dwight in 1947, transformed piano-driven pop into stadium spectacle across five decades. His partnership with lyricist Bernie Taupin yielded Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (1973) and Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy (1975), albums that married melodic sophistication with theatrical excess. His voice, capable of gospel fervour and tender restraint, drew from Little Richard's urgency and the Beatles' harmonic invention.

By 1975, John owned thirteen consecutive US Top 20 hits, a commercial run rivalled only by the Beatles. His flamboyant costumes and unabashed queerness challenged rock's heteronormative codes during the 1970s, though he wouldn't publicly address his sexuality until 1988. "Candle in the Wind 1997," his tribute to Princess Diana, became the best-selling single in history, shifting 33 million copies.

His influence permeates contemporary pop architecture: melody as primary narrative, the piano as percussive engine, sincerity wrapped in artifice. John remains both earnest balladeer and glittering artefact of pop's most maximalist impulses.