Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music Fifty may be the new forty in some areas of life, but popular music isn’t one of them. With very few exceptions, pop musicians make their most vital work in their twenties and early thirties, and even if they continue to perform to sold-out arenas into their eighties, as the Rolling Stones have, the fans are largely indifferent to their new music and just want to hear the hits — leading to the seemingly counterintuitive situation of artists with sold-out tours connected to new albums that are, comparatively anyway, flops.
Sir Elton Hercules John CH CBE (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is an English singer, songwriter, pianist, and composer. He has worked with lyricist Bernie Taupin since 1967; they have collaborated on more than 30 albums. John has sold more than 300 million records, making him one of the world's best-selling music artists. He has more than fifty Top 40 hits, as well as seven consecutive number-one albums in the United States, 58 Billboard Top 40 singles, 27 Top 10 singles, four of which peaked at number two and nine of which reached number one. His tribute single "Candle in the Wind 1997", rewritten in dedication to Diana, Princess of Wales, sold over 33 million copies worldwide and is the best-selling single in the history of the UK and US singles charts. He has also produced records and occasionally acted in films. John owned Watford F.C. from 1976 to 1987 and from 1997 to 2002, and is an honorary life president of the club.