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Arthur Steel
Rocket Men Bernie Taupin and Elton John 1985 limited edition photograph
1985

Name: Rocket Men Bernie Taupin and Elton John 1985 limited edition photograph
Brand: Arthur Steel
Rating: 5 (3 reviews)

$3,308.17List Price

About the Item

Elton John with lyricist Bernie Taupin at Elton’s home in Old Windsor taken in 1985 taken by British photographer Arthur Steel. Arthur's archive of iconic photography is nothing short of fabulous and we delight in having his work available on 1stdibs. Note: Image unearthed January 2013. Bespoke: All prints are bespoke and printed to order. Presentation: 12 and 20 inch prints are titled, numbered, signed and carefully enfolded in acid free tissue paper, supplied flat in an acid free 4mm 3-ply box for delivery and storage purposes. The boxes are ideal for gift wrapping. The larger 30, 40, 50 and 60 inch prints are also titled, numbered, signed and carefully enfolded in acid free tissue paper and inserted into a rigid 4mm thick protective cardboard tube for delivery. Biographies: Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947), is an English pianist, singer-songwriter and composer. He has worked with lyricist Bernie Taupin as his songwriting partner since 1967; they have collaborated on more than 30 albums to date. In his five-decade career Elton John has sold more than 300 million records, making him one of the best-selling music artists in the world. He has more than fifty Top 40 hits, including seven consecutive No. 1 US albums, 58 Billboard Top 40 singles, 27 Top 10, four No. 2 and nine No. 1. For 31 consecutive years (1970–2000) he had at least one song in the Billboard Hot 100. His single “Candle in the Wind 1997” 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 composed music, produced records, and has occasionally acted in films. John owned Watford Football Club from 1976 to 1987, and 1997 to 2002. He is an honorary Life President of the club, and in 2014 had a stand named after him at the club’s home stadium. Elton John was born Reginald Dwight in 1947, and raised in the Pinner area of London. He learned to play piano at an early age, and by 1962 had formed Bluesology. John met his songwriting partner, Bernie Taupin, in 1967, after they had both answered an advert for songwriters. For two years they wrote songs for other artists, including Roger Cook and Lulu, and John also worked as a session musician for artists such as the Hollies and the Scaffold. In 1969 his debut album, Empty Sky, was released. In 1970 a single, “Your Song”, from his second album, Elton John, reached the top ten in the UK and the US, his first hit single. He has received five Grammy Awards, five Brit Awards – winning two awards for Outstanding Contribution to Music and the first Brits Icon in 2013 for his “lasting impact on British culture”, an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Tony Award, a Disney Legend award, and the Kennedy Center Honors in 2004. In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked him Number 49 on its list of 100 influential musicians of the rock and roll era. In 2013, Billboard ranked him the most successful male solo artist on “The Billboard Hot 100 Top All-Time Artists” (third overall behind the Beatles and Madonna). He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994, is an inductee into the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame, and is a fellow of the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors. Having been named a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1996, John was made aKnight Bachelor by Elizabeth II for “services to music and charitable services” in 1998. John has performed at a number of royal events, such as the funeral of Princess Diana at Westminster Abbey in 1997, the Party at the Palace in 2002 and the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Concert outsideBuckingham Palace in 2012. He has been heavily involved in the fight against AIDS since the late 1980s. In 1992, he established the Elton John AIDS Foundation and a year later began hosting the annual Academy Award Party, which has since become one of the highest-profile Oscar parties in the Hollywood film industry. Since its inception, the foundation has raised over US$200 million. John, who announced he was bisexual in 1976 and has been openly gay since 1988, entered into a civil partnership with David Furnish on 21 December 2005, and after gay marriage became legal in England, wed Furnish on 21 December 2014. He continues to be a champion for LGBT social movements worldwide and same-sex marriage. Bernard John “Bernie” Taupin (born 22 May 1950) is an English lyricist, poet, and singer, best known for his long-term collaboration with Elton John, writing the lyrics for the majority of the star’s songs, and making his lyrics some of the best known in pop-rock’s history. In 1967, Taupin answered an advertisement placed in the UK music paper New Musical Express by Liberty Records, a company that was seeking new songwriters. Around the same time, Elton John responded to the same advertisement, and the pair were brought together, collaborating on many projects since. In 1971, journalist Penny Valentine wrote that “Bernie Taupin’s lyrics were to become as important as Elton himself, proved to have a mercurial brilliance. Not just in their atmospheric qualities and descriptive powers, but in the way he handled words to form them into straight forward poems that were easy to relate to.”

Creator:
Arthur Steel (1936, British)
Creation Year:
1985
Dimensions:
Height: 30 in (76.2 cm)Width: 30 in (76.2 cm)Depth: 1 in (2.54 cm)
More Editions Sizes:
20 x 20, Edition of 50Price: $1,93030 x 30, Edition of 30Price: $3,30840 x 40, Edition of 20Price: $4,68750 x 50, Edition of 10Price: $8,270
Medium:
Digital
Movement Style:
Photorealist
Period:
1980-1989
Condition:
Gallery Location:
London, GB
Reference Number:
1stDibs: LU157429087722