English singer-songwriter Elton John was BOTD in 1947. Born Reginald Dwight in London, he was a child prodigy, winning a scholarship to the Royal College of Music. Rejecting a career in classical music, he joined a blues band, embarking on a solo career in the late 1960s. He had his first hit single with Your Song, co-written with long-term collaborator Bernie Taupin. He became a global star in the 1970s, with an astonishing string of hits including Tiny Dancer, Rocket Man, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me, Don’t Go Breaking My Heart and Candle In the Wind. Known for his high-octane performances and flamboyant glam rock costumes, he fought a long battle with alcohol and drug addiction. He returned in the 1980s with a more subdued sound, producing hits I Guess That’s Why They Call It the Blues, Sacrifice and Nikita (a love song apparently addressed to a man), performing at Live Aid in 1985 and undertaking successful tours of the Soviet Union and South Africa. Finally achieving sobriety in the 1990s, he composed songs for Disney film The Lion King, including the international hit Can You Feel the Love Tonight. In 1997, he performed a revised version of Candle in the Wind at the funeral of his friend Princess Diana. The subsequent recording became the best-selling single of all time, selling 33 million copies worldwide. In recent years, he has composed songs for the stage musical of The Lion King, a musical version of Stephen Daldry‘s film Billy Elliot, and collaborated with Jake Shears on a musical based on the life of Tammy Faye Messner. Like Cher, he has been touring his Farewell Tour for at least a decade. His first romantic relationship was with his manager John Reid, conducted largely in secret. He came out as bisexual in a 1976 interview with Rolling Stone magazine, though surprised many by marrying his friend Renate Blauel, divorcing just three years later. He is married to his long-term partner David Furnish, with whom he has two children. A noted philanthropist, he established the Elton John AIDS Foundation in 1992 to raise money for HIV/AIDS charities. His extensive photography collection includes works by George Platt Lynes, Cecil Beaton, Richard Avedon, Diane Arbus, James Bidgood, Andy Warhol, Robert Mapplethorpe, Peter Hujar, Nan Goldin, Cindy Sherman, David LaChapelle, Wolfgang Tillmans, Bruce Weber, Herb Ritts, Pierre & Gilles, Mario Testino and Gilbert & George. He was played by Taron Egerton in the 2019 biopic Rocketman.