Classical Music

Elton John’s ability to amass critical acclaim, fans, and profits stems from his two primary strengths-his artistic talent and his marketing prowess. He recognized early that one without the other usually leads to moderate success at best, and the brand that is Elton John certainly doesn’t stand for moderation.

Music Man Reginald Kenneth Dwight was born in 1947 to a musical family in Pinner, a London suburb, where his father played trumpet in both the Royal Air Force and in an American style big band. Young Reggie grew up with records by singers like Rosemary Clooney, Frank Sinatra, and Frankie Laine and pianists such as Nat “King” Cole, George Shearing, and Winifred Atwell, who played both popular and classical music and quickly became one of his favorites. After listening to her classic recording of “The Skater’s Waltz,” he sat down at the family piano and played it perfectly by ear. He was three years old. By the age of four, Reggie was “on stage” for family gatherings, and he performed at his cousin’s wedding at age seven, when the band was late.

Piano lessons and an ability to listen to and then play classical recordings to near perfection won him a scholarship at the Royal Academy of Music in London at the age of 11. At the academy, he excelled in mastering the music of Handel, Chopin, and Bach and sang in the school’s choir. As busy as he was with his studies, he found time for a part time job as a newspaper carrier.

Although a model student in many ways-polite and highly capable-he was less than diligent in his studies, perhaps because he didn’t find them challenging. He could mimic the classical masters without much effort, and after five years, he left the venerable Royal Academy. He did return, however, in July 2002, when he became the second person in the school’s 180 year history to receive an honorary doctorate degree. What happened between his departure from the academy and his return would make music history, deserving of an honorary degree in marketing as well.