Personal Branding, Personal Highs

His personal highs and lows affected his career to a certain degree, but even in the early 1980s he was able to release a whole new string of hits despite the minor differences he had had with Taupin along the way. This period brought hits such as “I’m Still Standing,” “I Guess That’s Why They Call It the Blues,” “Sad Songs,” and “Nikita.” But his surprise marriage to sound engineer Renate Blauel in and full blown drug addiction distracted from the professional success he still managed to create.

The straw that almost broke the proverbial camel’s back was a series of articles printed in a British tabloid, the Sun, accusing the superstar of participating in wild sex orgies with young male prostitutes. To that point, he had faced adversity, but never an all out assault on his character. The Elton John brand, what it and he stood for among fans, was under attack. The performer was devastated. He recalls, “For a time I wouldn’t go out of the house.” In October 1988, the Sun settled out of court for ?1 million and a front page apology. Despite those difficult times, he turned to work as his salvation and released Reg Strikes Back in 1988; the album spent five months on the charts. “It wasn’t one of my best albums,”he admits. “But it got me doing something.” After its release, he auctioned off his glitter rock costumes and returned to the core of the Elton John brand.

This chapter in John’s life provides a valuable lesson in personal branding. When controversy rears its ugly head in the form of scandal or bad press, you have to remain active, try to function in a businessas usual mode, and fix whatever is broken. This difficult time in John’s life shows that negative publicity can damage careers and lives but won’t kill you; in fact, it can change lives for the better.