Elton John

United Kingdom, 1962–now

English singer and pianist, born Reginald Dwight, who set Bernie Taupin's lyrics to a piano style drawing on Little Richard and Leon Russell across a sustained run of 1970s albums.

MusicRoots documents 5 artists who influenced Elton John and 6 artists Elton John influenced in turn. Every connection cites a published source.

Who influenced Elton John?

• Little Richard — Little Richard was Elton's self-declared biggest influence — 'musically, vocally and visually' — the pounding-piano showman he modelled himself on.
• Jerry Lee Lewis — 'I heard Little Richard and Jerry Lee Lewis, and that was it' — Lewis's pumping-piano rock'n'roll was the other half of young Elton's musical awakening.
• Ray Charles — Ray Charles's gospel-soul vocal glides and piano were a lifelong model Elton delivered with open admiration.
• Leon Russell — Leon Russell was Elton and Bernie Taupin's 'musical god' when they first hit America in 1970 — the country-gospel-rock synthesis behind Elton's American sound; they reunited on The Union (2010).
• The Band — The Band's Americana was a documented influence on Elton and Taupin's rootsy early records (Tumbleweed Connection).

Which artists did Elton John influence?

• Toploader — Early Elton John's soul-inflected piano rock is the model for Washbourne's role as a singing keyboard player at the front of a rock band.
• Heart — 'Goodbye Yellow Brick Road' was named by the Wilsons among the albums that shaped Heart's melodic side.
• Kim Wilde — Elton John is among the names she gives.
• Bruce Hornsby — Bruce Hornsby took up the piano at 17 after hearing Elton John's Tumbleweed Connection — Elton's melodic pop-piano is a foundation of his style.
• Robbie Williams — Elton John's blend of piano-pop songcraft and flamboyant showmanship is part of the classic-British-pop tradition Williams draws on.
• Mika — The piano-pop end of Mika's writing: melody carried by the keyboard, in songs staged rather than confessed.