1. Sir Elton John

2. Elton Johns Influence in America This presentation is about the inspiration Elton John had on U.S. Musicians as well as American fans, because Elton John is not a U.S. citizen and was born in England. The songs and movies presented all have an American connection. Most of the songs, movies, and artists in this presentation are very famous in the U.S. so you may recognize a few to all of them. Also, what is underlined is a link to youtube videos and biographys. Please don’t be afraid to click on the underlined text. Thank you

3. Our Tiny Biography In order to understand Elton John’s music I think we need to understand a little bit more about Elton John as a person. Elton John is one of the most diverse and talented artists of our time. He was born on March 25, 1947 and he started to play piano at age 4. His first band was called Bluesology. In 1976 Elton John announced that he was bisexual. Later in 1988 Elton John announced he was actually homosexual. That didn’t stop fans from rooting for him in the united states. However, as a gay man, I am sure he faced discrimination. Click here for his biography.

4. Struggles of a gay man in the music industry. In the 1970’s and the 1980’s Elton john suffered from drug addiction and bulimia. Shortly after recovering he decided to become a well known campaigner for AIDS research. If you go to http://www.ejaf.org/ you can find more information on donating to Elton Johns aids research founded in the United States.

5. Elton Johns music

6. Later Elton John changed the songs lyrics in tribute to princess Dianna. Click here for the Diana version. Elton John at first wrote the song candle in the wind in tribute for Marilyn Monroe and her struggles as an artist. Click here to see a video for candle in the wind. Click here for the lyrics. Elton John created music that was inspired by American artists like Marilyn Monroe. Tribute to Marilyn Monroe

7. “Candle in the Wind” While listening to Elton John sing “Candle in the Wind”, you can hear the sadness in his voice and his compassion for Norma Jean. In the lyrics you can understand his longing and love for Norma Jean. I would consider the song “Candle in the Wind” as a love song and a song full of remorse throughout the song and especially in the line “found in the nude”. Elton John’s voice is perfect for the high and low pitches of the song. He sings beautifully while he talks of being famous and being lonely. He plays the piano throughout the entire song.

8. Elton John also wrote “All the Young Girls Love Alice” in tribute to Alice Cooper. By tributing songs to rock artists we can see how diverse Elton John’s taste in music really is. Especially because Alice Coopers music is so different from Elton John’s music. If it wasn’t for Alice Cooper we wouldn’t have many of the bands we love today like Kiss or Marilyn Manson. Alice Cooper is definitely a legend. Alice Cooper

9. “All The Young Girls Love Alice” The song “All The Young Girls Love Alice” is fast paced and full of steady beats. What is funny about this song is that it imitates the same kind of music Alice Cooper sings especially in the lines “all the young girls love Alice”. You can see how the song relates to Alice Cooper. You can hear a little bit of Elton John’s English accent while he sings. The song has the piano and the guitar playing as instruments as well as many other sound effects in the background and during the breaks of the singing.

10. Elton John Performs For Movies Too! All This & World War II Elton John covers The Beatles song “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds” for and American Movie about World War 2.

11. “Lucy in the sky with diamonds” The song starts off slowly with quiet instruments that gradually become louder. Elton John’s voice is a lot softer in this song than in his usual music. I think his voice almost blends in with the instruments in the lines “Cellophane flowers of yellow and green, Towering over your head. Look for the girl with the sun in her eyes, And she's gone.” The song carries a funky beat during the lines “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds”. Drums, piano, and guitar are definitely instruments used in the song. While Elton John sings he sounds happy. This is a happy upbeat song to sing.

12. The Lion King Elton John performs Music for U.S. movies like Disney’s movie The Lion King. He sung: “I Just Can’t Wait To Be King” “The Circle of Life” And “Can You Feel the Love Tonight”

13. The song starts of with a steady beat. The song is also very catchy. Elton John seems like his voice is a little bit overpowered by the instruments. The instruments in this song are the piano and the drums from what I can hear, and maybe a guitar. The song “I Just Cant Wait To Be King” is really up beat and is well put together for a Disney movie. I think that the only downside of the song is that the instruments sound louder than the singer. “I Just Can’t Wait To Be King”

14. “The Circle of Life” The song Circle of life is a very inspirational song. Elton john starts of slowly and his voice eventually gets higher and louder. The emotion in this song is very strong. The music is very relaxing and drives into the soul of who ever listens to the song. Elton John gives the song a lot of character and the instruments help the listener’s emotions wind down and the shoot back up during the lines “It's the Circle of Life, And it moves us all, Through despair and hope, Through faith and love, Till we find our place, On the path unwinding, In the Circle, The Circle of Life”.

15. “Can You Feel The Love Tonight” The song “Can You Feel The Love Tonight” is a song I could compare to “The Circle of Life”. The emotions are very strong in this song as well as in “The Circle of Life”. The song helps the listener’s emotions get sucked in right away. The song stays mellow and then picks up. This song is very inspirational love song. It helps the listener imagine and feel the emotions of love. Elton John’s voice is full of emotion. The way Elton John sings this song is like he experienced the feelings and the emotions the song carries.

16. Quest For Camelot Elton John performed with American singer Leann Rimes. They sang “Written in the Stars” for the cartoon movie Quest for Camelot. Later they performed this song as well as did an interview for the Tonight show.

17. “Written in the stars” This song is one of my favorites. Elton John and Leann Rimes have voices that blend very well together without overpowering the other. The song is lovely and full of inspirational bursts. The song starts off slow like many others but then kicks up little by little though out the song. The piano helps the song become beautiful. Leann Rimes voice is soft just like Elton Johns voice. The instruments play with the artists voice perfectly. This song is a very sad love story of two lovers that are very far apart who are trying to describe what love is and what it feels like. I think that while they sing they inspire each other to put more and more feeling into the music and the song.

18. Saturday Night Live with Elton John Elton John also sang as well as parodied for the American show Saturday Night Live. In one Saturday Night Live episode Elton John sang “Monkey Suit” with Leon Russell.

19. “Monkey Suit” The song “Monkey Suit” at first sounds country but then takes a rock n’ roll twist. It also reminds me of the old songs like people would swing dance to like “Twist and Shout”. Elton Johns voice is very up front in the song, and the music very up beat. The instruments and back up singers cover all unintentional breaks and pauses. I can hear the piano, the guitar, the drums, and trombone or some kind of horn.

20. Our favorite duets Elton John has performed with many artists. He has a shining for those who are different as well as talented. In the slides below you will discover more of Elton’s diverse taste in music as well as talent. You will also discover those who have been influenced by Elton John, who are also big fans.

21. “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart” Elton John R u-Paul RuPaul is a very famous drag queen as well as artist. What Elton John and Rupaul have in common is that they are both homosexuals. I can see how Elton John would be a huge inspiration to Rupaul and visa versa.

22. “Don’t go breaking my heart” The first part of the song has a little bit of acting then goes right in to a techno start. After the tiny bit of techno it turns into a pop-dance beat. Most of all I think that the song sounds like two people having fun rather than being serious and emotional. The beats are very modern even though this was performed quite a while ago. RuPauls voice is very deep compared to Elton Johns but there voices still mix very well with each other. Elton Johns voice carries well with the instruments. In the video Elton John and Rupaul both dress like women. The music video is very entertaining and does not look or sound at all serious.

23. “Stan” Elton John and Eminem Eminem and Elton John sing a song called “Stan” describing the troubles of those personally influenced by music.

24. “Stan” The song Stan is mostly rap with a pop intervention from Elton John. Eminem is known for taking small choruses out of songs to add to his rap songs. He also performed with Dido in the same way this song is performed. The song talks about an obsessed fan who is discouraged by a star who isn't interested in being personal friends. The song starts outs with a determined and needy emotion and then turns into an angry emotion. This song shows Elton Johns broad musical tastes. Elton John has a very pleasant tone in the song even though the words he sings are depressing. The pop and the rap genres are brilliantly meshed in this song and make it sound very different from other rap songs.

25. “Speechless” Elton John and Lady Gaga Lady Gaga has described in interviews what a huge friend and fan she is for Elton John. Elton John is asked how he feels about Lady Gaga and responds “I f***ing love you Gaga”. They both sing Lady Gaga’s song “Speechless” at the 52nd Grammy Awards.

26. This song is a mix of Elton John’s song “Your Song” and lady gaga's song “Speechless”. Both Elton John and Lady Gaga play the piano and the piano is the only instrument used in the whole song. Each artist takes turns singing. Lady Gaga and Elton John both express a lot of disappointment and sadness in the song. The beginning of the song is very mellow, the middle of the song had a piano solo, and the end of the song is very dramatic. “Speechless”

27. Sources: Sources: Main Source: Biography- http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005056/bio Extra Sources: Biography- http://marriage.about.com/od/samesexcelebritycouples/p/eltonjohn.htm Biograpgy- http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1343395/Elton-Johns-new-baby-door-1-3m-luxury-flat.html AidsFoundation- http://www.ejaf.org/ Biograpghy- http://www.eltonography.com/songs/candle_in_the_wind.html Biography- http://www.thevideobeat.com/rock-roll-movies/all-this-world-war-ii-1976.html Biography- http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0750412/bio Biography- http://nightswithalicecooper.com/Alice-s-Bio/3486448

28. Links http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uvux60fqNU8 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_SZ6J6fjw9w http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CtO_jSbNN6I http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WH2szrvsCaY http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Ok_3j0Ijd4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fx6GU8e3PUg&feature=fvst http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34CkE12xXLk http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-eyjBBcUO9k http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qq4j1LtCdww&ob=av2e http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4dZ2pcLMCs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7hreY3txHc http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T632MPhw3Os