History YMMV / EltonJohn

** Also, his role in ''Film/{{Tommy}}'' as the Local Lad, the character who sings "Pinball Wizard". There's a really good reason that his role in it is considered to be one of if not the most well-known parts of the whole movie, [[OneSceneWonder even though his part is only about five minutes long]].

* SugarWiki/FunnyMoments: Now has [[Funny/EltonJohn its own page]].

* HypeBacklash: He received this to a point in TheSeventies and TheEighties, but it ''really'' took off in TheNineties with the release of "Candle in the Wind 1997".

* FriendlyFandoms: John and Music/EllieGoulding's fans seem to get along well. This is probably because her cover of John's "Your Song" brought the song back to mainstream attention after almost 40 years.

* CrossesTheLineTwice: "I Think I'm Going to Kill Myself".
* DeaderThanDisco: Not himself, but his 1979 disco album, ''Victim of Love'', which is also an OldShame for him. Being released around the same time as the declining popularity of disco didn't help.

* CrossesTheLineTwice: "I Think I'm Going to Kill Myself."

** "Rocket Man", "Your Song", "Philadelphia Freedom", "Bennie and the Jets", "Crocodile Rock", "Saturday Night's Alright (For Fighting)", "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road", "I'm Still Standing"...he is a master of the earworm.
** His cover-version of the already earworm-ish "[[Music/{{Tommy}} Pinball Wizard]]". It still is the ''only'' cover of a [[Music/TheWho Who]] song to be a Top Ten hit.

** The classic 1969–76 period, which produced many songs which stand up as standards of the rock era: "Skyline Pigeon", "Tiny Dancer", "Levon", "Crocodile Rock", "Daniel", "Candle in the Wind", "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me", "Philadelphia Freedom", "Bennie and the Jets", "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road", "Someone Saved My Life Tonight", "Sorry Seems to Be The Hardest Word", "Rocket Man", "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting", "The Bitch Is Back", "Don't Go Breaking My Heart", "Your Song", etc.

** His big hits tend to get the most attention for the obvious reason that Elton is a master of the EarWorm, but he has a rather large amount of albums without a bad cut on them. Thus key album cuts like "Come Down in Time", "My Father's Gun", "Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters", "Sixty Years On", and "Ticking" are well worth listing here as well. The period from 1970's ''Elton John'' to at least 1975's ''Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy'' seems to have been a period where Elton was constitutionally incapable of writing a bad song, and it's worth noting how prolific he was during this period - a staggering nine [=LPs=]' worth of studio material (or about six and a half hours of music without even counting non-album tracks and outtakes, which are also often well worth the price of admission). Some fans would throw ''Rock of the Westies'' (also from 1975) and ''Blue Moves'' (1976) into this list as well, which would bring him up to twelve [=LPs=] of almost consistently brilliant material in slightly over six years. That's a staggering accomplishment.

* HypeBacklash: He received this to a point in TheSeventies and TheEighties, but it ''really'' took off in TheNineties with the release of "Candle in the Wind 1997."

* ViewerGenderConfusion: Many Western listeners were/are unaware that "Nikita" is a ''male'' name in Russian, and this wasn't helped by the music video depicting the titular Soviet soldier as a woman. Though the lyrics themselves are basically gender-neutral, WordOfGod has confirmed that he always knew it was a man he was singing about.
* WinBackTheCrowd: This seems to have happened twice: first with 1983's ''Too Low for Zero'', where he reunited full-time with Bernie Taupin and his backing band after a series of unevenly received efforts, and later with 2001's ''Songs from the West Coast'', which restored his reputation after a series of albums that, while fairly commercially successful, were not as well liked.

* DeaderThanDisco: His 1979 disco album, ''Victim of Love''. Also an OldShame.

* {{Glurge}}: "Candle in the Wind 1997."

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: "Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding", the first track of ''Music/GoodbyeYellowBrickRoad''. Apparently, according to [[Wiki/{{Wikipedia}} The Other Wiki]], it is the kind of music he wants played at his funeral.
** Also, listen to "You're So Static" from the ''Caribou'' album. It features the Tower of Power horn section at its best. Pure. Unadulterated. Awesome.

** Plenty of their other songs were closely analysed too. One interpretation of "Madman Across the Water" is that the madman of the title is UsefulNotes/RichardNixon and that the song is a VietnamWar protest. Several reviewers have noted the parallels; see, for instance, [[http://www.allmusic.com/song/madman-across-the-water-mt0006442178 Allmusic]]. Taupin is apparently aware of this interpretation and has never confirmed or denied it.

** His cover-version of the already earworm-ish "[[Music/{{Tommy}} Pinball Wizard]]". It should be noted that it was (and still is) the ''only'' cover-version of a [[Music/TheWho Who]] song to reach any Top Ten charts.

* GrowingTheBeard: ''Elton John'' is almost universally considered a vastly better album than ''Empty Sky''. The beard-growing was complete with the next album, ''Tumbleweed Connection'', which, despite not being as commercially successful as some of his other efforts from the same period, is almost universally recognised as a materpiece.
* HypeBacklash: He received this to a point in TheSeventies and TheEighties, but it really took off in TheNineties with the release of "Candle in the Wind 1997."

** His big hits tend to get the most attention for the obvious reason that Elton is a master of the EarWorm, but he has a rather large amount of albums without a bad cut on them. Thus key album cuts like "Come Down in Time", "My Father's Gun", "Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters", "Sixty Years On", and "Ticking" are well worth listing here as well. The period from 1970's ''Elton John'' to at least 1975's ''Captain Fantastic and the Brown Cowboy'' seems to have been a period where Elton was constitutionally incapable of writing a bad song, and it's worth noting how prolific he was during this period - a staggering nine [=LPs=]' worth of studio material (or about six and a half hours of music without even counting non-album tracks and outtakes, which are also often well worth the price of admission). Some fans would throw ''Rock of the Westies'' (also from 1975) and ''Blue Moves'' (1976) into this list as well, which would bring him up to twelve [=LPs=] of almost consistently brilliant material in slightly over six years. That's a staggering accomplishment.

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: "Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding", the first track of ''Music/GoodbyeYellowBrickRoad''. Apparently, according to [[Wiki/Wikipedia The Other Wiki]], it is the kind of music he wants played at his funeral.

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: ''Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding'', first track of ''Music/GoodbyeYellowBrickRoad''. Apparently, according to TheOtherWiki, it is the kind of music he wants played at his funeral.

** His big hits tend to get the most attention for the obvious reason that Elton is a master of the EarWorm, but he has a rather large amount of albums without a bad cut on them. Thus key album cuts like "Come Down in Time", "My Father's Gun", "Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters",, "Sixty Years On", and "Ticking" are well worth listing here as well. The period from 1970's ''Elton John'' to at least 1975's ''Captain Fantastic and the Brown Cowboy'' seems to have been a period where Elton was constitutionally incapable of writing a bad song, and it's worth noting how prolific he was during this period - a staggering nine [=LPs=]' worth of studio material (or about six and a half hours of music without even counting non-album tracks and outtakes, which are also often well worth the price of admission). Some fans would throw ''Rock of the Westies'' (also from 1975) and ''Blue Moves'' (1976) into this list as well, which would bring him up to twelve [=LPs=] of almost consistently brilliant material in slightly over six years. That's a staggering accomplishment.

* CrossesTheLineTwice: "I Think I'm Gonna Kill Myself."

** His big hits tend to get the most attention for the obvious reason that Elton is a master of the EarWorm, but he has a rather large amount of albums without a bad cut on them. Thus key album cuts like "Come Down in Time", "My Father's Gun", "Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters", and "Sixty Years On" are well worth listing here as well. The period from 1970's ''Elton John'' to at least 1975's ''Captain Fantastic and the Brown Cowboy'' seems to have been a period where Elton was constitutionally incapable of writing a bad song, and it's worth noting how prolific he was during this period - a staggering nine [=LPs=]' worth of studio material (or about six and a half hours of music without even counting non-album tracks and outtakes, which are also often well worth the price of admission).

** His big hits tend to get the most attention for the obvious reason that Elton is a master of the EarWorm, but he has a rather large amount of albums without a bad cut on them. Thus key album cuts like "Come Down in Time", "My Father's Gun", "Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters", and "Sixty Years On" are well worth listing here as well. The period from 1970's ''Elton John'' to at least 1975's ''Captain Fantastic and the Brown Cowboy'' seems to have been a period where Elton was constitutionally incapable of writing a bad song.

** Album-wise, ''Madman Across The Water'', ''Honky Chateau'', ''Tumbleweed Connection'', ''[[SelfTitledAlbum Elton John]]'', ''Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy'' and ''Goodbye Yellow Brick Road'' are frequently included in lists of the best albums of all time.

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: ''Funeral for A Friend/Love Lies Bleeding'', first track of ''Music/GoodbyeYellowBrickRoad''. Apparently, according to TheOtherWiki, it is the kind of music he wants played at his funeral.
** Also, listen to "You're So Static" from the Caribou album. It features the Tower of Power horn section at its best. Pure. Unadulterated. Awesome.

** The classic 1969–76 period, which produced many songs which stand up as standards of the rock era: "Skyline Pigeon", "Tiny Dancer", "Levon", "Crocodile Rock", "Daniel", "Candle In The Wind", "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me", "Philadelphia Freedom", "Bennie And The Jets", "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road", "Someone Saved My Life Tonight", "Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word", "Rocket Man", "Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting", "The Bitch Is Back", "Don't Go Breaking My Heart", "Your Song", etc.
** Album-wise, ''Madman Across The Water'', ''Honky Chateau'', ''Tumbleweed Connection'', ''[[SelfTitledAlbum Elton John]]'', ''Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy'' and ''Goodbye Yellow Brick Road'' are frequently included in lists of the best albums of all time.

* DeaderThanDisco: His 1979 disco album, ''Victim Of Love''. Also an OldShame.

** "Rocket Man", "Your Song", "Philadelphia Freedom", "Bennie And The Jets", "Crocodile Rock", "Saturday Night's Alright (For Fighting)", "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road", "I'm Still Standing"...he is a master of the earworm.
** His cover-version of the already earworm-ish "[[Music/TheWho Pinball Wizard]]". It should be noted that it was (and still is) the ''only'' cover-version of a Who song to reach on any Top Ten charts.

** He and Bernie Taupin mocked the trope in the ''Caribou'' cut, "Solar Prestige A Gammon". Naturally, [[SpringtimeForHitler that song was also over-analyzed]], a la "[[Music/TheBeatles I Am The Walrus]]".

* FunnyAneurysmMoment: Besides the Edinburgh 1976 "I want them to ''know'' I'm an alcoholic" quote, any humorous moment Elton had with longtime manager John Reid or personal assistant Bob Halley in ''Tantrums And Tiaras'', since due to various scandals/business disagreements Elton had both men excised from his life/career. Thankfully Elton and David Furnish have stayed together.
* {{Glurge}}: "Candle In The Wind 1997."

* ViewerGenderConfusion: Many Western listeners were/are unaware that "Nikita" is a ''male'' name in Russian, and this wasn't helped by the music video depicting the titular Soviet soldier as a woman. Though the lyrics themselves are basically gender-neutral, WordOfGod has confirmed that he always knew it was a man he was singing about.

It's a cold wind blowing, Wyoming

** The "classic" 1969–76 period, which produced many songs which stand up as standards of the rock era: "Skyline Pigeon", "Tiny Dancer", "Levon", "Crocodile Rock", "Daniel", "Candle In The Wind", "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me", "Philadelphia Freedom", "Bennie And The Jets", "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road", "Someone Saved My Life Tonight", "Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word", "Rocket Man", "Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting", "The Bitch Is Back", "Don't Go Breaking My Heart", "Your Song", etc.

** The "classic Elton" period between 1969-1976, while it did not always produce consistent albums, produced many songs which would stand up as standards of the rock era: "Skyline Pigeon", "Tiny Dancer", "Levon", "Crocodile Rock", "Daniel", "Candle In The Wind", "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me", "Philadelphia Freedom", "Bennie And The Jets", "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road", "Someone Saved My Life Tonight", "Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word", "Rocket Man", "Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting", "Don't Go Breaking My Heart", "Your Song", etc.

* SugarWiki/FunnyMoments: [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GuI4UUZrmw His oven manual song.]]
** Elton's stage moves when wearing aforementioned Donald Duck suit worn at Central Park in 1980 involved [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bA6gT-QI3dg rhythmically stomping on the ground and shaking his rear]] (the suit had "flipper" shoes and an enormous "tail" in the back) through "Bite Your Lip (Get Up And Dance)", [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8a301ceauaA then quacking loudly]] through a few verses of "Your Song", at many points {{Corpsing}} at the thought of performing in the ridiculous costume. WordOfGod was that the "tail" was so enormous, he could barely sit at the piano in it.
** Speaking of "Your Song," there's this bit: "If I was a sculptor... ''[chuckles]'' ...but then again, '''no'''."
** "I wouldn't want anyone to think I am an alcoholic, I want them to ''know'' I am an alcoholic." [[labelnote:explanation]]Stage banter he made in his solo 1976 Edinburgh show, shot glass with alcohol in hand. Sadly, it would later turn out to be a FunnyAneurysmMoment for him with his alcoholism.[[/labelnote]]
** After conversing with Jay Leno during an 1994 appearance on TheTonightShow about paparazzi, upon which Elton snarkily remarked that if he knew he was going to die soon, he'd spend his last day on Earth [[KillEmAll lining up the paparazzi in a locked room and shooting them dead with a machine gun]], Jay would ask Elton what the next song he was going to play after the commercial break would be. With a knowing chuckle, Elton replied, "[[Disney/TheLionKing Can You Feel The Love Tonight]]".
* FunnyAneurysmMoment: Besides the Edinburgh 1976 "I want them to ''know'' I'm an alcoholic" quote listed below, any humorous moment Elton had with longtime manager John Reid or personal assistant Bob Halley in ''Tantrums And Tiaras'', since due to various scandals/business disagreements Elton had both men excised from his life/career. Thankfully Elton and David Furnish have stayed together.

* FunnyAneurysmMoment: Besides the Edinburgh 1976 "I want them to ''know'' I'm an alcoholic" quote listed below, any humorous moment Elton had with longtime manager John Reid or personal assistant Bob Halley in ''Tantrums And Tiaras'', since due to various scandals/business disagreements Elton had both men excised from his life/career. Thankfully Elton and David Furnish have stayed together.

** After conversing with Jay Leno during an 1994 appearance on TheTonightShow about paparazzi, upon which Elton snarkily remarked that if he knew he was going to die soon, he'd spend his last day on Earth [[KillEmAll lining up the paparazzi in a locked room and shooting them dead with a machine gun]], Jay would ask Elton what the next song he was going to play after the commercial break would be. With a knowing chuckle, Elton replied, "[[Disney/TheLionKing Can You Feel The Love Tonight]]".