The three piano players who changed Elton John’s life forever: “They played it so aggressively”
When Elton John was only three-years-old, his grandmother, Ivy Sewell, sat him down at her piano, which started a lifelong love affair with the instrument. While Elton didn’t immediately express a prodigal talent, he soon developed his skills. Within a year, he was playing at a significant level above what was expected from a child of his age.
Elton spent considerable time with his grandmother as it provided a sanctuary away from the turmoil of his parents’ home. He once told The Guardian: “My dad was strict and remote and had a terrible temper; my mum was argumentative and prone to dark moods. When they were together, all I can remember are icy silences or screaming rows. The rows were usually about me, how I was being brought up.”
However, his grandmother’s house was a place where he was allowed to express himself artistically and could effortlessly spend days sitting at the piano. At the age of five, Elton was able to play along to songs on the radio without the use of sheet music, and as his talent continued to develop at a rapid rate, it became clear he was going to become a professional musician.
John continued to immerse himself in the art form and won a junior scholarship at the Royal Academy of Music in London. He’d also watch concerts as regularly as possible, which proved to be eye-opening experiences and showed him what a true piano virtuoso looks like.
The truth is, the piano is a very divisive instrument. There is no similar instrument that has simultaneously represented so many different genres of music. As much embedded in the classical forms of music’s ancient past as it is still cemented in hip-hop and rock music, the piano offered a young star in the making, like Elton, a way to be both incredibly talented in a traditional sense and afford him the foundation to break out into the rebellious world of rock and roll.
So, when asked which players had a profound effect on changing his life, Elton naturally skirted away from the more influential classical artists whom he likely studied for years. Those were not the players who grabbed him and excited his soul. No, that position was reserved for the new breed of pano players who took the traditional instrument and smashed the keys with a passion previously unseen.
In a radio interview in 2020, Elton looked back at the piano players responsible for transforming his life and named his three favourite pianists. He explained: “The piano players that changed my life were Little Richard, Jerry Lewis, and Fats Domino. The first two especially, as I saw them live in concert – and Little Richard stood up and played the piano, and Jerry Lewis climbed all over and played the piano, and did also some things which is what appealed to me.”
Elton continued: “And when you look at my later career, I was influenced by both of them so much. And they played it so aggressively, whereas Fats Domino kind of used to push the piano across the stage with his stomach and played in a new style. The other two played in a rock kind of style that I never heard before.”
Following the death of Little Richard in 2020, John shared an emotional tribute which mentioned the pivotal concert he attended as a youngster. Elton wrote: “Alongside a black and white photo of the late star, the 73-year-old began: ‘Without a doubt – musically, vocally and visually – he was my biggest influence. Seeing him live in my teens was the most exciting event in my life at that point. Goosebumps, electricity and joy came from every pore.”
While Elton John went on to forge his own style as a pianist, the triad of Fats Domino, Little Richard, and Jerry Lee Lewis was crucial in his artistic growth. Without those figures to idolise, John’s career could have drifted down another route, but they created the blueprint for him to follow.
