He's a songwriter, humanitarian, Grammy, Oscar, Tony and BRIT winner, Broadway champion, football benefactor, a superstar and yet still a man of the people. He's the most enduringly successful singer/ songwriter of his generation and also the most decorated. But such is his insatiable appetite to meet and beat new creative challenges, any biography of Elton John needs updating practically by the week.

But for all of these commitments, he would never disrespect his day job of close to 40 years. John who's last album, was released in September 2006 and it's characteristically ambitious. 'The Captain and the Kid' is Elton and Bernie's all-new, autobiographical update of the classic 1975 album that documented their experiences to that point, 'Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy'

The original 'Captain Fantastic' was the first album ever to debut on the Billboard chart at No.1, during the staggering creative hot streak that represented Elton's first wave of global success, and incorporated at least one top 40 entry on the Hot 100 every year from 1970 to 1995 inclusive. The new album will seize the momentum of Elton's acclaimed albums of the new century, 2004's 'Peachtree Road' and 2001's multi-platinum selling 'Songs From The West Coast,' records that saw his creative spirit and span reaching new levels.

The debut album 'Empty Sky' followed, to encouraging notices but scant sales, in 1969. By the time Elton's self-titled breakthrough album and subsequent evergreen 'Your Song' introduced him to an international stage in 1970 and early 1971, the writing partners had so honed their skill that Taupin could create a lyric in half an hour and Elton could compose to it within the hour.

In the multi-platinum whirlwind that followed between 1972 and 1976, they were producing at least two landmark albums per year, including the beloved 'Tumbleweed Connection,' 'Madman Across The Water,' 'Honky Chateau,' 'Don't Shoot Me, I'm Only The Piano Player' and 'Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy.' Among these, 'Goodbye Yellow Brick Road' became and remains Elton's bestselling studio album in the US, with eight weeks at No.1 at the end of 1973 and two years on the chart in total.

Elton's charitable endeavours reached new prominence in the 1990s. The establishing of his Elton John AIDS Foundation in 1992 in the USA, and the following year in the UK, emphasised his commitment to raising consciousness and generating funds for those suffering from HIV and related illnesses around the world. To date the charity has raised over $100 million. On record, he soared to the top of the British charts again with a new 'Very Best Of' set in 1990 and shone on studio albums such as 'The One' and 'Made In England.'

But even bigger challenges were calling. Elton's collaboration with lyricist Tim Rice on music for Disney's 'The Lion King' garnered not only a Best male pop Grammy but his first Academy Award, after which he collaborated with Rice again on the Broadway smash 'Aida.' The London launch of the stage version of 'Billy Elliot,' with music by Elton John and lyrics by Lee Hall, became a smash to rival the original film, achieving that rare feat of sending both the public and the critics into ecstasies.

The late 1990s were a time of intense personal tragedy for Elton, with the loss of his good friends, fashion design guru Gianni Versace and Diana, the Princess of Wales. The untimely death of the Princess would provide him with, reluctantly, the biggest single hit of his career, the rewrite of his Marilyn Monroe tribute 'Candle In The Wind.' which he performed at the Princess' funeral. In the Canadian Top Ten for three whole years, the single is now the biggest selling in the world, ever, surpassing even Bing Crosby's 'White Christmas.' In 1998 he was honoured as Sir Elton John.

In the new millennium, the reinvigorated Elton undertook an epic residency with the 'Red Piano' show, which continues at the Caesars Palace Colosseum in Las Vegas, art-directed by the brilliant conceptualist, David LaChapelle. A four DVD box set entitled 'Dream Ticket' was released around the same time as 'Peachtree Road,' containing three concerts and a never-before-seen documentary highlighting four decades in Elton's illustrious career.