This new edition also includes a 15,000 word critical biography tracing Elton's career from his days as a pub pianist in North London, through hard times with Bluesology and his time as a Tin Pan Alley songwriter, to his eventual emergence as one of the world's best loved rock superstars.

He has sold in excess of 35 million records worldwide, has broken chart records time and time again, as one of pop's highest paid performers, has filled huge stadiums in nearly every major country.

Toghether with lyric partner Bernie Taupin he has written some of the most popular songs of the last fifteen years - from piano pumpin' rockers like Crocodile Rock and Kiss The Bride to smooth emotive ballads such as Goodbye Yellow Brick Road and Song For Guy to name just a few.

His generosity is well known - he has given Rolls Royces and Rembrandts to friends and business colleagues and donated over £1 million to his beloved Watford F.C., of which he is chairman.

But his story is also one of frustration and heartbreak. Working as a tea boy for a music publisher at £4.50 a week, struggling as a pub pianist and then a backup organist for various artists took their toll. A suicide bid turned to black comedy when he turned the gas oven on but left the windows open!

Now his latest album is his best selling LP for a decade and his surprise marriage has underlined a turn of fortune for the Seventies superstar who wouldn't let the Eighties leave without him.

Tímido, extravagante y miope, ha superado todos sus complejos tras sus originales modelos de gafas y vestimenta, convirtiéndose en el músico más excéntrico del show-business, el primer artista del pop occidental capaz de provocar el delirio entre moscovitas y yanquis.

Una gran cantidad de anécdotas a lo largo de su biografía, y la más completa relación de sus grabaciones (discos oficiales, piratas, colaboraciones, videos, etc.), hacen de este libro el estudio más profundo realizado hasta la fecha en España sobre este gran "fenómeno" musical llamado Elton John.

Raised in a succession of rural locations, Bernie Taupin devises his own entertainment with a vivid imagination influenced by literary heroes and pop icons. Back in the reality of the day, he embarks on teenage rebellion with his own gang after a conker ambush, experiences the torment of first lofe and endures a series of short-lived jobs, until a desire to stretch his boundaries causes him to make a decision that will change his life. And all the time in the background there is the relentless pulse of the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and the Animals as they take the Sixties by storm.

A bitter-sweet odyssey of determination, Bernie Taupin's story stands above all as a salute to the great adventure of childhood.

For the first time, in this candid biography, Elton John's private and public life is laid bare. What were the musical influences that created his inimitable style and gave him unprecedented success, not only in Britain but in the United States? How carefully constructed are Elton John's showbiz extravaganzas on stage? What is the truth about the man behind the glitz - a truly private man?

In 1967 Elton John was Reggie Dwight a bespectacled pub pianist. He answered an advertisement in New Musical Express for musical talent and met as a result his lyricist Bernie Taupin. Three years later he was being hailed on both sides of the Atlantic as the saviour of rock 'n' roll.

In the years that followed, Elton was hardly ever out of the headlines. His string ofalbums and hit singles; his self-proclaimed bisexuality in 1976; his chairmanship of Watford Football Club; and his marriage to his recording engineer, Renate Blauel, all made major news stories.

Barry Toberman has interviewed many of Elton's friends and associates to write the story of a superstar.

Barry Toberman, giornalista inglese, è autore di parecchie pubblicazioni musicali in Gran Bretagna e negli Stati Uniti. In particolare, è un patito del rock pop.

Rock and roll records were Elton John's earliest passion, with the result that he now has one of the largest collections of recorded music in private hands. But soon after the launch of his own first discs he turned his attention to the decorative arts of the twentienth century. as the group of 1920s and '30s decorative bronze and ivory sculptures show. There are fine pictures including works by Magritte and Lowry. Cartier jewellry, another passion also forms an important part of his collection. Elton's fans and students of rock music everywhere will also recognize many items from the memorabilia catalogue: the most comprehensive offering of the appendages of rock ever to appear on the market. We find the Pinball Wizard's gigantic pair of Doc Marten's made for the film 'Tommy', the baseball outfit worn at the Dodgers Stadium Concert in 1975 and the Eiffel Tower boater worn in concert in Paris.

In a recent interview with the Press, Elton John told the world why at the height of his fame and fortune he was selling nearly everything he owned. He has simply outcollected hos home's ability to absorb what he has purchased: when I first went there it was an Aladdin's cave, a magic toy shop, but hard to find somewhere to sit. Paul Gambaccini, in this catalogue, who has known the star for many years discusses the collection in the light of Elton's career to date. We are also fortunate in hearing Elton's own views on the subject which he gave us at Bond Street while Terry O'Neil took the photos for the catalog cover shots.

It is clear that Elton the Collector will start again. The next twenty years should be as fascinating, if a bit more concentrated, than the last. Meanwhile it is typical that the world will be able, this autumn, to share the star's good fortune.

Sotheby's Chairman

I appendice, la discografia completa.

I appendice, la discografia completa.