50 years ago today, 23-year-old Red Dwight performed his first of eight shows at the Troubadour in Los Angeles, CA. He awed his audience and transformed into the diva Elton John before their own eyes. A superstar was born.
By the time the week was over, Elton had performed in front of much of the Hollywood music elite…and even some future collaborators.
“I couldn’t really make up my mind back then whether I was Reg or I was Elton… but I know who I am now,” Elton John says of the golden start of his career.
The audience loved it and the next day it became apparent that the critics loved it. The LA Times reported that rock music had a new star. Elton John sold 30,000 copies in the space of two weeks.
Frankie Banali, the drummer for the heavy metal bands Quiet Riot and W.A.S.P has died at 68, losing his battle to pancreatic cancer.