Brian Kelly: Elton John in NZ a 'must see'

Elton John performs at Wellington's Westpac Stadium, 2015. Photo / Bradley Garner

Elton John will play more than 300 shows on his Farewell Yellow Brick Road world tour, including New Zealand.

Last year Elton John and his song writing partner Bernie Taupin celebrated a stunning achievement: 50 years working together as a songwriting team.

How the two of them were thrown together more than 50 years ago is a story on its own.

They both answered an ad in the New Musical Express music magazine posted by a record label looking for budding songwriters.

At the time, they had never met and it wasn't until the shy introverted pianist Elton John, who at the time was going under his birth name of Reginald Kenneth Dwight, was handed an envelope by the publishers with some lyrics submitted by 17-year-old Taupin.

Together, the unlikely pairing would go on to create an amazing chapter in the history of music.

Beginning with their 1970 hit single, Your Song, which was recently voted by the British public as their number one favourite Elton John song, John has charted more than 71 singles on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, 26 of those singles making the Top 10 and eight going to No 1.

John's discography makes amazing reading. Thirty studio albums, four live albums, seven soundtrack albums, 16 compilation albums and three extended plays.

John has sold more than 350 million albums worldwide.

Taupin, who continues to write songs, once said he couldn't live John's life.

"I would rather drill myself in the head with a nail gun than do what he does."

But 50 years on they still work together.

The very first album released by John, Empty Sky, came out in June of 1969.

The US was the only place it charted, reaching No 6 on billboard. Empty Sky wasn't released in the UK till 1975. That was followed a year later by the self-titled Elton John, which went gold in a number of countries and included the hit single Your Song. That album helped establish his career.

On September 8 this year, John will embark on his Farewell Yellow Brick Road world tour consisting of more than 300 shows around the world and set to finish in 2021. He will tour Australia and New Zealand from December 2019 to February 2020. It is a must see for any Elton John fan.