Elton John Band

The band was originally formed by John in 1970 as a trio, consisting of himself, drummer Olsson, and bassist Dee Murray & Caleb Quaye On Lead Guitar. They first appeared together on disc with John on the album Tumbleweed Connection, which was released that same year. Over the next few years, guitarist Davey Johnstone and percussionist Cooper also joined the band, forming the band's classic lineup. The critical success of the band was at its peak in the 1970s, when they released a streak of chart-topping albums in the US and UK, which began with Honky Château (1972) and culminated with Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy (1975).


After the release of Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy, John fired Murray and Olsson from the band and added several new musicians to the band's lineup, including Kenny Passarelli, Caleb Quaye, James Newton Howard, and Cindy Bullens, as John wanted to achieve a different sound. This lineup first appeared on disc on the 1975 album Rock of the Westies, but all left the band by either the late 1970s or early 1980s respectively. Olsson rejoined the band in 1980 alongside Murray, who continued to perform with the band until he departed in 1985 but performed one off in 1988 for reg strikes back until his death in The Early Quarter of 1992. New musicians that joined the band around this time include Richie Zito, Tim Renwick, Fred Mandel, Charlie Morgan, David Paton, Helena Springs, Jody Linscott, Jonathan Moffett, and Guy Babylon. Of these musicians, Babylon remained a member of the band for the longest amount of the time, being in the group from 1988 until his death in 2009, whereas the other members left at some point before the end of the 1980s. John Mahon joined the band in 1997, and Kim Bullard and Matt Bissonette joined in 2009 and 2012 Replacing Babylon & Bob Birch respectively, which alongside John, Olsson, Johnstone, and Cooper, formed the current lineup of the band. Their most recent album is Wonderful Crazy Night, released in 2016.


Since the group's formation, John performed with his band over 4,000 times, beginning with the Elton John 1970 World Tour and concluding with the Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour, which began in 2018 and concluded in 2023.^[1] John and Cooper also toured outside of the band as a duo between 1977 and 2012.^[2]