One of the most influential musicians in history, Elton John inspired countless generations of pianists and keyboardists over the decades. But before he became an established musician he was influenced by other players that he listed in an interview Tom Odell in 2020. Rock and Roll Garage selected what Elton said about those artists throughout the years and his connection with some of them.
The 3 piano players that Elton John said inspired him the most
Little Richard
“The first two specially as I saw them live in concert and Little Richard stood up and played the piano. Jerry Lee Lewis climbed all over and played the piano and did all sort of things, which really appealed to me. When you look at my later career I was influenced by both of them so much. They played so aggressively,” Elton John told Tom Odell (Transcribed by Rock and Roll Garage).
Elton John recorded the song “The Power” back in 1993 with Little Richard, that was released on Elton’s album “Duets”. Born in Marcon, Georgia back in 1932, Little Richard was one of the most influential musicians of all time. Also being one of the most important figures in the creaton of Rock and Roll music. Some of his most famous songs are “Tutti Frutti”, “Long Tall Sally” and “Good Golly, Miss Molly”. He died back in 2020 at the age of 87 victim of bone cancer.
After his death, Elton John paid tribute to the musician on his social networks, saying: “Without a doubt musically, vocally and visually he was my biggest influence. Seeing him live in my teens was the most exciting event in my life at that point. Goosebumps, electricity and joy came from every pore.”
Fats Domino
The oldest pianist listed by Elton John, Fats Domino was born in New Orleans, Louisiana back in 1928 and was known for the songs “Blueberry Hill”, “Ain’t That A Shame” and “Jambalaya (On The Bayou). He died back in 2017 at the age of 89 from natural causes. Elton paid tribute to Fats Domino during his Las Vegas residency in that year playing “Blueberry Hill”.
In the conversation with Tom Ordell, Elton John talked about Domino. “Fats Domino used to push the piano across the stage and play like kind of a more New Orleans style. The other two (Little Richard and Jerry Lee Lewis) played in a Rock style that I never really heard before.”
Jerry Lee Lewis
Another pianist brought energy to the stage and translated the rebellion into the piano playing, Jerry Lee Lewis is the youngest in the list, born in 1935 in Ferriday, Louisiana. Known for the hits “Great Balls Of Fire” and “Breathless”, Lewis was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame back in 1986 by Hank Williams Jr, who said in his speech “He could tear an audience apart.”
In a conversation with The Guardian in 2013, Elton John listed some songs that are the soundtrack of his life and one of them was Jerry Lewis’ “Great Balls Of Fire”. According to Elton it was the song that influenced him on the way he plays the piano: “Up until this song, the piano playing that I had heard had been more sedate. My dad collected George Shearing records. But this was the first time I heard someone beat the shit out of a piano.”
“When I saw Little Richard at the Harrow Granada, he played it standing up. But Jerry Lee Lewis actually jumped on the piano! This was astonishing to me, that people could do that. Those records had such a huge effect on me. They were just so great. I learned to play like that.”