Elton John With the release of his first album in 1969, "Empty Sky," Elton John set into motion a career of extraordinary duration in popular music, surviving setbacks to achieve new career goals and returning successfully from a period of rest. At the age of fifty-one, which he reached in 1998, the Academy Award-winning Elton John is still at the center of his profession. Since "Empty Sky," John has sold well over 200 million records worldwide. At the frantic peak of his American popularity in the mid-1970 's, John assembled a string of seven consecutive US number one albums in just three and a half years - a chart record pace exceeded only by The Beatles in the mid-60s. The GREATEST HITS album is one of the best-selling LPs in American history, with certified sales in the United States in excess of thirteen million. Elton even surpassed that total internationally with the soundtrack to the Disney film THE LION KING; the collection of songs he wrote with veteran ly ricist Tim Rice was the number one album in the World for the year 1994. THE LION KING evolved into a Tony Award-winning Broadway smash, and includes five new songs from the John-Rice duo, who have already completed their next Disney project, AIDA. This occasional partnership with Tim Rice is an example of John's willingness to work with any individual whose talent he respects. Elton John is the most sociable of all British chart Artists, succeeding with a record dozen different duet partners ranging from Aretha Franklin to RuPaul. The most recent joint success was "hive Like Horses, " the John-Taupin song taken to the British top ten in late 1996 with Luciano Pavarotti. Elton John has also led the BILLBOARD HOT 100 with more chums than any other Artist. Of his eight number one singles, three are collaborations, each from a different decade. "Don ' t Go Breaking My Heart" with Kiki Dee was the World's number one single in 1976, "That's What Friends Are For" teamed Dionne Warwick with Elton, Gladys Knight and Stevie Wonder in 1985, and the live recording of "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me " by George Michael and Elton went to number one in both the US and UK in 1991. Proceeds from both "That' s What Friends Are For" and "Don ' t Let The Sun Go Down On Me" were dedicated to fighting AIDS, as have Elton John ' s royalties on all his singles in the last several years. He began making this form of donation in Britain in 1990, just in time for his UK number one hit "Sacrifice," and started the same practice in America two years later, beginning with his international top ten hit "The One. " Devastated at the loss of numerous friends and inspired by the courage of many others fighting the disease, Elton resolved to use his energy and influence to make the greatest contribution he could in the great struggle. At the end of 1992 the star began one of the most successful charities in show business history, the Elton John AIDS Foundation - an international non-profit organization with bases in the USA and the UK. The Foundation supports projects providing direct care services for people living with HIV and AIDS, and it also funds preventative education. He wisely realized that to maximize its effectiveness in fundraising, and to avoid exhausting himself to the point of diminishing returns, the Foundation had to raise money in ways other than the Artist's own performances. The "Annual World Team Tennis All-Star `Smash Hits' with Elton John and Billie Jean King," a yearly Academy Awards Viewing party, and several art and Elton John memorabilia auctions all raise money for the Foundation. Between 1993 and 1997 the Foundation has distributed over $12 million in the US, UK and Australia to charities running effective programs in their respective locations, as well as contributing to the fight against the disease in Africa, India and Thailand.