Legendary singer Elton John explained during an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert that he hated his birth name Reginald but that it fits him nonetheless given his sexuality.
John, born Reginald Kenneth Dwight, reflected on the transformation that propelled him to stardom, emphasizing the importance of shedding the name given to him by his parents to forge his own identity.
After Colbert said John's birthname is "a lovely name," John disagreed, saying:
"It's a s**t name." ... Who the hell calls their— a little baby? A little baby? 'Reginald, oh Reginald.'"
He then discussed the origin of his birth name:
"I was named after my mum's brother because she wanted to call me Raymond, but my father disagreed so they had a huge argument — which wasn't unusual — and I became Reginald and I hated it."
Noting that there have been famous "Reggies" in the United States but that it's a far less popular name in England, he added:
It wasn't Reggie, it was Reginald. Like, who the hell? As soon as I could change it, I did."
Then Colbert pointed out something funny about the name "Reginald":
"Reginald's the male version of Regina, which means 'Queen."
An amused John replied:
"Thank you. They got it spot on. In 1947, they knew what they were doing."
You can watch their exchange in the video below.
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His fans couldn't get enough of that answer.
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John also confirmed to Colbert that "the juices have never dried up" and that "of course there will be new Elton John music," which delighted his fans immensely.
John later chose the name Elton Hercules John, recalling that he got the idea from two members of the 1960s British blues band Bluesology, which he performed with earlier in his career:
"The saxophone player was called Elton Dean. And I thought, 'Elton! There's not many Eltons in the world, that's pretty unusual."
John adopted his last name from the band’s vocalist, Long John Baldry, and chose Hercules as his middle name, inspired by the horse from the beloved British sitcom Steptoe and Son. This marked the second phase of his transformation. Reflecting on the change, John acknowledged that renaming himself ultimately began to shape who he was as a person.
He said:
"The sad thing about it was, by 1975, when I was Elton Hercules John, Reg had been lost, and I craved to find that little boy that I used to be. I had become 'Elton John: Superstar' and I paid the price for being so famous and not having that foundation."
"Fame is a very weird thing. I enjoyed every single minute of it until I realized that the only thing in my life was fame. I didn't like it and I got very unhappy, my moods shifted, I started doing drugs, and I just thought, 'Where am I? Who am I? What have I become?'"
"And all that changed in 1990 when I did get sober, when I refound my old self, and it was lovely to find that little boy again."
It's safe to say that John, who legally changed his name in 1972, has been rocking this new chapter ever since.
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