What hardships did Elton John overcome?

Answer 1

He has had many problems during his career. His first problem, he believed, was his name, because it really wasn't a rock star name, so he changed it from Reginal Kenneth Dwight to Elton (Hercules) John. When he revealed he was bisexual, his audience shrunk back in size. During the late 70's and for all of the 80's, he was abusing drugs and alcohol so heavily that it was amazing that he made it out alive. He got into fights with his original lyricist Bernie Taupin, and worked with other lyricists starting in 1979, with not the best results, until his reunition with Bernie in 1983 for the album Too Low For Zero. After that, his marriage to Renate Blauel created much controversy and then had the media constantly attacking him. They divorced in 1998. Not to mention, he needed two hair replacement surguries because his hair was thinning off. He finally checked into rehabilitation for his substance abuse in 1990. His songwriting hasn't been the strongest and until 2001's Songs From The West Coast, hasn't had a wholly consistently high-quality album since Blue Moves, in 1977. From the early 90's until now, he's been also a strong-mouthed controvertialist. Most infamously, he has a bad temper that has been only under control for a few years.