Elton John has been a prominent figure in the American music scene since he first premiered in the United States at the Troubadour nightclub in Los Angeles on August 25, 1970.

Since then, he has gone on to become one of the most successful musicians ever and has championed more humanitarian causes than any other musician in history. He has also become a friend to the entire world.

According to the Hercules International, Elton John Fan Club home page, Elton first started playing piano when he was four years old. His father wouldn’t allow him to have rock-and-roll music in the house, so he mainly depended on his mother to smuggle recordings to him.

His early fascination with rock and blues (his stage name is a combination of two of his influences, singer John Baldry and saxophonist Elton Dean) would later influence all of his biggest hits.

In 1967, Elton put an advertisement into a London paper looking for a song writer. Bernie Taupin answered the ad and the two began a musical relationship that produced some of the biggest hits in musical history.

It is quite surprising that an artist who spent most of the seventies dressing up in flamboyant clothes (who can forget his platform shoes, loud outfits and bizarre glasses?) and struggling with his sexual orientation was welcomed into the social conscience.

Yet, his track record proves this is indeed what happened. According to Billboard Magazine, Elton has sold more than 80 million albums across the world. He has had 23 Top 40 hits, 15 Top 10 singles and five songs which skyrocketed to No. 1.

Among his hit songs are such radio staples as “Rocket Man,” “The Bitch Is Back,” “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road,” “Bennie and the Jets,” “Don’t Go Breakin’ My Heart (first with Kiki Dee and later with RuPaul),” “I Guess That’s Why They Call It The Blues,” “Candle In The Wind,” “Sad Songs (Say So Much),” “I Don’t Want To Go On With You Like That” and “The One” (just to name a brief few).

In 1971, Elton became the second artist in music history to have four albums in the American Top-Ten simultaneously and would eventually have seven consecutive albums chart at No. 1.

He gave a free concert at New York’s Central Park in 1981 that drew 400,000 people. He was the first Western singer ever to tour the Soviet Union.

His tribute to Princess Diana, “Candle In The Wind ’97” has become the best-selling song in music history and one of the most memorable as Elton played it at Diana’s funeral.

He has a star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame and was also deservingly inducted into the Rock-and-Roll Hall of Fame in 1994.

His soundtrack to 1994’s “The Lion King” earned him an Album of the Year award and another award for Best Male Pop Vocal. The soundtrack garnered him five Grammy nominations and three Academy Award nominations.

But Elton’s greatest achievement has been the amount of support he has gained for humanitarian causes. He became close friends with a hemophiliac afflicted with the AIDS virus named Ryan White.

White’s death in 1990 almost destroyed Elton, but eventually led him to seek treatment for his drug addiction. Most importantly for the world, it led Elton to form the Elton John AIDS Foundation in 1992.

The Foundation’s goal, according to its Web site, is “to promote the welfare of people with HIV and AIDS by assisting in the provision of the medical and nursing care plus any necessary facilities and equipment.”

It also provides support to “alleviate the physical, mental and financial hardship caused by AIDS and to promote the education of the family and friends of AIDS sufferers, the general public and national and local public authorities in matters relating to the AIDS virus.”

During the last year, the Foundation has sponsored several charitable events including the Montserrat Benefit at Royal Albert Hall in London featuring Eric Clapton, Paul McCartney and Sting and the UNICEF benefit at Aschaffenburg, Germany, which raised $180,000 for the African AIDS project, according to German newspapers.

The Foundation also created the annual World Team Tennis All-Star Smash Hits Tennis Tournament, which was held this year at Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Florida, and featured Billie Jean King, Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras among others.

Unfortunately, the man who has made so many people happy has had to deal with a lot of pain. His good friend John Lennon, formerly of the Beatles, was shot to death. Lennon’s last live performance was with Elton in 1974 at Madison Square Garden. The two of them had joined to deliver their hit song “Whatever Gets You Through The Night.”

His close friend Gianni Versace, the world-famous fashion designer, was shot to death in front of his home. Versace designed Elton’s stage clothes and personal wardrobe. He also designed the album cover for Elton’s CD, “The One.”

Then, less than two months later, another of Elton’s best friends, Princess Diana, was killed in a car accident. Amidst these two recent tragedies, Elton has still found the strength to carry on, appearing on numerous television shows (including Oprah Winfrey, the Today Show and the Tonight Show), embarking on a world tour, releasing a new CD (“The Big Picture”) and preparing for a tour with Billy Joel next year.

Elton John will be bringing his amazing strength and his record- breaking music to Hilton Coliseum tonight at 8 p.m.. Tickets are sold out.