Elton John, one of the finest musicians of all time, was born, Reginald Kenneth Dwight, on March 25, 1947, in England. His father had been a Royal Air Force trumpeter. Elton took up the piano at the age of four, and by age 11 had won a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music.
In the 1960’s, Elton had already, at least 2 failed auditions for lead singing roles in groups. After answering an ad, he began to team up with a lyricist, Bernie Taupin. Bernie would write the words, and Elton would set the music to the words. Elton would not change any of Bernie’s words. Which is pretty amazing, when writing songs.
Together, Elton and Bernie, writing separately, could put out a song in less than 2 hours. They began writing songs for a record label, at first for other artists. Elton’s first songs recorded for himself, were not well accepted. But within a couple of years the songwriting duo were pumping out mega hits. And Elton, the once rejected lead singer, became the most popular artist of the 1970s
Elton has put together an amazing career. He has worked through some troubling addictions, and turned out to be an amazing success story. In his career, spanning more than 4 decades, Elton has sold more than 250 million records. A piano has 88 keys. And we each have the same basic sounding piano available to us. But out of the millions of people who have sat at that same piano, Elton makes magic out of those thousands of various sound combinations.
Maybe it is talent? Maybe it is love of what we are doing? Maybe it is the intense desire to succeed after failing? But we each are capable of greatness. And it is important to note that failure almost always must precede any great and lasting success.

Richard Desmond, born on December 8, 1951, was living with his mother in a garage apartment after his parents’ divorce. He had dropped out of school at the age of fourteen, had become a drummer, and worked in a newspaper classifieds department. But by age twenty-one, after working at another company, he soon owned two record stores. By the next year, Richard had acquired an interest in a publishing company and in 1974 published a magazine called International Musician and Recording World. He currently owns dozens of titles—a true “rags to riches” story. In 2009 he was ranked as the forty-fourth richest man in Britain.
C- 2011 John Paul Carinci from his self help book: An All-Consuming Desire To Succeed

Author's Bio: 

John Paul Carinci has been a successful insurance executive and president of Carinci Insurance Agency, Inc., for 35 years.

John is also an author, songwriter, poet, and CEO of Better Off Dead Productions, Inc., a movie production company.
As a worldwide published author, some of John’s other works include: The Power of Being Different, In Exchange of Life, Share Your Mission #5, A Second Chance , The Psychic Boy Detective, Better Off Dead, Better Off Dead In Paradise, and A Gift from Above.

John is also co-writer of the screenplays: Better Off Dead, A Second Chance, and Better Off Dead in Paradise, which were all adapted from his novels, and may one day be produced as motion pictures.

John’s first self-help book, The Power of Being Different, has been translated and published in many foreign countries.

John latest self-help book: An All-Consuming Desire To Succeed, has just received very favorable reviews and is now available for sale.