Both singers of a similar genre and similar age, but who do you prefer?

I slightly prefer Elton, Rod is very good but Elton has slightly more songs that I consider to be classics

Not keen on either, but Elton by a country mile

prefer rod, but not a fan of either - by a mile.

Rod The God (as my Mum calls him! ). I like loads and loads of his songs, but only a few of Elton's.

Interesting view points so far. Elton is definitely more mainstream and a bigger artist in general which means that most on here would prefer Rod

What about if you added David Bowie into the list? I personally am not a Bowie fan so would rate him lower than the others

Prefer Rod's songs to Elton's. Rod's had 6 UK No.1's too and Elton's had three but only two solo and one of those was a tribute song.

There's been a story that Rod and Elton jokingly discussed forming a one-off supergroup under the name "Hair, Nose and Teeth" - any guesses who the "Teeth" of the trio would have been!? :P

tbh i never understood why elton was so popular. he was never hip, never 'down with the kids', unlike rod who was for a while in the early 70's.

rod had a better pedigree too, rod the mod being part of the uk r & b scene, in steampacket.

It was Freddie Mercury

Well Rod can still sing unlike Elton for a start.

To be honest I always preferred Rod Stewart, though I do appreciate EJs musicality.

Prefer Rod's vocals but only really thought he was ok in his early days. From the late 70's onwards, he became a parody.

Not a fan of Elton but he has written some very good pop songs. I see him far more as a songwriter than a singer.

Elton John

...he has the better back catalogue.

Actually that's not quite true. In the late 60s Elton John gained success first in the States, particularly in LA where he had a regular gig at the Troubador and word quickly spread around. He was a big name in the States for 2 years before he achieved success in the UK.

Can't agree with that. Neither are what they were but Rod's has lost all it's strength.

Yes, I remember the first time I was in the US, 'Bennie and the Jets' was everywhere, yet it hardly registered in the UK.

I feel the 70s music of both artists was generally great. With EJ, all the albums up to 'Capt. Fantastic' were lauded as great songwriting. You might stay the same for Rod up to 'Atlantic Crossing', although Rod has never been as prolific a songwriter as Elton. I can't say I have listened to much of either since the mid-80s.

was that being hip though? or caberet?... lol.. fair point though

That pretty much sums it up for me as well. I never bought anything by EJ, although I've liked quite a few of his songs, but not too many. Blue Eyes (1980) I still feel was his last great song. But I did buy Every Picture Tells A Story (1971) by Rod which remains one of my favourite albums to this day.


Definitely not cabaret then. He was considered very much an underground act that was about to become mega and a must-see in 1969, especially as he came from the UK and the Yanks loved all that. In fact Elton's physical image was quite conservative. He wore horn-rimmed specs and was quite introvert. If you see his eponymous 2nd album cover Elton looked more like an accountant than a rock/pop star, He changed dramatically and 'glammed up' once he he had his first big hit here with Your Song.