57 Years Ago: Elton John's Debut Album 'Empty Sky' Launched His Legendary Career
Long before he became Sir Elton John, the British-born performer was simply a musician in his early 20s trying to break through. In the late 1960s, John and his songwriting partner Bernie Taupin hooked up with Dick James' DJM Records, and in March 1968, John released his debut single "I've Been Loving You."
A little over a year later, on June 6, 1969, John's first studio album, Empty Sky, premiered in the United Kingdom. While it didn't achieve massive success, it officially kickstarted the career of one of rock and roll's grandest stars.
Empty Sky tracklist
- Empty Sky
- Val-Hala
- Western Ford Gateway
- Hymn 2000
- Lady What's Tomorrow
- Sails
- The Scaffold
- Skyline Pigeon
- Gulliver / Hay Chewed / Reprise
The 1995 Mercury and 1996 Rocket reissues of the album also contain four bonus tracks: "Lady Samantha," "All Across The Havens," "It's Me That You Need," and "Just Like Strange Rain."
Looking back
Only 22 at the time, John's maiden album "hinted at greatness to come," wrote Ultimate Classic Rock in 2018.
Stephen Thomas Erlewine echoed a similar sentiment in a review penned for All Music.
"With its ambitious arrangements and lyrics, it's clear that John and Taupin intended the album to be a major statement," Erlewine said. "Though it shows some signs of John's R&B roots, most of the album alternates between vaguely psychedelic rock and Taupin and John's burgeoning pop songcraft, capped off by a bizarre reprise of brief moments of all of the songs on the record. There aren't any forgotten gems on Empty Sky, but it does suggest John's potential."
John himself would also express some sentimentality regarding the album and what it meant.
"Making the Empty Sky album still holds the nicest memories for me, because it was the first, I suppose," Sir Elton later said, via UDiscoverMusic. "We used to walk back from the sessions at about four in the morning and stay at the Salvation Army headquarters in Oxford Street. Steve Brown's dad used to run the place and he used to live above it.
What happened next
Ten months after the release of Empty Sky, John dropped his self-titled second album, which included "Your Song," his breakthrough single and still one of his most recognizable hits.
John's fourth album, 1971's Madman Across The Water, contained two more hits, "Levon" and "Tiny Dancer." Then, in 1972, he released "Rocket Man" off his fifth album, Honky Chateau, and the full-blown rise to superstardom was well on its way.
This story was originally published by Men's Journal on Jun 6, 2026, where it first appeared in the Entertainment section. Add Men's Journal as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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This story was originally published June 6, 2026 at 3:19 AM.