Elton John turns 75: The pop icon’s most spectacular specs

Sir Elton John is rarely seen without a pair of glasses on, and throughout his music career – which has spanned six decades – he’s amassed a huge collection.

The legendary singer-songwriter, who celebrates his 75th birthday on March 25, said in a BBC Radio 2 interview: “I don’t have an iPod or a mobile phone or a computer. I do have a quarter of a million pairs of glasses but I don’t even have a mobile phone.”

But you don’t need to visit the pop star’s accessories archive to check out his life in spectacles.

To mark his milestone birthday, these are Sir Elton’s best glasses moments…

Stars in their eyes

The singer-songwriter scored a string of hit albums and singles in the Seventies. He sported these star-shaped glasses in 1974, the same year he released the original version of Candle in the Wind.

Seventies sunnies

Meeting the Queen in 1977, the pop star accessorised his checkerboard-lapel suit with a pair of oversized round sunglasses.

Cowboy cool

Pictured at Heathrow Airport in 1982, the pop star chose huge wraparound sunnies to go with his leather jacket, cowboy hat and Watford FC bag.

Stripy shades

Worn by the singer in 1983, these asymmetrical striped sunglasses are like something out of a Picasso painting.

Small change

In the Nineties, John ditched his signature oversized specs and started wearing much smaller styles, like these diamond shaped frames seen in 1995.

Feeling blue

He matched a pair of blue lenses with this eye-popping satin suit in 1996.

Purple pair

By the time the Noughties arrived, the micro glasses trend was over, but the singer, who was knighted in 1998, was still matching his specs to his suits.

Sparkly specs

Attending the 2009 Elton John AIDS Foundation party, the pop star showed off a bespoke pair of sunnies emblazoned with diamante crystals spelling out his initials.

Gnome sweet gnome

Pictured at the LA premiere of Gnomeo and Juliet in 2010, the singer – who was executive producer and contributed to the soundtrack – poked fun at his specs-obsession, donning a pair of novelty gnome glasses.

Doing the rounds

These days, the pop icon’s fashion choices are a lot more conservative than in his early showbiz years, but he’ll still surprise us with a dazzling pair of designer glasses every so often, like the big round frames he wore on the Graham Norton Show in 2017.

Fair and  square

Rewarded for his services to music and charity, Sir Elton was made a member of the Order of the Companions of Honour in 2021. Accepting the honour at Windsor Castle, he looked dapper in a dark suit and blue tie accessorised with a trendy pair of angular oversized frames.