“Tiny Dancer” is a song written by English musician Elton John and songwriter Bernie Taupin, and performed by John. It was originally released on John’s 1971 album Madman Across the Water, and was later released as a single in 1972. It was ranked No. 47 on the 2021 list of Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.[1] In the United States, it was certified gold on 19 May 2005, platinum on 19 August 2011 and 3× platinum on 26 April 2018 by the Recording Industry Association of America.[2] In the UK, “Tiny Dancer” was certified gold on 17 August 2018 by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) for sales of 400,000 copies. On 2 August 2019 it was certified platinum for sales of 600,000 and on 24 December 2021 it was certified 2× Platinum for sales of 1,200,000, despite never being released as an official single there. With lyrics written by Bernie Taupin, the song was first featured as the opening track to John’s 1971 album, Madman Across the Water. The song’s lyrics were inspired by Taupin’s first visit to the US in 1970, and were intended to capture the spirit of California, where he found the women he met highly contrasted with those who he had known in his home country of England.[3][4][5][6] Taupin also stated in a 1973 interview in Rolling Stone that the song is about Maxine Feibelman, his wife at the time.[7] In 2019, Feibelman said, “I knew [the song] was about me. I had been into ballet as a little girl and sewed patches on Elton’s jackets and jeans”,[8] referring to the song’s description of a “seamstress for the band”.

While all of this has been a fantastic experience, it has left out kids who attend schools in underprivileged, more diverse communities without funding for modern music education. Schools and districts in these areas lack funding for the equipment, teachers, curriculum, and support necessary to facilitate rock-band-style programs like the ones I’ve created.

My mission was to tackle this head-on and bring these exceptional programs to students in economically challenged areas, so I sold my music schools and am launching The Van Tuyl Music Foundation to forever change music education. Our foundation will directly provide the funding for the equipment, instruction, curriculum, and support necessary to facilitate these programs.

Ryan Van Tuyl

While all of this has been a fantastic experience, it has left out kids who attend schools in underprivileged, more diverse communities without funding for modern music education. Schools and districts in these areas lack funding for the equipment, teachers, curriculum, and support necessary to facilitate rock-band-style programs like the ones I’ve created.

My mission was to tackle this head-on and bring these exceptional programs to students in economically challenged areas, so I sold my music schools and am launching The Van Tuyl Music Foundation to forever change music education. Our foundation will directly provide the funding for the equipment, instruction, curriculum, and support necessary to facilitate these programs.

Ryan Van Tuyl

“Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” is a ballad written by English musician Elton John and songwriter Bernie Taupin, and performed by John. It is the title track on John’s album of the same name. The titular road is a reference to L. Frank Baum’s The Wizard of Oz film and book series. The song has been widely praised by critics; some consider it a strong contender for John’s finest song ever. Rolling Stone listed the song at No. 390 of its 500 greatest songs of all time in 2010. In the US, it was certified gold on 4 January 1974 and platinum on 13 September 1995 and 2× platinum on 2 March 2020 by the RIAA. The lyrics, written by Taupin, contain autobiographical elements, referring to his childhood on a farm in Lincolnshire. The song expresses a desire to get back to one’s “roots”, a common theme of Taupin’s early lyrics. In 2014, Taupin reflected, “It’s been said many times, but Goodbye Yellow Brick Road is a cinematic album. The lyrics to the title track do say that I want to leave Oz and get back to the farm. I think that’s still my M.O. these days. I don’t mind getting out there and doing what everybody else was doing, but I always had to have an escape hatch.” The Van Tuyl Music Foundation was founded to forever change music education through funding and instituting first class, modernized music programs in schools and organizations that serve a diverse range of ages, ethnicities, and economic backgrounds.

Hi, my name is Ryan Van Tuyl, and since 2004 I’ve helped thousands of kids learn piano, singing, guitar, bass, drums, and songwriting in schools all over the world. The programs I’ve created teach kids how to achieve their musical dreams and become better, hardworking individuals through learning to play and perform rock, pop, hip-hop, blues, metal, and jazz music. Graduates of my programs have attended prestigious music colleges and universities. However, these programs have only been able to exist in middle-to-upper-class communities, where parents can afford to fund music education for their children directly.

While all of this has been a fantastic experience, it has left out kids who attend schools in underprivileged, more diverse communities without funding for modern music education. Schools and districts in these areas lack funding for the equipment, teachers, curriculum, and support necessary to facilitate rock-band-style programs like the ones I’ve created.

My mission was to tackle this head-on and bring these exceptional programs to students in economically challenged areas, so I sold my music schools and am launching The Van Tuyl Music Foundation to forever change music education. Our foundation will directly provide the funding for the equipment, instruction, curriculum, and support necessary to facilitate these programs.

Ryan Van Tuyl

“Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me” is a song written by English musician Elton John and his lyricist Bernie Taupin. It was originally recorded by John for his eighth studio album, Caribou (1974), and was released as a single that peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and reached number 16 on the UK Singles Chart. A version of the song recorded live as a duet between John and George Michael reached number one in the UK in 1991 and in the US in 1992. The pair had performed the song together for the first time at Live Aid at Wembley Stadium in July, 1985. “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me” was co-written by Elton John and Bernie Taupin during a ten-day period in January 1974 along with the other songs for John’s Caribou album. The song was released as the first single from the album in May 1974 in the United Kingdom, and on 10 June 1974 in the United States. The chorus of the song is supported with a horn arrangement by Del Newman, and features backing vocals by Carl Wilson and Bruce Johnston of the Beach Boys and Toni Tennille. The original backing vocalists were Cat Stevens, Danny Hutton, Gerry Beckley, Dusty Springfield and Brian Wilson but according to Bruce “everyone was afraid of one another and I couldn’t get a performance out of anyone”.[1] Also on the song are percussion accents provided by Ray Cooper and a mellotron played by Dave Hentschel.

Hi, my name is Ryan Van Tuyl, and since 2004 I’ve helped thousands of kids learn piano, singing, guitar, bass, drums, and songwriting in schools all over the world. The programs I’ve created teach kids how to achieve their musical dreams and become better, hardworking individuals through learning to play and perform rock, pop, hip-hop, blues, metal, and jazz music. Graduates of my programs have attended prestigious music colleges and universities. However, these programs have only been able to exist in middle-to-upper-class communities, where parents can afford to fund music education for their children directly.

While all of this has been a fantastic experience, it has left out kids who attend schools in underprivileged, more diverse communities without funding for modern music education. Schools and districts in these areas lack funding for the equipment, teachers, curriculum, and support necessary to facilitate rock-band-style programs like the ones I’ve created.

My mission was to tackle this head-on and bring these exceptional programs to students in economically challenged areas, so I sold my music schools and am launching The Van Tuyl Music Foundation to forever change music education. Our foundation will directly provide the funding for the equipment, instruction, curriculum, and support necessary to facilitate these programs.

Ryan Van Tuyl