John Elefante
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| John Elefante | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | John Elefante |
| Born | March 18 1958 (age 49) |
| Origin | Levittown, New York, Image:Flag of the United States.svg |
| Genre(s) | CCM Rock |
| Occupation(s) | songwriter, producer, singer |
| Instrument(s) | vocals |
| Years active | 1981-present |
| Associated acts | Kansas Mastedon |
John Elefante (born March 18, 1958 in Levittown, New York) is a Grammy Award-winning American rock and roll vocalist, who got his start in Long Beach, California, singing vocals and playing the drums for his family band, The Brotherhood. He is also remembered as the boyfriend of high school beauty Mary Lynn Monroy (formerly Mary Lynn Reynolds). Some say she inspired him to break into the music business, which later led to his success with the rock band Kansas. Elefante was the replacement for the original Kansas vocalist, Steve Walsh, who left Kansas in 1981. He appeared on two Kansas albums, Vinyl Confessions (1981) and Drastic Measures (1983), and sang the vocals on the hit singles "Play the Game Tonight" and "Fight Fire With Fire."
Elefante, along with founding Kansas members Kerry Livgren and Dave Hope, left Kansas at the end of 1984. All three by that point had become born again Christians, and began recording contemporary Christian music after leaving Kansas. Livgren and Hope formed the band AD, while Elefante pursued a solo career. John Elefante, along with his brother Dino Elefante, would go on to form the band Mastedon, as well as becoming noted as record producers under the Pakaderm Records label (motto "The Rock Stomps Here") for a number of contemporary Christian recording artists, including Sweet Comfort Band, Petra, Guardian, Barren Cross, and X-Sinner.
A song by John Elefante called "Young and Innocent" (co-produced with legendary producer David Foster) is found on the soundtrack to the 1985 film, St. Elmo's Fire. He also guested on the song "We Need Jesus" on Petra Praise 2: We Need Jesus, together with Foreigner's Lou Gramm and Petra's John Schlitt.
Elefante has won three Grammy Awards as well as multiple Dove Awards.
He currently has one daughter, named Natalie.
Contents |
[edit] Releases
[edit] Kansas
- Vinyl Confessions (1982, Kirshner)
- Drastic Measures (1983, Kirshner)
- The Best of Kansas (1984)
[edit] Mastedon
- It's a Jungle Out There! (1989)
- Lofcaudio (1990)
[edit] Solo
- Windows Of Heaven (1995)
- Corridors (1997)
- Defying Gravity (1999) Review: HM Magazine[1])
(Also appears on "Vestal & Friends II" sings "They Will Know We Are Christians By Our Love")
- Dust In The Wind (single) (2006)
[edit] References
- ^ Van Pelt, Doug (January/February 2000). "Album Reviews: JOHN ELEFANTE, Defying Gravity". HM Magazine (81). ISSN 1066-6923.
