Elton John is the most successful solo pop star Britain has produced. And these pictures, taken by Terry O’Neill, show him at his peak in the US in the 1970s; he was bigger than everyone, and his two performances at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles in 1975 proved him to be an unsurpassable live act.

No single photograph better demonstrates the hold a rock star can have over the public than the one O’Neill took of Elton in his sequined Dodgers uniform, surveying a crowd of tens of thousands from his keyboard. “He was having the time of his life,” says O’Neill. “He was producing endless bestselling records and giving amazing, electrifying performances. Physically, he was really putting himself through the mill – he put so much energy into his piano-playing – but he didn’t seem exhausted. Just happy and confident. There were, of course, a few tantrums, but you would expect those of any rock star.”

The guest list at the concert was Hollywood A-plus list, including Cary Grant and Candice Bergen. According to O’Neill: “Everyone who was anyone turned up.”

Elton was also becoming very rich. The money kept pouring in during the early and mid-1970s for the simple reason that Elton, the lyricist Bernie Taupin and their band produced great work at a phenomenal rate. Unlike today, when listeners are lucky to get one album every three years from their favourite artists, stars in the 1970s released at least one album and three singles each year. Elton outpaced everyone, partly owing to contractual obligations, putting out four albums in 1971 alone.

Times Archive, 1976: Elton John at Earl's Court

The stage show must surely be one of the top contenders to replace Gary Glitter as the apogee of high camp

• Elton John - a long way from a pound a night, 1975

A year later he began the greatest string of consecutive No 1 albums a solo artist has had in the US, Honky Chateau being the first of seven such hits. Those of us who were privileged to be in Elton’s circle watched America go crazy from the inside. He had 17 hit singles, including five No 1s, in four years. Other album tracks, particularly Pinball Wizard and Harmony, were given airplay as if they were singles. John Lennon and Neil Sedaka had No 1s with Elton singing on backing vocals. Radio couldn’t get enough of the Rocket Man’s material. Perhaps realising things couldn’t get better, Elton shared his big moment with his loved ones by hiring a private jet to fly family, friends and staff to LA to watch his performances at the stadium in 1975. They could only gawk at how he was treated with godlike deference in LA, the most celebrity-conscious city on Earth. The venue’s capacity for baseball games was 56,000, but for Elton’s concerts the audience was also allowed onto the pitch. These tens of thousands did not come to judge or criticise him. They came to admire and idolise; their enthusiasm knew no ear-splitting bounds. The timing of the concerts was perfect. October 25 was the last day at No 1 for Sedaka’s Bad Blood, with Elton’s prominent backing vocal, released on his Rocket Records. The next day was the start of his own three-week run with Island Girl. Earlier that year the autobiographical Taupin-John album, Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy, had been the first LP to debut at No 1 in the US. Rock of the Westies would be the second. Today, with more sophisticated advance publicity and improved distribution, it’s more common for albums to open at the top rather than climb to it – in those days it was unprecedented.

The concerts themselves were huge events for the city of Los Angeles. Stadium shows had yet to become a regular part of pop-star tours. was only nine years since the Beatles became the first rock act to appear at Dodger Stadium. Now Elton was selling out two nights.

The hysterical crowd reaction in LA contrasted with the audience mood when Elton appeared at Wembley on June 21 of that same year. He chose that occasion to debut the Captain Fantastic album, playing it in full. This would have been an exciting prospect had his opening acts not included the Eagles and the Beach Boys. It was a beautiful summer’s day, perfect for Beach Boys oldies. The crowd danced so vigorously that dust rose from the pitch. Paul and Linda McCartney grooved in the stands. By the time Elton took the stage, seven hours into the show, the audience was exhausted. They applauded politely rather than enthusiastically as new song followed new song. About one-fifth of the audience started making their way home while the concert was still in progress. The album survived its launch to be acclaimed as one of the all-time Top 200 in a 2003 Rolling Stone poll.

When asked recently how he had managed to maintain his frantic 1970s pace, Elton replied: “We never thought about it. We were young and we were doing what we loved.” You look at O’Neill’s pictures and you can see just how much everybody involved loved it. Almost all of the musicians in these photos had been with Elton when he was still Reginald Dwight, struggling in the Dick James studios and working the UK club circuit to make a living.

The success of Elton John was not only the triumph of an individual piano player, wonderful as he was, but also a case study of how skilled people can come together to see a project through to spectacular fruition. O’Neill says Elton was at the top of his game. “He seemed relaxed, happy. I had got to know him pretty well over the years, and there were no signs of the problems we would later hear about.”

Although Elton was in control of his professional life, there were signs of personal turmoil. With marriage imminent, he was showing signs of depression – and reports would later emerge of a botched suicide attempt. Yet the power of the gigs in LA proved just one thing: Elton was (and is) the consummate showman.

PORTRAITS OF A SERIAL SHOWMAN

Eltonography: A Life in Pictures, by Terry O’Neill (Evans Mitchell Books, £25), is published this month. It is available at the BooksFirst price of £22.50, including p&p. Tel: 0870 165 8585. Terry O’Neill’s pictures will be on show at Proud Camden, London NW1, from September 24; www.proud.co.uk

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