Thats Why They Call It the Blues," "Sad Songs," and "Nikita." But his surprise marriage to sound engineer Renate Blauel in 1984 and full-blown drug addiction distracted from the professional suc- cess he still managed to create. The straw that almost broke the proverbial camels back was a series of articles printed in a British tabloid, the Sun, accusing the superstar of participating in wild sex orgies with young male prosti- tutes. To that point, he had faced adversity, but never an all-out assault on his character. The Elton John brand, what it and he stood for among fans, was under attack. The performer was devastated. He recalls, "For a time I wouldnt go out of the house." In October 1988, the Sun settled out of court for £1 million and a front-page apology. Despite those difficult times, he turned to work as his salvation and released Reg Strikes Back in 1988; the album spent five months on the charts. "It wasnt one of my best albums," he admits. "But it got me doing something." After its release, he auc- tioned off his glitter-rock costumes and returned to the core of the Elton John brand. This chapter in Johns life provides a valuable lesson in personal branding. When controversy rears its ugly head in the form of scandal or bad press, you have to remain active, try to function in a business- as-usual mode, and fix whatever is broken. This difficult time in Johns life shows that negative publicity can damage careers and lives but wont kill you; in fact, it can change lives for the better. Elton Johns image rebirth was in its embryonic stage, sparked by his connection to a young boy, Ryan White, who had been a loyal fan, and the friendship he formed with Ryans mother after the boys tragic AIDS-related death. The emotional experience he went through over the childs death gave him new perspectives and led to a lasting bond between John and AIDS activism. The experience forced him to take a long look at his life. By the age of 43, hed become a white-haired, over- weight addict hiding behind a Steinway. "I looked like a 70-year-old man playing the piano." The time had come to save himself from bulimia, alcohol, and drugs. He spent most of 1991 out of the public eye, then reemerged sober,     fit, and filled with a new lust for life, on George Michaels remake of "Dont Let the Sun Go Down on Me." Taupin summed it up best in a VH1 Behind the Music interview: "He made mistakes, he got into a rut, he got himself out, case closed." The 1990s brought another string of hits, among them "The One," which became his first number-one hit in 16 years. It struck an emo- tional chord with old fans from the 1970s and 1980s and new ones from the 1990s. Perhaps the greatest impact on what the Elton John