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John Elefante
John Elefante (born March 18, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. From 1981–1984, he was lead vocalist of the rock group Kansas and is currently touring with several groups that have featured members from classic rock bands. His credits include writing and singing lead vocals on three multi-platinum albums. He produced albums that have earned numerous GMA Dove Awards, four Grammy Awards (most recently in 2000), and ten Grammy nominations. He has maintained a close working relationship with his brother, Dino, co-writer of several Kansas songs.
He was born in Levittown, New York, but his family soon moved to Long Beach, California. He sang and played drums for his family band, The Brotherhood.
In late 1981, Elefante auditioned for his second band position, as the new lead singer and keyboardist for Kansas, after the departure of its co-founder Steve Walsh. The previous year, Kansas was one of the top-grossing concert acts in the world. Several of the top vocalists of the time applied for the job, including Sammy Hagar, Dennis "Fergie" Frederiksen, and Jim Stafford.
Elefante did lead vocals and keyboards on two albums, and was a major songwriter along with Kerry Livgren. On 1982's Vinyl Confessions, he sang the No. 4 Billboard Mainstream Rock hit, "Play the Game Tonight". He wrote "Chasing Shadows" and the Top 40 single, "Right Away". In 1983, on the following album, Drastic Measures, he wrote "Fight Fire with Fire", which remains the band's highest charting single at No. 3 (Mainstream Rock). He wrote "Everybody's My Friend", which is the second single and reached No. 34 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart.
While with Kansas, he became a record producer. He issued Perfect Timing (1984) for the Southern California group, Sweet Comfort Band. Though not a major commercial success, Petra's Back to the Street was a Grammy-nominated, breakthrough, commercial success for both Elefante and the band. He also contributed songwriting, keyboards, background vocals, and engineering to the effort.
In 1984, on the retrospective collection The Best of Kansas, he wrote the album's one new track, "Perfect Lover". That year, he, Kerry Livgren, and Dave Hope left the band.
In 1985, "Young and Innocent" appeared on the soundtrack to St. Elmo's Fire and was credited to "Elefante" – a collaborative effort by John and his brother Dino Elefante.
With both John and Dino Elefante as the band's primary producers, Petra's already popular Christian pop/rock niche was given a boost. Their accolades include multiple gold albums, 10 consecutive CCM Magazine Reader's Choice Awards, induction into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame and Hard Rock Cafe, and becoming the only artist to ever have four albums in the SoundScan top-100 Christian chart.
John Elefante
John Elefante (born March 18, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. From 1981–1984, he was lead vocalist of the rock group Kansas and is currently touring with several groups that have featured members from classic rock bands. His credits include writing and singing lead vocals on three multi-platinum albums. He produced albums that have earned numerous GMA Dove Awards, four Grammy Awards (most recently in 2000), and ten Grammy nominations. He has maintained a close working relationship with his brother, Dino, co-writer of several Kansas songs.
He was born in Levittown, New York, but his family soon moved to Long Beach, California. He sang and played drums for his family band, The Brotherhood.
In late 1981, Elefante auditioned for his second band position, as the new lead singer and keyboardist for Kansas, after the departure of its co-founder Steve Walsh. The previous year, Kansas was one of the top-grossing concert acts in the world. Several of the top vocalists of the time applied for the job, including Sammy Hagar, Dennis "Fergie" Frederiksen, and Jim Stafford.
Elefante did lead vocals and keyboards on two albums, and was a major songwriter along with Kerry Livgren. On 1982's Vinyl Confessions, he sang the No. 4 Billboard Mainstream Rock hit, "Play the Game Tonight". He wrote "Chasing Shadows" and the Top 40 single, "Right Away". In 1983, on the following album, Drastic Measures, he wrote "Fight Fire with Fire", which remains the band's highest charting single at No. 3 (Mainstream Rock). He wrote "Everybody's My Friend", which is the second single and reached No. 34 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart.
While with Kansas, he became a record producer. He issued Perfect Timing (1984) for the Southern California group, Sweet Comfort Band. Though not a major commercial success, Petra's Back to the Street was a Grammy-nominated, breakthrough, commercial success for both Elefante and the band. He also contributed songwriting, keyboards, background vocals, and engineering to the effort.
In 1984, on the retrospective collection The Best of Kansas, he wrote the album's one new track, "Perfect Lover". That year, he, Kerry Livgren, and Dave Hope left the band.
In 1985, "Young and Innocent" appeared on the soundtrack to St. Elmo's Fire and was credited to "Elefante" – a collaborative effort by John and his brother Dino Elefante.
With both John and Dino Elefante as the band's primary producers, Petra's already popular Christian pop/rock niche was given a boost. Their accolades include multiple gold albums, 10 consecutive CCM Magazine Reader's Choice Awards, induction into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame and Hard Rock Cafe, and becoming the only artist to ever have four albums in the SoundScan top-100 Christian chart.
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