Nigel Olsson

Best-known as the drummer in Elton John's early-'70s backing band, Nigel Olsson was born February 10, 1949, in the small Cheshire (now Merseyside) town of Wallasey, England. As a teenager, he lived in Sunderland, where he sang lead in a group called the Fireflies and took up the drums when their regular drummer quit. At 17, he and good friend Mick Grabham successfully auditioned for the psychedelic pop band Plastic Penny, which released two albums from 1968-1969 and scored a hit with "Everything I Am" before disbanding. Olsson subsequently joined the Spencer Davis Group, which...