Guy Babylon Biography
Guy was born Guy Graham Babylon II on December 20, 1956 in New Windsor, Maryland. He attended Francis Scott Key High School
where he excelled at a number of sports, including football, basketball and track and field, in fact he held many
track and field records for the school that stood for many years. He also swam competitively and broke and held many
records, including some of Olympic champion Mark Spitz's records. He continued his education with a full athletic
scholarship at the University of South Florida. His final composition
dissertation was titled, "TV Dinner Music" and among the many he thanked was Johnny B. Goode!
Guy's senior high school yearbook photo:
While students were permitted to state their objectives with their senior photos, Guy quoted
Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven." He listed his hobbies as listening to music and playing
piano but left undecided what his career would be. He was also voted "Most Musical" along with a
female classmate.
Six months after graduating with
a BA in music composition and theory, he moved to California and joined up with the band Iron Butterfly.
After a year or so he went his own way, composing music for radio and tv spots, tv and cable shows,
doing demo work and putting together a home studio.
Guy's studio work took off, he was doing TV and radio spots, music for many short films and modern
dance productions, served as music director and composer for "That's Aerobics" cable series by Grey
Castle Productions, and did music cues for Valley Federal Savings. Guy posed below with his
recording equipment at his studio:
Guy also did music for a number of
Disney and Epcot shows and games. In fact, if you watch any Disney programs or spots you will probably
hear some of the music Guy composed in the 80s.
Guy performing at a local music fest in the mid 1980s:
In the March 1987 issue of Keyboard magazine, Guy was announced as the winner of the 2nd Annual Reader Tape Contest with his entry, Babylon Bleu, and was highlighted in a feature article. It was around this time that Guy met Davey Johnstone during a recording session for the band Jace. A year later, when Elton was looking to add an additional keyboard player, Davey thought of Guy.
In the late 80s, the single KISSING sung by Seidah Garrett was a big dance hit. Guy composed the music and performed
on the KISSING track for the album, Kiss of Life.
Guy and Bob Birch both were part of the band Ashton, and performed on the group's album Modern
Pilgrim, released in August 1988. Pictured below is Ashton: from left, Devin Powers, Zak Starkey, Mark Ashton, Mandy Meyer,
Bob Birch and Guy Babylon.
Guy's first live performance with Elton was for a benefit at the Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles in July 1988.
Guy embarked on his first world tour as part of the Elton John Band in 1989.
Guy takes a bow with Elton on his first world tour in 1989, © Hercules magazine
See a video clip of Guy's introduction at his first concert as a member of the Elton John Band in July 1988.
Guy's 20th Anniversary with Elton!
July of 2008 marked Guy's 20th anniversary as a keyboardist in the Elton John Band! His first concert appearance with Elton was a fundraiser in LA in July, 1988, and shortly after he embarked on his first Elton album recording, Sleeping with the Past, and first world tour. Since then, he has performed in concert with Elton 1,234 times!
See a video clip of Guy's introduction
at his first concert as a member of the Elton John Band in July 1988. Seems like just the other day!
A photo array from the early years:
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F2F in Anaheim Guy's 1,300th Show with Elton!
Face 2 Face continued Monday night, March 30, in Anaheim, ending the March segment of the
tour, which coincidentally was Guy's 1,300th show
with Elton! WOW! Congrats, Guy!
Check out this review from the
LA Times from the Saturday show in Anaheim!
Guy with Elton through the years
Check out the new Tour Books page, with photos of Guy on tour throughout
the year! Includes the latest tour program from the European Red Piano tour and the new Face 2 Face
tour book that was just released in May 2009!
Some trivia for you - Guy joined the Elton John Band in July 1988 as a keyboardist. He became the lead
keyboardist in 1992, and on Sept. 6, 1993, at the Walden Woods show he began his long stint as the only keyboardist Elton would
ever need!
Ever wonder how many shows Elton has done? Since 1970, he has done over 2600 shows. Guy has participated in
1,351 of those shows. Guy is the third-longest standing member of Elton's band, after Davey Johnstone and
Nigel Olsson.
Guy joined with Davey Johnstone to form Warpipes in 1990, and they were joined by future band mates
Billy Trudel, Bob Birch and Nigel Olsson. The band released their first album, Holes in the
Heavens, in 1991 to critical acclaim, but their record company went bankrupt and therefore no promotion for
the album. The album was re-released in
1995, with the self-title Warpipes.
Guy won a Grammy Award in 2001 for his work arranging the musical Aida. Guy has also been involved in the
musical Billy Elliott and the more recent Lestat, which closed in May 2006. Guy also produced the soundtrack
for the movie, The Muse.
Elton and band on 2009 F2F tour:
Guy recorded and toured with the Elton John Band for 21 years, including 243 performances in Las Vegas for
the Red Piano shows at the Colosseum in Caesar's Palace. The most recent album is The Captain and the Kid
released in fall 2006.
l-r at the Red Piano: Elton, John Mahon, Bob Birch, Guy Babylon, Nigel Olsson, and Davey Johnstone