Renate Blauel is the German sound engineer who became Elton John‘s first and only wife, marrying him on Valentine’s Day 1984 and divorcing him four years later. For more than three decades afterwards she said almost nothing. Then, in 2020, her name returned to the headlines when she took Elton John to the High Court in London over his memoir and the film Rocketman.
Who Is Renate Blauel?
Renate Blauel is a German recording engineer who worked in London’s best-known studios in the late 1970s and early 1980s. She is the only woman he ever married, from 14 February 1984 until their divorce was finalised on 18 November 1988. Unlike most celebrity spouses, she walked away from fame completely. That silence lasted more than thirty years.
Renate Blauel Early Life
Little about her early life is confirmed by primary sources, and many websites state details as settled fact when they are not. She was born in Berlin, Germany. Many sites give her date of birth as 1 March 1953 and her full name as Renate Ruth Margot Blauel, and some name her father as Joachim Blauel. None of this is confirmed by a birth record, official biography or interview, so treat it as widely reported rather than verified. Before the recording industry, she was a Lufthansa flight attendant. Several accounts report she gave up flying in 1977 to train as an audio engineer, when studio engineering was an almost entirely male profession. No reliable source gives detail about her childhood or schooling.
Renate Blauel Career as a Sound Engineer
Her career was hers alone. By the early 1980s she was working in London’s top studios. Her first job is reported to have been with Croatia Records, then AIR Studios in London, the studio founded by Beatles producer George Martin, as a tape operator and assistant recording engineer. Colleagues described her as intelligent, efficient, friendly and modest.
She was assistant engineer on Mike Oldfield’s Platinum (1979); in 1980 on Japan’s Gentlemen Take Polaroids, Ryuichi Sakamoto’s B-2 Unit, Stephen Bishop’s Red Cab to Manhattan, Piet Veerman’s Back to You and The Blues Band’s Ready; in 1981 with Marvin Gaye on In Our Lifetime and The Teardrop Explodes on Wilder. She also worked with Duran Duran in 1982, and is credited on Paul McCartney’s Tug of War, including Here Today. She is also reported to have worked with The Human League and The New Cats. She was one of the first women in British studio control rooms, trusted by major artists before she met Elton John.
How Renate Blauel Met Elton John
Renate Blauel met Elton John in 1983 in London while he was finishing Too Low for Zero at AIR Studios, where she was a tape operator. The comeback album included I’m Still Standing and I Guess That’s Why They Call It the Blues. They became close friends first, and the friendship turned into something more. She was a calm, steady presence. He was in the grip of serious drink and drug problems, and she treated him as a person rather than a star. She travelled with him to Australia, where friendship quickly became marriage.
Renate Blauel and Elton John Marriage
On 10 February 1984, over dinner at an Indian restaurant in Sydney, Elton John proposed to her. Three days later, on Valentine’s Day, 14 February 1984, they were married at St Mark’s Anglican Church in Darling Point, Sydney, Australia. He had come out as bisexual in a Rolling Stone interview in 1976, and many assumed the marriage was a publicity gesture or doomed. She wore a white silk and lace dress with a heart-shaped pendant reported to be studded with 63 diamonds; he wore a striped shirt, lilac bow tie and silver coat reported to have cost one thousand pounds. Guests reported to have attended included Olivia Newton-John and John McEnroe. They had known each other for less than eighteen months. In 2008 he said a drug addict thinks that if boyfriends have not made him happy, a wife will change everything.
Married Life With Elton John
They lived at his Woodside estate in Windsor, and appeared at events including the 1986 royal wedding and the Red Cross Ball in Monaco. Behind the scenes it was struggling: his drink and drug dependency was at its worst, and he later said he was not being honest with himself. They reportedly spent more time apart than together, amid rumours the marriage was never consummated. The film Rocketman later showed them waking in separate bedrooms the morning after the wedding. Friends said she was devastated, but she said almost nothing and asked for privacy.
Renate Blauel Divorce From Elton John
The divorce was finalised on 18 November 1988, by mutual consent with no fault on either side. Renate Blauel told People magazine that they genuinely intended to remain best of friends. No official settlement figure was ever confirmed. People magazine in 1988 put the rumoured figure at forty-five million dollars; later reports commonly say five million pounds, some five million euros.
None comes from a court document: the settlement was substantial, the figure unconfirmed, and five million pounds the most repeated. He bought her a Surrey country home, reported at six hundred thousand dollars, where she lived until around 2000, when she is thought to have returned to Germany to care for her ageing parents. She never remarried in public, and the couple had no children together. In 1992 he told Rolling Stone he was quite comfortable about being gay, and in 2017 he wrote that denying who he really was had caused his wife sadness and him huge guilt and regret. He met David Furnish in 1993; they had a civil partnership on 21 December 2005, married on 21 December 2014, and have two sons, Zachary and Elijah.
Renate Blauel Life After Divorce
After the divorce, she disappeared. She did not write a memoir, sell her story, appear on television, or use the marriage to build a public career. She lived quietly in the Surrey home, then, around 2000, is thought to have returned to Germany to care for her parents. No verified information exists about her work after the divorce; claims she returned to sound engineering have no confirmed credit or record. She never remarried in any public record, and she had no children. Like Elizabeth Huberdeau, John Cena’s first wife, and Melissa Womer, Jim Carrey’s first wife, she chose privacy over publicity. Like Sonji Roi, Muhammad Ali’s first wife, she is remembered because the marriage was so famous. And like Heidi Van Pelt, she rebuilt a quiet life away from fame.
Renate Blauel Privacy Case and 2020 Lawsuit Against Elton John
In 2019, Elton John published his autobiography, Me, and the biopic Rocketman was released, telling his life story, including the marriage, in more personal detail than ever before — which she believed broke their 1988 divorce agreement, under which neither would discuss the marriage publicly. In June 2020 she launched legal action at the High Court in London, first seeking an injunction, then bringing a civil claim for damages and costs reported to be around three million pounds.
Her legal team said the book misrepresented their relationship and the publicity had caused her great anxiety and harmed her mental health. Court filings also revealed her claim that she had attempted suicide during their honeymoon in St Tropez; that came from court documents, not from any statement by Blauel herself. It never reached trial: in September 2020 it was put on hold, and on 14 October 2020 it was settled out of court. The joint statement said the case was resolved in a way that acknowledged her need for privacy, and she acknowledged he had acted in a dignified and respectful way towards her for thirty years. They agreed not to discuss each other or the marriage in future.
Renate Blauel in Rocketman
In the 2019 film Rocketman, Renate Blauel is played by the Dutch actress Celina Schoenmaker, and her part is brief. It shows the whirlwind courtship and wedding, then the marriage falling apart, with the couple emerging from separate bedrooms before Blauel bursts into tears. That compresses four years into a few minutes; it is not a documentary record. The film also played a direct part in the 2020 legal case, because her claim was that both the film and the memoir broke the divorce agreement.
Renate Blauel Net Worth
There is no verified figure for Renate Blauel’s net worth; any website stating one as fact is guessing. She earned a sound engineer’s salary, received a substantial but unconfirmed 1988 settlement, and was given a Surrey home. On that basis, several sites estimate her net worth at around five million dollars, some giving two million to six million dollars — estimates built on the settlement figure, not on any disclosure of her finances.
Where Is Renate Blauel Now?
Nobody outside her private circle knows for certain where she is now. She is believed to be living privately in Germany, where she is thought to have returned around 2000 to look after her parents. There is no confirmed recent photograph, verified social media account, interview or public appearance, and no statement since the 2020 settlement. That is a deliberate choice, backed by the 2020 settlement, to live without public attention.
Why Renate Blauel Still Matters
She was a skilled engineer in a male-dominated industry, one of the first women doing that work in British studios, with credits on albums still listened to today. Her story is also about privacy: she chose silence for more than thirty years, and when it was broken she went to court to defend it. Finally, it is a reminder to be careful with celebrity biography: her date of birth, settlement figure and net worth are all unconfirmed, and her life after 1988 is barely documented. The facts that can be verified are the wedding date, the divorce date, the studio credits, the Surrey home, the 2020 case and its settlement, and Elton John’s own public words about her.
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Frequently Asked Questions About Renate Blauel
Who is Renate Blauel?
Renate Blauel is a German sound engineer, best known as the first and only wife of Elton John. She worked at AIR Studios in London on albums by Mike Oldfield, Marvin Gaye, Duran Duran and Paul McCartney.
When did Renate Blauel marry Elton John?
On Valentine’s Day, 14 February 1984, at St Mark’s Anglican Church in Darling Point, Sydney, Australia. He proposed three days earlier, on 10 February 1984, over dinner at an Indian restaurant in Sydney.
Why did Renate Blauel and Elton John divorce?
They divorced in 1988 by mutual consent, with no fault on either side, and both called the split amicable. Elton John later said it ended because he had denied who he really was.
What happened in Renate Blauel’s 2020 lawsuit against Elton John?
In June 2020 she sued Elton John at the High Court in London, claiming his 2019 autobiography Me and the film Rocketman broke their 1988 divorce agreement. It was settled out of court on 14 October 2020, with both sides agreeing not to discuss each other or the marriage in future.
What is Renate Blauel’s net worth?
There is no verified figure. Websites giving a number, most commonly around five million dollars, are estimating from her reported settlement, which was never officially confirmed.
Where is Renate Blauel now?
She is believed to be living a private life in Germany, where she is thought to have returned around 2000 to look after her parents. There is no confirmed recent photograph, interview or public appearance, and no verified social media presence.
Did Renate Blauel and Elton John have children?
No, they had no children during their four-year marriage. Elton John later had two sons, Zachary and Elijah, with his husband David Furnish.
