Pictures: Terry O’Neill/Iconic Images
Known and loved for his extravagant outfits and captivating stage presence, musical icon Elton John has been a household name since the 1970’s and has been the inspiration for many a documentary.
A new Disney+ doco, Elton John: Never Too Late takes viewers back through his life, highlighting all his highs and lows as he wraps up his performing career.
Before you stream it, we’ve condensed it into a few key points to give you an overview of what to expect.
Read on for snippets of Elton’s reflection on his key life moments and how he coped with this biggest troubles.
Elton on his troubled childhood
“I was frightened of both of them,” Sir Elton says of his late parents, Stanley and Sheila Dwight. “They were abusive. I used to walk on eggshells in case I did anything wrong. My mother, when I was a year old, beat me till I bled with a wire brush to make me potty-trained.
“My mum said, ‘It never did you any harm.’ And I said, ‘You have no idea.’ To be reprimanded and walloped on the street, it stays with you.
“My whole childhood was full of fear. I hated being called Reg. I spent a lot of time in fantasy land while my parents were arguing. Playing piano, I finally got approval… I wish it was different.”
Elton on heartbreak
Elton confesses he was “afraid” of his former lover and longtime manager John Reid, whom he dated for five years until 1975.
“He had violence in him… John broke my heart. I didn’t know he was having sex outside the relationship. When I found out about it, I was crushed. He was very rough. I had a party at the house and we had a fight. He smacked me in the face, made my nose bleed and cut my face.
“I loved John very much, but I said, ‘I can’t go through this any more.’ When that fell apart, I kind of fell apart.”
Elton on his suicide attempt
“In 1975, the day before the show at Dodger Stadium, we were having lunch at my house in Beverly Hills,” recalls Elton. “I took a bunch of sleeping tablets. I took them, came up to the swimming pool and said, ‘I’ve taken a bunch of sleeping tablets. I’m going to kill myself. I’m going to drown.’”
After having his stomach pumped, Elton came to in the morning. “My mother, stepfather and grandmother were worried about me.”
But the show must go on… And it did!
“I’ve never taken my personal life on stage with me,” says Elton, who finally got sober in 1990.
“It took me 43 years to learn how to function as a human being, rather than an actual rock star.”
Elton on his friendship with John Lennon
“I was very intimidated and very excited,” says Elton of meeting the music legend in 1973. “It was like I’d met someone I’d known all my life. We went out a lot – had a lot of fun.
“This man was in the Beatles and he still wanted to be politically involved.
He still had a purpose in his life and I love people like that. I love people who think about tomorrow, rather than yesterday. We just laughed and laughed and laughed – and we did a lot of drugs.”
John’s last performance was at Elton’s 1974 NYC gig, attended by Yoko Ono.
“I was probably the catalyst for Yoko and John getting back together,” says Elton. “If I hadn’t told him he had to do the show, maybe he never would have met Yoko again.
“They got back together and had their son Sean. It stopped the drugs, it stopped the craziness and I was very happy for him. But it didn’t stop my craziness.”
Elton on his cocaine addiction
Elton reveals his then-boyfriend John introduced him to cocaine during a recording session at Caribou Ranch in Colorado in 1974.
“I walked into the room, and there were little white lines and a straw,” he tells. “I said, ‘What’s that?’ and they said, ‘It’s cocaine.’ Then I asked, ‘What does that do?’ and they replied, ‘It just makes you feel good.’
“I didn’t know what it was, so I said, ‘Oh, I’ll try some of that.’ It made me feel sick, so I thought, ‘Oh, I don’t like this.’ But it didn’t stop me going back for another line.
“Cocaine opened me up and I became social. It gave me confidence. I finally felt like I could talk – I wasn’t intimidated to be in a room full of strangers.
“It never crossed my mind that it was a hard drug. I thought, ‘I’m not an addict. I’m OK on cocaine and smoking a joint. I’m in control.’”
Help is here
For the Suicide Crisis Helpline, call 0508 TAUTOKO.
Stream Elton John: Never Too Late today on Disney+.
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