‘Break down’: Elton John’s sad health realisation
Source: Instagram
Sir Elton John has revealed a major “break down” as he contemplates his recent run of ill health and looming mortality.
The 78-year-old pop legend – who is married to David Furnish and has Zachary, 14, and 11-year-old Elijah with him – teamed up with Brandi Carlile to write songs for a new album.
Among them are Never Too Late, a track for his Disney+ documentary of the same name.
The song, released late in 2024, is about Sir Elton’s relationship with long-time collaborator Bernie Taupin. On the weekend, he revealed that – even though he “isn’t sentimental at all” – he had considered his mortality in recent times.
“It’s a song that’s just as much about Bernie as it is about me. It’s about both of us and how wonderful our love and friendship has been and our songwriting, what we’ve done and what we’ve achieved,” the British singer told CBS News’ Sunday Morning.
“I can’t imagine my life without him in it. When you get to a certain age … I’m not sentimental at all – but suddenly you think ‘I don’t ever … I want my boys to be in my life forever, I want David to be in my life.
“I want my friends.
“I don’t want to die. Unfortunately, we do. Unless there’s some sort of pill around the corner!”
Sir Elton also revealed he was working on a song called When This Old World Is Done with Me, which is “about his death” – and it made him “break down”.
“When you get when you get to my age, which is near 100, you think, ‘How much time have I got left?’,” he told the SmartLess podcast with Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes and Will Arnett.
“And you’ve got children, you’ve got a wonderful husband – you just think about mortality.”
“When I got to the chorus, I just broke down for 45 minutes, and it’s all on film,” he said.
The Crocodile Rock hitmaker – who has sold more than 300 million records since beginning his career in the late 1960s – insisted all his achievements in music meant nothing compared to his family life.
At a special Q+A event at the London Palladium, John said: “On my tombstone, I want nothing to do with Crocodile f—ing Rock. I just want it to say: ‘He was a great dad’.”
The pop icon lost the vision in his right eye because of an infection late last year. Just weeks ago, according to The Sun newspaper, it was revealed that he has had to “simplify” his usual signature for autographed editions of his new album Who Believes In Angels?.
Now, Sir Elton signs his autograph simply with his initial of E, and completes it with the letter X, representing a kiss.
-with AAP