5 biggest revelations from Elton John’s new documentary, Elton John: Never Too Late

“Both of them I was frightened of,” Elton says of his parents, Stanley and Sheila Dwight, who have now passed.

“They were abusive. They were violent. 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, 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 got approval.

“I wish it was different.”

02

Heartbreak

“I was afraid of [former lover and long-time manager] John [Reid]. He had violence in him,” confesses Elton of his ex, who he dated for five years until 1975. 

“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 and he smacked me in the face – made my nose bleed, cut my face. I loved John very much, but I said I can’t go through this any more and then when that fell apart I kind of fell apart.”

03

His friendship with John Lennon

“I was very intimidated and very excited,” says Elton of meeting the music legend in 1973.

“And 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 wants to be politically involved – he still has 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. We did a lot of drugs.”

John’s last performance was at Elton’s concert at New York’s Madison Square Garden in 1974.

“I was probably the catalyst for Yoko [Ono] and John getting back together, If I hadn’t told him he had to do the show, maybe he never would have met Yoko [who attended] again.

“They [got]back together and had [son] Sean. It stopped the drugs, it stopped the craziness, I was very happy for him. It didn’t stop my craziness.”

“In 1975 The day before the show (at Dodger Stadium) we were having lunch at  my house in Beverly Hills.  I took a bunch of sleeping tablets, I took them, came up to the swimming pool, 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, my stepfather and my 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”.

05

His cocaine use

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 it was little white lines and a straw and I said ‘What’s that?’ and they said ‘It’s cocaine’. I said, ‘What does that do?’ And they said, ‘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. I never thought 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.”

How to watch the Elton John documentary Elton John: It’s Never Too Late in Australia

You can watch the new Elton John documentary in Australia on DisneyPlus from Friday December 13th.