"I was a virgin until I was 23": Elton John gets candidly honest about sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll
Legendary music star Elton John has gotten very candid and honest about his journey in the new film Rocketman, which is a biopic about his life and path to stardom.
The new film stars Taron Egerton as Elton and Bodyguard and Game of Thrones star Richard Madden as his manager and lover, John Reid.
In a new interview, Elton has revealed that he was a virgin until he was 23 – and this is played out in the film.
“If I am telling my story, it has to be honest,” the now 72-year-old singer told the Mirror.
“I was a virgin until then. I was desperate to be loved and desperate to have a tactile relationship.
“When they tear their clothes off in the movie, that was how it happened. It was in San Francisco.”
Elton has also said that he wanted the film to celebrate gay lovemaking.
“I’m so glad it’s in there because I am a gay man and I didn’t want to airbrush it under the carpet,” he said.
“This is who I am and I was so joyous. When he is lying in my arms and I’m sitting back with a smile, I’m thinking, ‘Ah, I’m normal, I’ve had sex.’
“When I grew up, my father told me if I masturbated, I’d go blind. At 13 years of age, I started to have glasses and I went, ‘Oh my God! This is coming true!’” he laughed.
Elton added: “I’m proud Rocketman is the first major studio film with a gay love sex scene in it. If I’d left it out, I’d have felt I was cheating people.
“If they don’t like it, I understand, but it’s part of who I am. That night was a very, very important part.”
Elton believes that he was saved by his partner of 25 years, David Furnish, 56, as well as their two children, Zachary, 8, and Elijah, 6.
“There are still parts of being a performer which will lead to the dark side. But it doesn’t last long because I have David and I’ve my children. When my children are around, I never feel dark. I would never have thought I would be in a relationship for 25 years. I couldn’t last with any relationship because drugs came into it.”
The film is set in the late 1960s and early 1970s and begins with Elton in rehab. The storyline is told in flashbacks and the singer-songwriter has been sober for almost 29 years.
Elton explained: “Even though I was in a terrible state and I was doing a lot of drugs, I still kept working, I still kept making records and still kept touring and the music kept me alive. If I had stopped, I wouldn’t be here. It’s difficult to watch because I thought, ‘God, I don’t want to go back there.’”
Rocketman is in cinemas from this Thursday.