Elton John unveils new documentary and shares what he wants on his tombstone

TORONTO – At 77, Elton John says he’s “having the perfect time of my life.” Effectively, aside from the entire .

“I want I may see you, however I can’t,” the music icon advised the gang Friday at a post-premiere Q&A for the brand new documentary “Elton John: By no means Too Late” (streaming Dec. 13 on Disney+). “Life is a lesson that thank God I began to study once I obtained to 43 years of age and it’s been great ever since.”

John nonetheless held courtroom alongside filmmakers R.J. Cutler and David Furnish, John’s husband, to debate the newest have a look at his life and music. “By no means Too Late” focuses on his monumental output from 1970 to 1975, with hits that made John a worldwide celebrity at the same time as he struggled offstage with unhappiness and medicines. The movie additionally covers the ten months he spent preparing alongside Furnish and their two sons for his ultimate touring present in 2022.

“It simply reveals such a transformative life and how one can come from the depths of adversity,” Furnish mentioned of the movie. “You could have all of the success on the planet, but it means nothing till you have got household and you’ve got love.”

A lot of “By no means Too Late” – “the backbone of the movie,” Cutler mentioned – comes from intimate conversations recorded between John and Alexis Petridis for the 2019 memoir “Me.” The film additionally contains audio from a 1976 cowl story interview with Rolling Stone author Cliff Jahr the place John for the primary time opened up about his sexuality and got here out as bisexual.

“I used to be closed off however I used to be so uninterested in hiding away,” John mentioned. “Everybody knew within the enterprise I used to be homosexual. Most individuals knew that I used to be homosexual. (However) it was simply very arduous for me. Nobody ever requested me earlier than Cliff if I used to be homosexual or what my sexuality was. So I didn’t really feel as I used to be hiding, however I used to be simply very full-on in pondering that, am I ever going to search out somebody, being how well-known I’m and my sexuality?” However John additionally remembered it as “an exquisite time for me as a result of no less than I obtained that form of factor off my again.”

The entire level of the documentary for John is “the reality ought to all the time be advised,” he added. “It made me so sad and it was so silly the quantity of years that I misplaced by not telling the reality and by fooling myself. After I stopped fooling myself, clearly my life circled.”

The film additionally finds John revisiting his friendship with John Lennon and sharing how he obtained the previous Beatle onstage at a fabled Madison Sq. Backyard present in November 1974, which might turn into Lennon’s final dwell live performance efficiency.

John has labored with everybody from Dua Lipa (who seems briefly within the documentary) and Aretha Franklin to Stevie Marvel and Leonard Cohen.

“Each time you collaborate with somebody, it’s great, since you study one thing,” John mentioned. He shared a shaggy dog story about recording the Ray Charles quantity “Born to Lose” the place John was on the ground laughing after Cohen let unfastened along with his deep voice on the primary line. “He mentioned, ‘What’s fallacious?’ I mentioned, ‘Nothing’s fallacious, Leonard. It seems like a ship leaving harbor.’ ”

John riffed on quite a few topics, together with his favourite motion pictures. Whereas “The Godfather Half II” is his all-time No. 1, he additionally loves “Discipline of Goals” as a result of “it’s a father/son factor.” He additionally revealed what he desires on his tombstone: “He was a terrific dad and a terrific husband.”

Earlier than that will get engraved, John hopes “to maintain making music” and extra importantly, treasure each second he has left with Furnish and their boys.

“It’s the best feeling I’ve ever had in my life, greater than having the primary No. 1 album in Billboard,” John mentioned. “Yeah, that was very nice for about 5 minutes. However this can be a lifetime. And the love I’ve for (Furnish’s) household, my household, my kids and my buddies has by no means been higher.”

This text initially appeared on USA TODAY: