Elton John talks about his decision to retire from touring
Elton John has spoken to ITV about his retirement and his reunion with his mother before her death.
In his only UK TV interview, Elton John has spoken exclusively to Dan Wootton for ITV’s Lorraine about Prince Harry, Princess Diana, on being close to death, and reconciling with his Mum before her death.
The pop icon announced at a press event on Wednesday that his next world tour – kicking off in September – will be his last. On retiring from touring, Elton said:
“I’ve worked as a musician since I was 17, I’ve had the most fantastic, lucky career, I’ve enjoyed every single minute of playing live. There have been moments in my career where…there have been dark times, but they’ve been self-induced, and my life is so wonderful now. And you know, 10 years ago, I wouldn’t be sitting here saying this, but now, with the boys, it’s time, and I want it to be happy, jubilant, spectacular…and I want to bow out in a really big way and a great way.”
On Prince Harry’s engagement to Meghan Markle:
“I spent some time with him in Sicily last summer and I could tell that he was totally in love, and he didn’t really discuss much personally but he said ‘I’m in love’…and I thought, good for you. Both those boys seem to have been ecstatically happy, and that’s all you want people to be.”
Speaking of his love for Princess Diana, he revealed:
“She was just loved by people because she had that great ability, that her son Prince Harry has inherited, where she could walk into a room and make people feel at ease…She was very much loved. I loved her because she did so much for AIDS and she as a great friend to me. We had our fallings out but we reconciled at the end…She would be proud of her boys.”
On his health scare last year:
“I was very, very close to death…You think about your mortality and you want to spend more time with the boys.”
And on being reunited with his Mum before her death:
“We reconciled in 2016 and it was a nice reconciliation. I saw her a week before she died, and I thought, ‘God, she’s pretty feisty, she’s going to last for a few months’, and a week later she was dead it it really shook me actually. And we had a beautiful private ceremony for her.”
