Elton John ‘lost the plot’ in drug battle
Legendary gay singer Elton John has spoken about the extent of his cocaine addiction.
The singer, who was addicted to the drug in the 1980s, told Parade magazine he had an all-or-nothing approach to it.
He said: “For some people a gram of cocaine can last a month. Not me. I have to do the lot, and then I want more. At the end of the day, all it led to was heartache.
“Just about every relationship I ever had was involved with drugs. It never works. But I always had to be with someone, good or bad, otherwise I didn’t feel fulfilled. I’d lost the plot.”
In the last decade, the singer and his civil partner David Furnish have become celebrity agony uncles for other stars addicted to drugs.
Elton is thought to have staged an intervention to help fashion designer Donatella Versace kick drugs, while he counselled Eminem several years ago on how to beat his painkiller addiction.
Recently, George Michael rejected the couple’s attempts to help him, saying Elton should “shut his mouth”.
Elton revealed he had set up his AIDS Foundation to “make amends for the years when I was a drug addict”.
He said: “People with HIV are still stigmatised. The infection rates are going up. People are dying. The political response is appalling. The sadness of it, the waste.”
The star also said he was growing tired of fame and celebrity.
He said: “Princess Diana, Gianni Versace, John Lennon, Michael Jackson, all dead. Two of them shot outside their houses. None of this would have happened if they hadn’t been famous.
“Fame attracts lunatics. I never had a bodyguard, ever, until Gianni died. I don’t like celebrity anymore.”
