Let’s be honest, contemplating a beloved entertainer growing older can feel like watching your favorite ice cream melt away on a hot summer’s day – you’re grateful for the taste, but wistful about the inevitable drip. Elton John, the dazzling Rocketman who’s serenaded us with timeless melodies, is now in the reflective twilight of his phenomenal career, and it has us feeling some type of way. Oh, how the candle truly burns out long before the legend ever does.
Throughout his tumultuous journey in the spotlight, Sir Elton has charmed us, dazzled us, and occasionally shocked us with both his triumphs and struggles. It’s the latter—a series of headline-grabbing health and personal battles—that makes the fact he’s still with us all the more miraculous. Seriously, at this point, I think Elton might just be vying for the title of Undisputed Champion of the World in Life’s Obstacles.
His latest introspection comes courtesy of the new television documentary, ‘Elton John: Never Too Late,’ where he bares his contemplative soul about growing older. Turns out even music royalty isn’t immune to existential dread or the worries of fatherhood. Who knew that balancing hit records with parent-teacher meetings was a thing?
The Father Behind the Feathers
The glitter-infused superstar is also a devoted family man—surprise! He and his husband, David Furnish, are the proud parents of two sons, Zachary and Elijah. Picture that—a household where “yes, I did write ‘Crocodile Rock’, now eat your vegetables” is a typical dinner table exchange.
Elton openly shares the kids’ concerns about his age. “They know how old I am, and they worry,” he says with the kind of charm that reminds you precisely why you fell in love with him in the first place. Unlike his sparkly spectacles, the fears looming over his longevity aren’t quite as easily polished away.
Yet it’s not all doom and gloom. “I want to see them married,” he adds wistfully, followed by the famous line, “But I don’t think I am going to be around for that. Who knows? You never know.” It’s a sobering reminder that even a life so brightly lived is finite.
Survivor’s Humor
Elton’s sometimes wicked wit is a testament to survival against all odds. At the premiere of his documentary, he brought the house down when recounting his long list of medical escapades. “I don’t have tonsils, adenoids, or an appendix. I don’t have a prostate. I don’t have a right hip or a left knee or a right knee,” he quips, proving that resilience can be simultaneously inspiring and comedic.
Indeed, while his body has required more repairs than my trusty old Volvo, the show goes on. He’s had various replacements and removals over the years—highlighted by a hip disaster worse than Wednesday night Bingo at the senior center—but he remains the resilient rascal we adore. “The only thing left to me is my left hip,” he declares, as if plotting his next twirl.
A severe eye infection recently threatened his vision, a setback broadcast through his Instagram—a conduit for cryptic updates in the digital age. “Dealing with a severe eye infection…left me with only limited vision,” he reveals, reminding us all that recovery can be much kinder when humor cushions the fall.
The Long Goodbye
While Elton’s health challenges read like something out of a hospital drama, rarely have they kept him from the stage for long. Prostate cancer in 2017 barely slowed him, even as he prepared for a farewell tour. Adding to the anecdotes, a hip injury derailed his “Farewell Yellow Brick Road” tour dates—proof that even beneath sparkle and Spritz, Elton’s road has been a little rocky.
But through it all, Elton’s prevailed, navigating life’s unpredictable tides with grace and wisdom. “I’ve survived a lot of things,” he says. “Life is full of pitfalls, even when you’re sober. I can deal with them now because I don’t have to run away and hide.” Elton speaks for every resilient soul who’s learned not just to face adversities but to dance amid them, and sometimes in feather boas no less.
Eternal Dad
When all is sung and done, what does a perennial icon like Elton John wish for beyond the footlights? It’s shockingly simple, really. Not a gratuitous tribute to his music, nor a flamboyant farewell to his extravagance. Instead, it’s five tender words he desires chiseled for eternity: “He was a great dad.” A reminder that beneath the superstar sparkle, it’s the enduring role of “father” that defines him most.
In a world of rhinestone-studded spectacles and orchestras of grand speeches, sometimes the quietest notes play the most profoundly in the concert of life’s greatest hits.
