Elton John is Open and Honest in Autobiography ‘Me’

Posted On June 24, 2020

Samantha Colleran, June 2020

*Author’s Note: There are mentions of eating disorders, suicide attempts, and drug/alcohol abuse. If any of those things are a sensitive topic for you, please avoid reading this piece. Slight spoilers for Me in this post!*

Anyone who knows me knows I love Elton John. A little over a year ago I spent far too much money to see him at Barclay’s just a few hours before he was meant to be on stage; I was in one of the worst spots imaginable, I was probably one of the youngest people there, but I still had the time of my life and it’s easily among one of my favorite shows I’ve ever seen. Elton got on stage around 8:05 and kicked off with ‘Bennie and the Jets’, he performed until after 11:00 and closed the show with ‘Goodbye Yellow Brick Road’. He stands up and thanks the crowd after every song, he sings just as well as he did fifty years ago, and I was on my feet the entire three hours. Although he can’t jump on the piano or wear outrageous costumes anymore, he’s still the Elton John the world has come to love, and that’s the mark of a true performer.

Elton has years and years of performing under his belt, so it’s obvious he would put on a great show, but it took a lot for him to reach where he is today. The autobiography Me highlights Elton’s life from the time he was known as Reginald Dwight with a strained home life who had a passion for music at a young age, all the way to today where he’s now a husband, father, and still one of rock and roll’s greatest performers. 

The one thing about Elton’s writing is that it’s completely honest. When you’re reading, you feel like you’re having a conversation with him. The second you start reading the prologue, you can tell you’re going to get the truth and nothing but the truth. Elton tells his life story as if he’s speaking to an old friend, he doesn’t hold anything back. Parts of it made me laugh hysterically, and some parts made my eyes fill with tears. When he speaks of his past addictions, he doesn’t sugarcoat it, he basically tells his audience “I was addicted to cocaine, I was bulimic, I was addicted to sex and alcohol. I did some pretty stupid things because of it, but I worked through all of that and I’m still standing today”. He’s now over 29 years sober and is open about his experiences in rehab and AA, even helping other celebrities through the process, most famously Eminem. He’s not ashamed of his past; he embraces the good, the bad, and the ugly, and proudly tells his audience about how he came to be Sir Elton John. 

He talks about growing up with a poor family life; a verbally abusive mother and an absent father who left to marry another woman. Elton recalls joining Bluesology, he tells the audience about how he changed his name and began to break out on his own. He tells his readers how he met Bernie Taupin, “the longest relationship” he’s ever had, writing songs in his mother’s house, and moving away from there once he started to pick up traction. He talks about growing successful and his troubled relationship with ex-manager John Reid. Spending too much money, relying on booze and drugs to get through the day, performing some of the most incredible shows of anyone’s career (Dodgers Stadium… mere hours after trying to commit suicide), befriending people like Princess Diana, Freddie Mercury, Gianni Versace, George Michael, and so many others; those are just some of the many things that have happened in the life of Elton John.

Elton truly is a hero. He turned his life around and has done so many positive things for the world. He started up the Elton John Aids Foundation from his own kitchen, he performs charity events, he became a father which was something he never thought he would accomplish due to the trauma from his own troubled family life. He and his partner David were among the first to be  recognized as a civil partnership in England in 2005 and were later married once it became legal to do so. He stands up for LGBTQ+ rights, he talks to world leaders who have nothing in common with him and tries to build bridges between worlds. He bought the Watford soccer team and was chairman for a while, helping to lead them to championship games when no one thought it was possible. He’s written Broadway shows and songs for movies, even when he was the crazy rockstar of the 70s and 80s who was notorious for trouble he managed to provide the world with some of the most iconic songs and lyrics that are still popular and hold so much importance to this day. 

“You can send yourself crazy wondering. But it all happened, and here I am. There’s really no point in asking what if? The only question worth asking is: what’s next?”

Elton John, Me

Sir Elton, thank you for sharing your story and being so honest. Reading this book from front to back was certainly an adventure, but it was one I was glad to go on. If you’ve read Me, or you plan to do so in the future please leave your thoughts below!