Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Elton John, alongside Popstar Britney Spears, allegedly are in the works for a duet, media personality Paris Hilton calls “iconic”. The release of the duo’s ‘Tiny Dancer’ remake will mark Britney’s first piece of music released willingly since her freedom from her father’s toxic conservatorship.
The Rocketman, although much older than Spears, struggled with the same issues involving drugs and alcohol. John also struggled mentally with separate issues, such as his unbearably shy personality and his sexuality, which for his time, was heavily frowned upon.
John started playing piano at a young age, and had formed a band by the time he was 15, leaving at age 20. The rocker started playing at pubs as a teenager with his band, but by the time he was 23, the young British star was playing concerts in America, as his debut album peaked at #4 on the US Billboard Top 200, and #5 on the UK Albums Chart.
Although the world famous rocker was known for his live performances and the attention drawn from it, John admits that he struggled awfully with being reserved and shy. He revealed that he used cocaine as an escape from his introversion. The Rocketman didn’t stop there, however, as he states that at the time, cocaine wasn’t his only drug of choice. In an interview with broadcaster Piers Morgan, John spoke of his dangerous benders, stating,
“This is how bleak it was: I’d stay up, I’d smoke joints, I’d drink a bottle of Johnnie Walker and then I’d stay up for 3 days and then I’d go to sleep for a day and a half, get up, and because I was so hungry, because I hadn’t eaten anything, I’d binge and have life three bacon sandwiches, a pot of ice cream and then I’d throw up, because I became bulimic and then go and do the whole thing all over again…” John admits in the same interview that looking back, he shudders at the thought of his previous behavior.
John didn’t stop at the benders, either. He spoke with Morgan about almost dying on multiple occasions, claiming that he would have seizures and turn blue, before waking up in his bed minutes later and snorting more cocaine.
“The hardest part of overcoming your drug problem,” John recalls in an interview in 2018, “is asking for help.” The Rocketman reflects on his close friend, the late George Michael, and his addiction. “You can’t help people who don’t want to help themselves.”
