Elton John spoke openly about fame and family on Saturday night after the world premiere of Elton John: It's never too late at the Toronto Film Festival.
“Fame is a dangerous thing if you don’t have something else, and that something else is honesty, and if you don’t have honesty to go with the fame, then you’re going to be in trouble, really, really, like I was before I got sober in 1990. That’s been 34 years now,” John said during a post-screening Q&A of the film directed by RJ Cutler and David Furnish, his husband.
John added that his family, which includes the two children he and Furnish raised, meant the world to him, more than fame itself. “My life has changed. The thing I know most about the movie is that I have him [Furnish]I have my two children, I am very proud of what I have achieved,” he insisted.
John said he will continue to make music, despite ending his touring career in 2022. But family comes first in his retirement. “This is the best feeling I've ever had in my life, better than having my first No. 1 album on Billboard. Yeah, it was really good for about five minutes. This is a lifetime,” he added.
“The love I have for this family, my children and my friends, has never been stronger. And listen, I'm 77 years old and having the time of my life,” John said, before adding: “On my tombstone, I don't want it to say he sold a million records. I just want it to say he was a great father and a great husband.”
Elton John: It's never too late, Using archive footage and interviews to show John at the height of his career, from 1970 to 1975, he reveals a musician who was a genius on stage, but who was utterly unhappy and unloved when he wasn't playing in front of adoring fans.
The documentary follows John as he traces his life and early 50-year career, from the preparation for the musician’s iconic 1975 concert at Dodgers Stadium in Los Angeles, when his fame was rising, to preparations for his final North American concert at Dodger Stadium in 2022.
John insisted on hiding his sexuality until he came out in 1976 during an interview with Rolling Stonewhich had only been preceded by struggles with addiction, changed his life. “I didn't feel like I was hiding, but I was just very hopeless about whether I was ever going to find anyone, being so famous and being sexual,” John said.
From the moment he came out, John said he began a journey of honesty for the first time in his life. “It took me so long to tell the truth, and it made me so unhappy, and it was so stupid, the amount of years I wasted not telling the truth and making fun of myself. And when I stopped making fun of myself, my life changed,” he explained.
John also added: “Kindness will always come out, and that’s what I hope for in the American elections,” with an eye on the US presidential election in November.
Co-director Cutler made a misstep when he praised John and Furnish, revealing that the duo will appear in the next Spinal tap sequel from director Rob Reiner scheduled for release in 2025. “Oh, that hasn’t been announced?” Cutler asked when he heard a “shhh” over his shoulder.
“That fucking idiot,” John later joked affectionately to Cutler, to laughter from the Roy Thomson Hall audience.
Ahead of its launch on Disney+, Elton John: It's never too late will debut in limited theatrical release on November 15 in the US and UK.
The Disney Branded Television Original Documentary is produced by Rocket Entertainment and This Machine Filmworks (part of Sony Pictures Television) and is directed by RJ Cutler and David Furnish. Cutler and Furnish also serve as producers along with Trevor Smith. Elise Pearlstein, Mark Blatty, Luke Lloyd Davies, Rachael Paley, Jane Cha Cutler and John Battsek serve as executive producers.