In an interview with Times pop music critic Robert Hilburn, Elton John talks about Princess Diana, Gianni Versace and carrying on.
As Elton John prepares to begin his first U.S. concert tour in more than two years, the question many fans are asking is whether he is going to sing the eulogy to Diana, Princess of Wales, that is a sales phenomenon around the world. "Absolutely not," the singer-composer says quickly and firmly when asked during an interview about performing the special version of Candle in the Wind that he and lyricist Bernie Taupin wrote for Princess Diana's funeral Sept. 6.
"The only way I'll ever sing it again is if the children [Princes William and Harry] ask me. Otherwise, it would be totally inappropriate."
John, 50, feels so strongly about the matter that he is uncertain about even singing the original version of Candle in the Wind again. That song, which he and Taupin wrote in 1973 about Marilyn Monroe, is one of the most popular of the British performer's more than 50 U.S. Top 40 hits, a total surpassed only by Elvis Presley.
"I don't know how I'll eventually feel about that," he continues. "To me, that's a totally different song, but it may be that the [feelings] will be too closely connected. I think I'm just going to put it to one side now, . . . just drop it for a while and then see how I feel."
John is astonished at the reaction to the version, officially titled Candle in the Wind 1997, that has been released as a charity single. Retail orders in the U.S. alone are11 million, an unprecedented number.
"What is happening, I think, is that people want a memento of her and they've found that in the single," he says.
John's invitation to sing at the funeral symbolizes the way he has in recent years become such a respected figure.
Greatly affected in 1990 by the heroic struggle of teenage AIDS victim Ryan White, John overcame his own cocaine problems and in 1992 started the nonprofit Elton John AIDS Foundation, which has raised more than $13 million.
To avoid appearing as if he is exploiting the new Candle single or the deaths of his friends, Diana and fashion designer Gianni Versace, John announced this week that he will not make any further public comments to the media about the deaths. He even canceled an appearance on NBC's "Today" show after the network aired promotions stating that John would be appearing on the program to discuss the deaths
But the singer agreed to document his feelings about the deaths and other matters because the interview had been scheduled before Princess Diana's death, and because it is the latest in a series with The Times that dates back to 1970.
On the eve of the two-month tour, which begins Oct. 10 in Winston-Salem, N.C., John talks about the events of recent months and the changes in his life in the '90s.
Question: Many people might assume you simply met
Princess Diana a few times at charity events, but the
relationship was much closer, wasn't it?
Answer: Yes, I got to know
her quite well and, of course, we had some things in common. We were both
bulimic for a start and we both had marriages that failed and we were both
extremely interested in AIDS. You could talk about those and other issues with
her in a way that you probably couldn't with any other member of the royal
family. That's why she was such a special person.
Q: How did the invitation to sing at the funeral come about?
A: It all happened quickly. I got a call from Richard
Branson [the British entrepreneur and founder of Virgin Records], who
said, "You might have to get prepared to sing at the funeral," but
I really didn't know until Thursday of that week that I was definitely going to
sing. I think it was a matter of protocol, whether everyone involved felt it
was appropriate.
Q: It was such an emotional moment. How did you avoid breaking
down during the song?
A: Basically, I just had to switch off
mentally. When the coffin came into Westminster Abbey I cried and when it went
out I cried, but the only time I came close to it during the song was at the
beginning of the third verse. I just had to grit my teeth.
Q: In some ways, people looked on you as their representative,
don't you think?
A: I felt very much like a representative at that
moment. It was an honor just to be invited to the funeral, but to also be able
to sing that song. It's probably the biggest honor of my life. I don't think
anything will ever match it for me.
I was so touched by the way people
reacted to Princess Diana's death. . . . The way they waited
11 to 12 hours in the rain to sign the [memorial] books. Their dignity, their
generosity, their genuine outpouring of grief. I've never seen anything like
that.
People say that's what it was like after the Second World War in
England when people just got together and shared their emotions. It was just a
wonderful feeling for a week in England. . . . The hope that maybe something
positive could come out of this awfulness.
Q: What about your relationship with Gianni
Versace [who was slain July 15 outside his home in Miami]? That even
had deeper ties than Princess Diana, didn't it?
A:
He was like a soul mate really, someone more or less the same as me. . . .
Completely obsessive, slightly mad, always wanting to change things, to learn
things. He taught me so much about art, architecture. . . . If we were in
Venice, he would take me to every church. You would never have a dull moment
with him.
Q: If you listen to some of the songs on your new album [the
just-released The Big Picture], especially
Something AboutTthe Way You Look Tonight and Live Like
Horses, you'd think they were written after the deaths, even though they
weren't. They are the kind of comforting and optimistic songs that help people
through troubled times. Do you often turn to music yourself for comfort?
A: Sure. There's a song on the new Beth Nielsen
Chapman album about losing her husband [to a rare form of lymphoma]
that has helped me deal with my grief. It's called Sand and Water and
it says everything I want to say. It's weird because she gave me the tape
before Gianni and Princess Diana died and it
didn't mean all that it does now. But now it is so relevant and I'm going to
sing it on the tour because it says everything I feel. I can't sing Candle
in the Wind, but I have to get something out of me and that song will help
me do it. I've asked her to write a new verse for me.
Q: Did you think after the deaths about canceling the tour? Or is
it good to have something to throw yourself into?
A: It's good to
push yourself, . . . to do something. I'm eager to get back on the road and
play the new album. I don't want to sit at home and mope.
Gianni wouldn't want me to do that. You grieve and then you go
on. At least that's what I tell myself. In some ways, I'm not sure all of what
has happened has fully hit me yet.
Q: Do you look back in your life on the Ryan
White experience as a turning point?
A: I would never have
been able to cope with things that have happened to me if I hadn't changed my
life. No way. Can you imagine if all this had happened eight years ago? My life
is so much calmer, much happier now.
Q: What about your AIDS foundation? There's a lot to celebrate in
the battle against AIDS isn't there?
A: Yes, people have been
extremely generous to our foundation and all the other AIDS campaigns, and so
much progress has been made. But I think a lot of people have the perception
that AIDS is going away, but the fact is it's still rising around the world,
especially among women.
Q: Can you picture a time in the near future where you might quit
making music and devote yourself full time to the foundation and other
causes?
A: No, I'd miss it. I love what I do. I don't want to retire
at 50. I love writing the albums with Bernie and I love the
film things that I'm doing with Tim Rice.
Bernie and I are even working on a musical version of
Captain Fantastic.
Besides, I don't want to
become one of those people who are always on television preaching to people
about something. I think it's better to have a balance so that you can approach
people on different levels. It's my career that helps me accomplish things with
the foundation.
Q: Before people start calling you Saint Elton,
they ought to see the Tantrums and Tiaras documentary
that is airing on Cinemax (Tuesday at 11 p.m. and Nov. 5 at 6:45 p.m.). It
shows you in a couple of real tantrums. Do you have any misgivings about that
film?
A: No, not at all [laughing]. It was my idea to do that kind
of documentary and David [Furnish, the
director] did an excellent job. There's a program in England called "The South
Bank Show" and it's very good, but it's so reverential. So, I thought it would
be good to try to break some ground, be a little braver.
When I saw some of
my bad behavior, I just laughed. Those things happen to every artist,
especially after you get run down from weeks of touring, which is what happened
in the scene where I [storm off] the tennis court and say I'm never going to
the South of France again. Well, you know what? I've just bought a house there
[laughs]. So you see, life does go on.
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