Elton John celebrates 34 years of sobriety

NME

Elton John has celebrated 34 years of sobriety, marking the occasion in a new post on social media.

• READ MORE: The NME Big Read – Elton John: “I’m not interested in the past – not even Elton John’s past” 

Sir Elton took a year off from work in 1990 to attend recovery after years of addiction issues. In his 2019 memoir, Me, he opened up about just how bad his addiction was – recalling the time he hijacked a Rolling Stones show while high on cocaine, as well as the moment he mistook Bob Dylan for his gardener while high – describing him as “scruffy”.

In 2020, ahead of an online screening of the film Rocketman – the film biopic about his life – John said despite the debauched lifestyle of many musicians in ’70s LA who regularly took cocaine to the point that few commented on it, his cocaine use was so extreme by comparison that it was “noticed” by many. 

He explained: “It took a fairly Herculean effort to get yourself noticed for taking too much cocaine in the music industry of 1970s LA, but I was clearly prepared to put the hours in,” John wrote next to a gif of an inebriated Taron Egerton, who portrayed him in the 2019 film.

However, John celebrated 34 years sober on Instagram this week, taking to Instagram on Wednesday evening (July 31) to share a picture of his Alcoholics Anonymous coin that featured the phrase, “To thine own self be true”.  The words “unity” “service” and “recovery” were embossed along the triangle while inside, the number ‘34’ appeared in roman numerals.

Captioning the image, John wrote, “34 years clean and sober. My life has never been better.”

You can see the post here:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Elton John (@eltonjohn)

John has spoken extensively about his addiction in the past. In 2019, the musician said he feared he wouldn’t be able to perform sober after he took a year long break to have treatment for addiction.

He told Variety’s Recovery Issue: “After I finally surrendered and decided to seek treatment for my addiction, there came a point when I wondered if I would ever go back to work as Elton John again.

“But at that time, I wasn’t thinking too much about being an artist. I had reached the lowest ebb in my life – the absolute bottom. I hated myself so much. I was consumed with shame. All I wanted to do was get well. I put all of the energy I had left toward my recovery.”

He continued: “When the day arrived, I was terrified, but I did manage to get through the performance. It was the only time I stepped on a stage that year, and I had to do it on my own without the band. In retrospect, I’m glad I went straight in at the deep end… That show gave me confidence to know that I could still perform sober.”

In order to maintain his sobriety, John also attended AA and NA meetings while touring across the globe and even visited local groups in countries where he didn’t speak the native language, in a bid to feel “grounded”.

He also revealed in 2019 that Beatles guitarist George Harrison helped him during his long battle with drug addiction.

Meanwhile, speaking to NME in 2021, John opened up about how infuriated he was about how Brexit negotiations had affected young artists, saying his career would have “been totally different” without the opportunity to tour Europe live.

He explained: “As an artist, you learn your craft by playing live. I started out going to Europe; you’re in a different culture, which makes you a little fearful, but you embrace the culture, and the culture embraces you… [The current situation] is OK for Ed Sheeran and me, or The Rolling Stones – people that can actually afford to do this stuff. But for younger artists, it’s a crushing thing. We’re still trying to solve this problem; it’s a slow process because the Government is a slow process.

“The Government didn’t make any provisions whatsoever for the arts during Brexit. They’re more interested in fucking fishing! Now, don’t get me wrong – fishing is very important, but it brings in £1.4billion a year and the entertainment industry brings in £111billion. They’re taking away young artists’ livelihood, and the way they grow as artists – because nothing makes you grow than the experience of going and playing in another place. It’s so shocking, and it’s so fucking disgusting.”

Recently, Sir Elton pledged his support for Keir Starmer and the Labour Party.

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