Elton John’s Personal Tombstone Words, Finally Revealed
It is always difficult to watch an entertainer grow older and to see someone we admire confront new challenges. Even without meeting them in person, their struggles often feel personal to us.
One such figure who has endured a long list of medical and mental health difficulties over the years is Elton John. This extraordinary musician has brought happiness to audiences for decades, but that does not mean he has lived without stress or hardship.
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In the upcoming television documentary *Elton John: Never Too Late*, he opens up about his private life. He explains that aging has brought its own anxieties, and that his children share those concerns.
Elton John is not only a global icon; he is a husband and father. He and his partner, David Furnish, have two sons. He shared that Zachary and Elijah worry about his advancing age.
He said, “They worry as they know how old I am. Not so much David but me. They love their Daddy so they want me to be around forever. I don’t know how much time I have left.”
While the sentiment may sound somber, he also stressed his desire to remain with them as long as possible and to witness major milestones in their lives. He added, “I want to see them have children and get married, but I don’t think I am going to be around for that. Who knows? You never know.”
At the documentary premiere in October 2024, he spoke humorously about his long list of health problems. Reflecting on his previous surgeries, he joked, “I don’t have tonsils, adenoids, or an appendix. I don’t have a prostate. I don’t have a right hip, a left knee or a right knee.
“In fact, the only thing left to me is my left hip. But I’m still here.”
His comments came after he had undergone a hip replacement following a hard fall in 2021. Not long afterward, he developed a serious eye infection that affected his vision, though he hoped the issue would be temporary.
On Instagram, he revealed he had been “struggling with a serious eye infection that has sadly left me with only limited vision in one eye. I am recovering, but it’s a very slow journey and it will take some time before my sight returns to the affected eye.”
His medical challenges stretch back decades. In 1975, he overdosed on Valium and fell into a swimming pool. From that point onward, he grappled with both physical and mental health struggles.
As portrayed in his biopic *Rocketman*, he attempted suicide after a two-week binge. He later sought treatment for bulimia and entered rehab in 1990.
In 2008, he suffered a “serious E. coli infection,” forcing him to cancel several shows in the United Kingdom and the United States. Four years later, he was hospitalized with a respiratory infection.
Health issues continued into 2013, when he had to postpone a tour to have his appendix removed. Then, in 2017, while preparing his farewell tour, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer.
Despite the diagnosis, he returned to performing only ten days later. He chose to have his prostate removed rather than undergo chemotherapy.
More setbacks followed: in 2018 he canceled additional shows due to an ear infection, and a hip injury caused delays to his Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour, pushing some dates from 2021 to 2023.
As the long list of obstacles shows, he has endured significant adversity. Yet Elton sees himself as a survivor. He said, “I’ve survived a lot of things. Life is full of challenges, even when you’re sober. I can handle them now because I don’t have to escape and hide.”
He also revealed that he has already decided what he wants written on his gravestone—five simple words: “he was a great dad.”