Elton John Explains Why He's Grateful For 'Years of Sex & Drugs'

Elton John strikes a pose on the cover of GQ Hype, available online now.

Here’s what the 72-year-old entertainer had to share with the mag:

On why he decided to write a memoir now: “It’s the right time. I’m 72 years old and I thought it was a good time to reflect on my life as it’s in pretty good shape now. I’m doing the farewell tour, Rocketman has come out, so it made sense to follow all that with the book. I didn’t want to do a book when I was 30 or 40, because it wouldn’t have been as honest as it is now. This is the time in my life in which I’m the happiest, when I feel most contented.”

On his “excessive years”: “If I hadn’t gone through what I did then I wouldn’t have become the person I am now. So in a way, I’m grateful for those years of sex and drugs, although I despise looking back on them. I had a good time at the beginning, but at the end it was just awful. But if I hadn’t have gone through them, I wouldn’t be sitting here having the great life I have now. I would have never met David [Furnish]. I would never have had children. I spent 16 years getting fucked up and 29 years getting better.

On being a star: “To be a star, you have to be a star for a long time and you have to do that by being a live performer. You can’t be a star just by making records. That’s not going to happen. To be a star, you have to last for 50 years. You have to be a Barbra Streisand. You have to be a Paul McCartney. You have to be Sting. You have to be Fleetwood Mac. You have to be The Who. Christine And The Queens, in my opinion, is a huge star, but she hasn’t cracked it yet commercially. The only real star at the moment is Lady Gaga. She could have a career like Barbra Streisand if she wanted to. She’s got the ambition, she’s got the talent coming out of every pore of her body, so it’s up to her whether she wants it and I think she does want it.”

To see the full interview from Elton John, visit gq-magazine.co.uk.