ELTON JOHN’S GAY COUNTRY SOUL • Country Queer

Contents:

• IS ELTON JOHN GAY?
• GAY RIGHTS ARE GOG BACKWARDS THE US, SAYS ELTON JOHN
• IS ELTON JOHN GAY? WHEN DID HE FALLY INTIFY AS GAY?
• ELTON JOHN TALKS COMG OUT, THOUGHT EVERYONE KNEW HE WAS GAY
• ELTON JOHN DECLARED THAT ‘GAY RIGHTS ARE GOG BACKWARDS IN THE US’ AND IT IS ‘DISGRACEFUL’
• ROCKETMAN: ELTON JOHN’S REAL-LIFE ROLLER-COASTER RELATNSHIP WH JOHN REIDTARON EGERTON AND RICHARD MADN PORTRAY JOHN AND REID’S STEAMY ’70S ROMANCE—THE FIRST RELATNSHIP ELTON JOHN HAD WH A MAN.BY JULIE MILLERMAY 31, 2019ELTON JOHN KISSG HIS MANAGER JOHN REID ON CHEEK, 1979.BY RICHARD YOUNG/REX/SHUTTERSTOCK.SAVE THIS STORYSAVESAVE THIS STORYSAVEELTON JOHN WOULD NOT SACRIFICE SEX FOR A PG-13 RATG—NOT LIFE, AND NOT ROCKETMAN, THE MIL BPIC STARRG TARON EGERTON. “EVERYONE KNOWS I HAD QUE A LOT OF [SEX AND DGS] DURG THE ’70S AND ’80S,” JOHN EXPLAED THE GUARDIAN THIS MONTH. “SO THERE DIDN’T SEEM TO BE MUCH POT MAKG A MOVIE THAT IMPLIED THAT AFTER EVERY GIG, I’D QUIETLY GONE BACK TO MY HOTEL ROOM WH ONLY A GLASS OF WARM K AND THE GION’S BIBLE FOR PANY.”FOLLOWG LAST YEAR’S BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY—WHICH DOWNPLAYED FREDDIE MERCURY’S NOTORLY PROLIFIC SEX LIFE—ROCKETMAN’S UNAPOLOGETIC LOVE SCENE BETWEEN ELTON JOHN AND HIS FIRST BOYIEND, JOHN REID (RICHARD MADN), LIGHTED CANN FILM FTIVAL DIENCE MEMBERS. AND EVEN THOUGH JOHN AND REID END UP HAVG A NASTY, PUBLIC FALLG-OUT—MORE ON THAT LATER—JOHN HIMSELF WAS THRILLED TO SEE HIS FIRST MAJOR SEXUAL ENUNTER, AT THE AGE OF 23, RE-CREATED ONSCREEN.“I WAS A VIRG UNTIL THEN,” JOHN HAS EXPLAED OF THE 1970 ENUNTER WH REID, WHO WOULD BEE HIS MANAGER. “I WAS SPERATE TO BE LOVED AND SPERATE TO HAVE A TACTILE THEY TEAR THEIR CLOTH OFF THE MOVIE, THAT WAS HOW HAPPENED. IT WAS SAN FRANCIS.... I’M SO GLAD ’S THERE, BEE I AM A GAY MAN AND I DIDN’T WANT TO AIRBSH UNR THE RPET. THIS IS WHO I AM, AND I WAS SO JOYO. WHEN HE IS LYG MY ARMS AND I’M STG BACK WH A SE, I’M THKG, ‘AH, I’M NORMAL, I’VE HAD SEX’.... THAT NIGHT WAS A VERY, VERY IMPORTANT PART.”TOM DOYLE, WHO WROTE THE BOOK CAPTA FANTASTIC, ABOUT JOHN’S REER THROUGH THE ’70S, FURTHER EXPLAED: “IT TOOK REID TO NFIRM ELTON’S SEXUAL PROCLIVI. RETURNG OM A HIGHLY SIGNIFINT NIGHT WH THE ST SAN FRANCIS, HE ADMTED TO [MIC PRODUCER] STEVE BROWN, ‘I’M FELY GAY’.... IT WAS WHOLLY LIBERATG FOR ELTON, AT THE RELATIVELY LATE AGE OF TWENTY-THREE, TO FALLY ACCEPT THE TE NATURE OF HIS SEXUALY. BRAVELY, HE DIDN’T ATTEMPT TO KEEP HIDN OM THOSE CLOST TO HIM.”IN REAL LIFE, THE CHEMISTRY HAD NOT BEEN AS IMMEDIATE FOR JOHN AND REID—A STTISH MIC WUNRKD WHO HAD FIRST N TO JOHN, ACRDG TO DOYLE, AT EMI’S LONDON OFFICE, WHERE JOHN WAS “CHEEKILY SCROUNG[G] EE VYL PI OF THE LATT RELEAS.” REID LATER TOLD THE STTISH DAILY MAIL ABOUT HIS FIRST IMPRSN OF JOHN: “I REMEMBER THIS HIP, SHY YOUNG MAN,” HE RELLED. “THERE WAS A GAWKY SWEETNS ABOUT HIM.”AFTER THE SAN FRANCIS TRIP, JOHN AND REID MOVED TO A FLAT LONDON TOGETHER. “HE WAS MY FIRST GREAT LOVE, AND I WAS HIS,” REID SAID. JOHN’S PRODUCER G DUDGEON EXPLAED TO VH1’S BEHD THE MIC THAT THE TWO WERE “ MANY WAYS THE PERFECT [WERE] VERY UP FOR SPENDG MONEY, PARTYG, HAVG A REALLY GOOD TIME.”REID HAD SIGNED ON TO BE JOHN’S MANAGER, EVEN THOUGH HE WAS ADMTEDLY EXPERIENCED THAT AREA OF THE DTRY. ACRDG TO CAPTA FANTASTIC, JOHN’S BOSS AT DJM SAW THE PERK OF THE ARRANGEMENT: “WHO ELSE N WE RELY ON TO GET ELTON OUT OF BED THE MORNG THAN THE GUY HE’S BED WH?” REID WAS NFINT AND HAD KILLER STCTS, HOWEVER: THE FOLLOWG YEAR, HE LNCHED HIS OWN MANAGEMENT PANY, AND WENT ON TO NEGOTIATE UNPRECENTED ALS FOR JOHN. (LATER, THE MANAGER WOULD REPORTEDLY LAMENT HOW EXCSIVE THEY WERE—WONRG WHETHER HE HELPED MAKE THE MIC DTRY “MORE VULGAR.”)BUT BOY, DID JOHN AND REID KNOW HOW TO SPEND MONEY. ACRDG TO A 1974 ROLLG STONE VER STORY, JOHN BOUGHT REID AN APPALOOSA RACEHORSE AND A POWERBOAT FOR HIS 25TH BIRTHDAY. FOR JOHN’S BIRTHDAY, REID SAID HE RECIPROTED BY WALKG TO A PARIS JEWELER AND PICKG OUT THE LARGT EMERALD RG HE ULD FD—ALLEGEDLY WORTH A LN ANCS.GIVEN THAT JOHN AND REID WERE SEPARABLE AND LIVG TOGETHER, THERE WAS PUBLIC SPECULATN ABOUT THE NATURE OF THEIR RELATNSHIP. BUT WHEN JOHN WAS ASKED POT-BLANK BY ROLLG STONE 1974, HE CLAIMED REID WAS “JT MY MANAGER.... I HAVE A CLOSE CIRCLE OF IENDS WHO JT AREN’T THE PUBLIC—SORT OF LIKE ELVIS AND HIS...MOTORBIKE PEOPLE. THEY WERE THE PEOPLE WHO FIRST GAVE BERNIE [TP] AND ME ENURAGEMENT. IT’S VERY MUCH A FAY. THAT’S WHY ’S SO CTUO SOMETIM.”REID WAS FIERCELY LOYAL TO JOHN, BUT ALSO A B OF A HOTHEAD—WH ROLLG STONE VOTG A PARAGRAPH TO REID’S HISTORY OF VLENT ANTICS: “HE TOSSED A GLASS OF CHAMPAGNE AT A MAN FOR NOT HAVG ENOUGH LIQUOR AT A RECEPTN FOR ELTON; SLAPPED A WOMAN JOURNALIST WHO SLD HIM AND REPORTEDLY LLED HIM A ‘POOF’ (MEANG A GAY); AND HE BEAT AND KICKED ANOTHER JOURNALIST WHOM HE SAID HE HEARD HAD THREATENED ELTON.” HE WAS ALSO SENTENCED TO A MONTH PRISON 1974 FOR ASSLTG A JOURNALIST NEW ZEALAND.MOST POPULARWH MATRO, LEONARD BERNSTE’S LEGACY AND LOV FALLY H THE BIG SCREENBY REBEC FORDINSI ALL OF US STRANGERS, ANDREW STT AND PL ML’S METAPHYSIL LOVE STORYBY DAVID CANFIELDOUR FLAG MEANS DEATH SEASON 2: EXCLIVE FIRST LOOKBY SARAH CATHERALLJOHN AND REID’S ROMANTIC RELATNSHIP FIZZLED OUT 1975—WH BOTH MEN CLAIMG THE RELATNSHIP END FOR DIFFERENT REASONS. ACRDG TO REID, JOHN “NEVER HAD A SEXUAL ADOLCENCE. HE NEED TO GO OFF AND PLAY THE FIELD.” BUT ACRDG TO CAPTA FANTASTIC, JOHN SAID THAT REID HAD BEEN “MORE UNFAHFUL THAN I LIKED.”THEIR WORKG RELATNSHIP NTUED UNTIL 1998—THE SAME YEAR THAT JOHN’S DORS DISVERED A £20 LN GAP HIS ACUNTS, AND SHORTLY BEFORE JOHN SUED BOTH PRICEWATERHOECOOPERS AND ANDREW HAYDON, THE FORMER MANAGG DIRECTOR OF JOHN REID ENTERPRIS. SPEAKG ABOUT HIS EX, JOHN SAID, “I TSTED HIM...I NEVER THOUGHT HE WOULD BETRAY ME, BUT HE HAS BETRAYED ME.” WHILE REID SETTLED WH JOHN OUT OF URT, A HIGH-URT HEARG EXAMED JOHN’S EXCSIVE SPENDG OVER THE YEARS—WH A JUDGE ULTIMATELY SIDG WH PRICEWATERHOECOOPERS AND HAYDON.“SIR ELTON’S DIFFERENCE TO THE TAILS OF FANCIAL AND BS MATTERS WAS FOR A LONG TIME POUND BY THE FACT THAT HE HAD SER PROBLEMS WH ALHOL AND DG ABE,” THE JUDGE TERMED, ACRDG TO THE GUARDIAN. DURG THE LEAD-UP TO THE JUDGMENT, THE URT HEARD HOW JOHN SPENT NEARLY £40 LN DURG A 20-MONTH PERD, AND £293,000 ON FLOWERS ALONE. REID ALLEGED, MEANWHILE, THAT LIVG WH JOHN WAS LIKE “TRYG TO HOLD BACK A VAST LEAPS STYLE WERE EXHSTG. HE WOULD GO OUT ONE DAY WH BROWN HAIR AND RETURN THE NEXT WH PK. ONE DAY HE DROVE OFF HIS ESRT, AND I SAID WASN’T VERY ROCK AND ROLL. HE RETURNED THAT AFTERNOON WH A PURPLE ASTON MART.” (IN ROCKETMAN, SHOPPG IS THE ONE ADDICTN JOHN PS TO HAVG NOT OVERE.)RICHARD MADN HAS SAID THAT, WHILE PREPARG TO PLAY REID, HE REACHED OUT TO VAR IENDS OF THE NOW-RETIRED MANAGER—CLUDG DONATELLA VERSACE. (MADN TOLD ELLE THAT THE SIGNER TOLD HIM, “THE THG ABOUT JOHN REID WAS THAT HE WAS NEVER WRONG.”) BUT REID, WHO IS REPORTEDLY LIVG ATRALIA UNR THE RADAR THE DAYS, REMAS SOMETHG OF AN ENIGMA TO MADN.SPEAKG TO THE SYDNEY MORNG HERALD, MADN EXPLAED: “EVERYONE HAS A VERY DIFFERENT TAKE AND A VERY DIFFERENT STORY ABOUT HIM.... YOU’VE GOT SOME PEOPLE THAT ARE ABSOLUTELY TERRIFIED OF HIM, BEE HE’S THIS MAN WHO LOV TO FIRE PEOPLE AND THERE’S THIS FORCE, AND THEN OTHER PEOPLE SAYG HE IS THE MOST FUN PERSON YOU ULD POSSIBLY GET, AND IF YOU GET A NIGHT OUT WH JOHN REID, YOU’RE GOG TO HAVE THE BT TIME.” THE NTRADICTORY REPORTS, MADN EXPLAED, “GAVE ME LIBERTY TO PLAY LOTS OF DIFFERENT ELEMENTS OF HIM. THIS MAN THAT PEOPLE LOVE BEG AROUND, BUT ALSO THIS MAN THAT PEOPLE ARE ABSOLUTELY TERRIFIED OF; I GOT TO PLAY WH THE SPECTM OF THAT BEE OF ALL THE DIFFERENT ANECDOT I GOT.”IN AN INTERVIEW NVERSATN WH JOHN, MADN SAID, “THERE’S LOTS ABOUT JOHN REID THAT’S NOT VERY LIKABLE. IT WAS REALLY FUN TO PLAY WH THAT AND BE A CUNT SOMETIM.” JOHN ADD, OF THE TASK OF PORTRAYG HIS EX: “YOU HAVE TO BE BOTH TENR AND A BASTARD.”MOST POPULARWH MATRO, LEONARD BERNSTE’S LEGACY AND LOV FALLY H THE BIG SCREENBY REBEC FORDINSI ALL OF US STRANGERS, ANDREW STT AND PL ML’S METAPHYSIL LOVE STORYBY DAVID CANFIELDOUR FLAG MEANS DEATH SEASON 2: EXCLIVE FIRST LOOKBY SARAH CATHERALLIN SPE OF THE RELATNSHIP’S UPS AND DOWNS, REID HAS SEEMED REMORSEFUL ABOUT S CLIMACTIC FAL ACT. “IT’S VERY SAD THAT THE LONG RELATNSHIP I HAD WH ELTON HAS END THIS WAY,” REID TOLD THE GUARDIAN 2001, SHORTLY AFTER THE URT LG. “I FEEL THAT THE QUTN MARK THAT HAS BEEN HANGG OVER MY TEGRY FOR THE PAST THREE YEARS HAS BEEN REMOVED, AND THAT WAS THE MOST IMPORTANT THG TO ME THIS SE. IT SHOULD NEVER HAVE E TO TRIAL. IT WAS ILL ADVISED.” IN THE YEARS SCE, REID APPEARED BRIEFLY AS A JUDGE ON THE X FACTOR ATRALIA, AND TOLD IENDS OF A PLAN TO WRE A MEMOIR. SEVERAL YEARS BACK, ACRDG TO THE STTISH DAILY MAIL, REID EVEN MA MENTS SUGGTG HE MIGHT BE OPEN TO A RENCILIATN WH JOHN. “I’M FOND OF ELTON, AND PROUD OF THE WORK I DID WH HIM,” HE SAID. “ONE DAY I’LL BUMP TO HIM AND THERE MAY BE HUGS AND KISS. OR MAYBE NOT.”JULIE MILLER
• ELTON JOHN’S GAY COUNTRY SOUL
• ‘PHILALPHIA FREEDOM’ ISN’T JT A GAY ANTHEM. IT’S A PRI ANTHEM.

IS ELTON JOHN GAY?

In an exclive terview wh Variety at last month’s Cann Film Ftival, jt hours before the world premiere of his long--the-works bpic “Rocketman, ” John spoke ndidly about the “privilege” of beg a gay entertaer.

I’ve been very privileged bee I’m a bs that kd of accepts gay people.

GAY RIGHTS ARE GOG BACKWARDS THE US, SAYS ELTON JOHN

But 1992, at age 45, he was quoted the same magaze sayg he was “que fortable beg gay.

Now 72, John tells Variety that he was 23 when he actually realized he was gay.

Acrdg to “Rocketman, ” she told her son he would never be tly loved bee he was gay. “It’s wonrful to be gay.

IS ELTON JOHN GAY? WHEN DID HE FALLY INTIFY AS GAY?

I love beg gay. “And I thk I wouldn’t have had the life I’ve had if I hadn’t been gay.

ELTON JOHN TALKS COMG OUT, THOUGHT EVERYONE KNEW HE WAS GAY

“Don’t let anybody torture you for beg gay or for your sexualy.

“There are so many wonrful diverse people the world — straight people, gay people [and] transgenr people.

ELTON JOHN DECLARED THAT ‘GAY RIGHTS ARE GOG BACKWARDS IN THE US’ AND IT IS ‘DISGRACEFUL’

People who should know better plac of rponsibily [and] attack gay people, transgenr people … they claim to be close to God, [but] they uldn’t be further away om God if they tried. We take a look at how Regald Dwight beme one of most famo openly gay micians of all time and how he posively impacts the LGBTQ muny to this day. However, isn't jt a time to look back at the rich history of the muny, but 's also an opportuny to raise awarens of issu still affectg s members today- many of whom still face prejudice and discrimatn across the John is a huge advote for LGBTQ+ rights and is undoubtedly one of the most famo openly gay micians of all time...

When did Elton John e out as gay? Elton John officially me out as gay to Rollg Stone magaze 1992, but his romantic relatnships before this weren't so 1969, Elton John was engaged to be married to his first girliend Lda Woodrow, but he end the relatnship two weeks before their weddg date. In 1970, Elton John began his first gay affair wh the mic manager John Reid.

Elton John told Rollg Stone he was "fortable beg gay" 1992. It was after this marriage that Elton John was to break down even more boundari, tellg Rollg Stone 1992 that he was "que fortable beg gay” the same year, the piano man found the Elton John AIDS Foundatn to help fight disease which had affected so many the muny, cludg his iends Ryan Whe and Queen ontman Freddie Ty Dancer sger has sce raised hundreds of lns for the e, hostg galas and balls as well has his famo annual Amy Award Party sce 1993, while g his public profile to raise awarens of the disease and provi fundg for tn and rearch.

ROCKETMAN: ELTON JOHN’S REAL-LIFE ROLLER-COASTER RELATNSHIP WH JOHN REIDTARON EGERTON AND RICHARD MADN PORTRAY JOHN AND REID’S STEAMY ’70S ROMANCE—THE FIRST RELATNSHIP ELTON JOHN HAD WH A MAN.BY JULIE MILLERMAY 31, 2019ELTON JOHN KISSG HIS MANAGER JOHN REID ON CHEEK, 1979.BY RICHARD YOUNG/REX/SHUTTERSTOCK.SAVE THIS STORYSAVESAVE THIS STORYSAVEELTON JOHN WOULD NOT SACRIFICE SEX FOR A PG-13 RATG—NOT LIFE, AND NOT ROCKETMAN, THE MIL BPIC STARRG TARON EGERTON. “EVERYONE KNOWS I HAD QUE A LOT OF [SEX AND DGS] DURG THE ’70S AND ’80S,” JOHN EXPLAED THE GUARDIAN THIS MONTH. “SO THERE DIDN’T SEEM TO BE MUCH POT MAKG A MOVIE THAT IMPLIED THAT AFTER EVERY GIG, I’D QUIETLY GONE BACK TO MY HOTEL ROOM WH ONLY A GLASS OF WARM K AND THE GION’S BIBLE FOR PANY.”FOLLOWG LAST YEAR’S BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY—WHICH DOWNPLAYED FREDDIE MERCURY’S NOTORLY PROLIFIC SEX LIFE—ROCKETMAN’S UNAPOLOGETIC LOVE SCENE BETWEEN ELTON JOHN AND HIS FIRST BOYIEND, JOHN REID (RICHARD MADN), LIGHTED CANN FILM FTIVAL DIENCE MEMBERS. AND EVEN THOUGH JOHN AND REID END UP HAVG A NASTY, PUBLIC FALLG-OUT—MORE ON THAT LATER—JOHN HIMSELF WAS THRILLED TO SEE HIS FIRST MAJOR SEXUAL ENUNTER, AT THE AGE OF 23, RE-CREATED ONSCREEN.“I WAS A VIRG UNTIL THEN,” JOHN HAS EXPLAED OF THE 1970 ENUNTER WH REID, WHO WOULD BEE HIS MANAGER. “I WAS SPERATE TO BE LOVED AND SPERATE TO HAVE A TACTILE THEY TEAR THEIR CLOTH OFF THE MOVIE, THAT WAS HOW HAPPENED. IT WAS SAN FRANCIS.... I’M SO GLAD ’S THERE, BEE I AM A GAY MAN AND I DIDN’T WANT TO AIRBSH UNR THE RPET. THIS IS WHO I AM, AND I WAS SO JOYO. WHEN HE IS LYG MY ARMS AND I’M STG BACK WH A SE, I’M THKG, ‘AH, I’M NORMAL, I’VE HAD SEX’.... THAT NIGHT WAS A VERY, VERY IMPORTANT PART.”TOM DOYLE, WHO WROTE THE BOOK CAPTA FANTASTIC, ABOUT JOHN’S REER THROUGH THE ’70S, FURTHER EXPLAED: “IT TOOK REID TO NFIRM ELTON’S SEXUAL PROCLIVI. RETURNG OM A HIGHLY SIGNIFINT NIGHT WH THE ST SAN FRANCIS, HE ADMTED TO [MIC PRODUCER] STEVE BROWN, ‘I’M FELY GAY’.... IT WAS WHOLLY LIBERATG FOR ELTON, AT THE RELATIVELY LATE AGE OF TWENTY-THREE, TO FALLY ACCEPT THE TE NATURE OF HIS SEXUALY. BRAVELY, HE DIDN’T ATTEMPT TO KEEP HIDN OM THOSE CLOST TO HIM.”IN REAL LIFE, THE CHEMISTRY HAD NOT BEEN AS IMMEDIATE FOR JOHN AND REID—A STTISH MIC WUNRKD WHO HAD FIRST N TO JOHN, ACRDG TO DOYLE, AT EMI’S LONDON OFFICE, WHERE JOHN WAS “CHEEKILY SCROUNG[G] EE VYL PI OF THE LATT RELEAS.” REID LATER TOLD THE STTISH DAILY MAIL ABOUT HIS FIRST IMPRSN OF JOHN: “I REMEMBER THIS HIP, SHY YOUNG MAN,” HE RELLED. “THERE WAS A GAWKY SWEETNS ABOUT HIM.”AFTER THE SAN FRANCIS TRIP, JOHN AND REID MOVED TO A FLAT LONDON TOGETHER. “HE WAS MY FIRST GREAT LOVE, AND I WAS HIS,” REID SAID. JOHN’S PRODUCER G DUDGEON EXPLAED TO VH1’S BEHD THE MIC THAT THE TWO WERE “ MANY WAYS THE PERFECT [WERE] VERY UP FOR SPENDG MONEY, PARTYG, HAVG A REALLY GOOD TIME.”REID HAD SIGNED ON TO BE JOHN’S MANAGER, EVEN THOUGH HE WAS ADMTEDLY EXPERIENCED THAT AREA OF THE DTRY. ACRDG TO CAPTA FANTASTIC, JOHN’S BOSS AT DJM SAW THE PERK OF THE ARRANGEMENT: “WHO ELSE N WE RELY ON TO GET ELTON OUT OF BED THE MORNG THAN THE GUY HE’S BED WH?” REID WAS NFINT AND HAD KILLER STCTS, HOWEVER: THE FOLLOWG YEAR, HE LNCHED HIS OWN MANAGEMENT PANY, AND WENT ON TO NEGOTIATE UNPRECENTED ALS FOR JOHN. (LATER, THE MANAGER WOULD REPORTEDLY LAMENT HOW EXCSIVE THEY WERE—WONRG WHETHER HE HELPED MAKE THE MIC DTRY “MORE VULGAR.”)BUT BOY, DID JOHN AND REID KNOW HOW TO SPEND MONEY. ACRDG TO A 1974 ROLLG STONE VER STORY, JOHN BOUGHT REID AN APPALOOSA RACEHORSE AND A POWERBOAT FOR HIS 25TH BIRTHDAY. FOR JOHN’S BIRTHDAY, REID SAID HE RECIPROTED BY WALKG TO A PARIS JEWELER AND PICKG OUT THE LARGT EMERALD RG HE ULD FD—ALLEGEDLY WORTH A LN ANCS.GIVEN THAT JOHN AND REID WERE SEPARABLE AND LIVG TOGETHER, THERE WAS PUBLIC SPECULATN ABOUT THE NATURE OF THEIR RELATNSHIP. BUT WHEN JOHN WAS ASKED POT-BLANK BY ROLLG STONE 1974, HE CLAIMED REID WAS “JT MY MANAGER.... I HAVE A CLOSE CIRCLE OF IENDS WHO JT AREN’T THE PUBLIC—SORT OF LIKE ELVIS AND HIS...MOTORBIKE PEOPLE. THEY WERE THE PEOPLE WHO FIRST GAVE BERNIE [TP] AND ME ENURAGEMENT. IT’S VERY MUCH A FAY. THAT’S WHY ’S SO CTUO SOMETIM.”REID WAS FIERCELY LOYAL TO JOHN, BUT ALSO A B OF A HOTHEAD—WH ROLLG STONE VOTG A PARAGRAPH TO REID’S HISTORY OF VLENT ANTICS: “HE TOSSED A GLASS OF CHAMPAGNE AT A MAN FOR NOT HAVG ENOUGH LIQUOR AT A RECEPTN FOR ELTON; SLAPPED A WOMAN JOURNALIST WHO SLD HIM AND REPORTEDLY LLED HIM A ‘POOF’ (MEANG A GAY); AND HE BEAT AND KICKED ANOTHER JOURNALIST WHOM HE SAID HE HEARD HAD THREATENED ELTON.” HE WAS ALSO SENTENCED TO A MONTH PRISON 1974 FOR ASSLTG A JOURNALIST NEW ZEALAND.MOST POPULARWH MATRO, LEONARD BERNSTE’S LEGACY AND LOV FALLY H THE BIG SCREENBY REBEC FORDINSI ALL OF US STRANGERS, ANDREW STT AND PL ML’S METAPHYSIL LOVE STORYBY DAVID CANFIELDOUR FLAG MEANS DEATH SEASON 2: EXCLIVE FIRST LOOKBY SARAH CATHERALLJOHN AND REID’S ROMANTIC RELATNSHIP FIZZLED OUT 1975—WH BOTH MEN CLAIMG THE RELATNSHIP END FOR DIFFERENT REASONS. ACRDG TO REID, JOHN “NEVER HAD A SEXUAL ADOLCENCE. HE NEED TO GO OFF AND PLAY THE FIELD.” BUT ACRDG TO CAPTA FANTASTIC, JOHN SAID THAT REID HAD BEEN “MORE UNFAHFUL THAN I LIKED.”THEIR WORKG RELATNSHIP NTUED UNTIL 1998—THE SAME YEAR THAT JOHN’S DORS DISVERED A £20 LN GAP HIS ACUNTS, AND SHORTLY BEFORE JOHN SUED BOTH PRICEWATERHOECOOPERS AND ANDREW HAYDON, THE FORMER MANAGG DIRECTOR OF JOHN REID ENTERPRIS. SPEAKG ABOUT HIS EX, JOHN SAID, “I TSTED HIM...I NEVER THOUGHT HE WOULD BETRAY ME, BUT HE HAS BETRAYED ME.” WHILE REID SETTLED WH JOHN OUT OF URT, A HIGH-URT HEARG EXAMED JOHN’S EXCSIVE SPENDG OVER THE YEARS—WH A JUDGE ULTIMATELY SIDG WH PRICEWATERHOECOOPERS AND HAYDON.“SIR ELTON’S DIFFERENCE TO THE TAILS OF FANCIAL AND BS MATTERS WAS FOR A LONG TIME POUND BY THE FACT THAT HE HAD SER PROBLEMS WH ALHOL AND DG ABE,” THE JUDGE TERMED, ACRDG TO THE GUARDIAN. DURG THE LEAD-UP TO THE JUDGMENT, THE URT HEARD HOW JOHN SPENT NEARLY £40 LN DURG A 20-MONTH PERD, AND £293,000 ON FLOWERS ALONE. REID ALLEGED, MEANWHILE, THAT LIVG WH JOHN WAS LIKE “TRYG TO HOLD BACK A VAST LEAPS STYLE WERE EXHSTG. HE WOULD GO OUT ONE DAY WH BROWN HAIR AND RETURN THE NEXT WH PK. ONE DAY HE DROVE OFF HIS ESRT, AND I SAID WASN’T VERY ROCK AND ROLL. HE RETURNED THAT AFTERNOON WH A PURPLE ASTON MART.” (IN ROCKETMAN, SHOPPG IS THE ONE ADDICTN JOHN PS TO HAVG NOT OVERE.)RICHARD MADN HAS SAID THAT, WHILE PREPARG TO PLAY REID, HE REACHED OUT TO VAR IENDS OF THE NOW-RETIRED MANAGER—CLUDG DONATELLA VERSACE. (MADN TOLD ELLE THAT THE SIGNER TOLD HIM, “THE THG ABOUT JOHN REID WAS THAT HE WAS NEVER WRONG.”) BUT REID, WHO IS REPORTEDLY LIVG ATRALIA UNR THE RADAR THE DAYS, REMAS SOMETHG OF AN ENIGMA TO MADN.SPEAKG TO THE SYDNEY MORNG HERALD, MADN EXPLAED: “EVERYONE HAS A VERY DIFFERENT TAKE AND A VERY DIFFERENT STORY ABOUT HIM.... YOU’VE GOT SOME PEOPLE THAT ARE ABSOLUTELY TERRIFIED OF HIM, BEE HE’S THIS MAN WHO LOV TO FIRE PEOPLE AND THERE’S THIS FORCE, AND THEN OTHER PEOPLE SAYG HE IS THE MOST FUN PERSON YOU ULD POSSIBLY GET, AND IF YOU GET A NIGHT OUT WH JOHN REID, YOU’RE GOG TO HAVE THE BT TIME.” THE NTRADICTORY REPORTS, MADN EXPLAED, “GAVE ME LIBERTY TO PLAY LOTS OF DIFFERENT ELEMENTS OF HIM. THIS MAN THAT PEOPLE LOVE BEG AROUND, BUT ALSO THIS MAN THAT PEOPLE ARE ABSOLUTELY TERRIFIED OF; I GOT TO PLAY WH THE SPECTM OF THAT BEE OF ALL THE DIFFERENT ANECDOT I GOT.”IN AN INTERVIEW NVERSATN WH JOHN, MADN SAID, “THERE’S LOTS ABOUT JOHN REID THAT’S NOT VERY LIKABLE. IT WAS REALLY FUN TO PLAY WH THAT AND BE A CUNT SOMETIM.” JOHN ADD, OF THE TASK OF PORTRAYG HIS EX: “YOU HAVE TO BE BOTH TENR AND A BASTARD.”MOST POPULARWH MATRO, LEONARD BERNSTE’S LEGACY AND LOV FALLY H THE BIG SCREENBY REBEC FORDINSI ALL OF US STRANGERS, ANDREW STT AND PL ML’S METAPHYSIL LOVE STORYBY DAVID CANFIELDOUR FLAG MEANS DEATH SEASON 2: EXCLIVE FIRST LOOKBY SARAH CATHERALLIN SPE OF THE RELATNSHIP’S UPS AND DOWNS, REID HAS SEEMED REMORSEFUL ABOUT S CLIMACTIC FAL ACT. “IT’S VERY SAD THAT THE LONG RELATNSHIP I HAD WH ELTON HAS END THIS WAY,” REID TOLD THE GUARDIAN 2001, SHORTLY AFTER THE URT LG. “I FEEL THAT THE QUTN MARK THAT HAS BEEN HANGG OVER MY TEGRY FOR THE PAST THREE YEARS HAS BEEN REMOVED, AND THAT WAS THE MOST IMPORTANT THG TO ME THIS SE. IT SHOULD NEVER HAVE E TO TRIAL. IT WAS ILL ADVISED.” IN THE YEARS SCE, REID APPEARED BRIEFLY AS A JUDGE ON THE X FACTOR ATRALIA, AND TOLD IENDS OF A PLAN TO WRE A MEMOIR. SEVERAL YEARS BACK, ACRDG TO THE STTISH DAILY MAIL, REID EVEN MA MENTS SUGGTG HE MIGHT BE OPEN TO A RENCILIATN WH JOHN. “I’M FOND OF ELTON, AND PROUD OF THE WORK I DID WH HIM,” HE SAID. “ONE DAY I’LL BUMP TO HIM AND THERE MAY BE HUGS AND KISS. OR MAYBE NOT.”JULIE MILLER

I hope n embrace the honty and urage that seeks gay marriage as an exprsn not of sire but of love. If anythg, fdg love and happs wh David Furnish has ma Elton more vol on LGBT rights than an openly gay artist, and one of the biggt sger-songwrers of our time, Elton John has often talked about how proud he is to be gay and also offered advice to the LGBTQ 2019, when asked an terview wh Variety what he'd say to any LGBTQ kids stgglg right now, he rpond: "Jt be yourself.

"I've been very privileged, bee I'm a bs that accepts gay people, although I me out pretty early... Don't let anybody torture you for beg gay or for your sexualy. He clared: "It's wonrful to be gay.

I thk I wouldn’t have had the life I’ve had if I hadn’t been gay.

ELTON JOHN’S GAY COUNTRY SOUL

"I was never unfortable beg gay. I didn't know I was gay until I was 23, so I mean I got off to a very slow start [... Straight people, gay people, transgenr people.

Elton John's journey to beg an out gay man may be a long and plex one, but the legendary sger-songwrer has long been an in and a bean of hope for the LGBTQ muny and will be for many years to e.

‘PHILALPHIA FREEDOM’ ISN’T JT A GAY ANTHEM. IT’S A PRI ANTHEM.

Growg up a time where queer ( his time was “homosexual, ” then “gay, ” then “LGBT” and now we’ve land at “queer”) was nsired a mental disorr by the DSM-II (the Amerin classifitn of mental disorrs), John had ltle to no affirmatns. John officially me out as bisexual a Rollg Stone terview 1976 and publicly said he was “fortable beg gay” by 1988.

And even allegedly progrsive New York Cy, the reportedly only black-owned gay bar Harlem had s rabow flags set on fire this week. As I wrote June 2016 for, when Tmp was mpaigng – and wng – on as much hate as possible, I was keenly aware as a black gay man there is a possibily of the threat of vlence.

"There’s a law now that, if you vis a doctor Florida, they n refe to treat you if you’re gay, which I fd jt unbelievable.