In an awesome interview with Alexis Petridis for The Guardian, Elton John opens up about cocaine use and the temper he became famous for during what he describes as his “cocaine years.” Remember the famous incident when Elton John woke up to a storm outside his hotel room, and immediately called his managers demanding they change the weather?

Elton says that the main factor in his change of behaviour was having children. In January Elton welcomed his second son to the world, with his partner David Furnish. Elijah Joseph Daniel Furnish-John was born to the same surrogate mother that birthed their first son Zachary.

Elton talks about the temper his parents had when he was growing up:

I always thought I might be really irritable with kids, but no way. Both my parents had tempers and it frightened the shit out of me. I don’t ever want to display that in front of the children. In the past, particularly when I was on drugs, there was a monstrous side to me, but I’m not really like that. I can be like that briefly, but everyone can. People say: ‘Look, he’s a fucking monster.’ Hang around anybody in fucking showbiz, baby, and you’ll see! We all have our sides like that

Elton John rocked the stage at Bestival last week, having not played at a festival since 1969. Take a minute to think about that. The Beatles were still together and Jimi Hendrix was still alive. His reasoning for staying away from festivals:

I’m too scared that people will throw things at me, I’m like the Queen Mother.

Despite his festival fears, Elton opens up about the amazing time he had at Bestival, his past, his plans for the future, being addicted to work and almost dying. Read the full interview here.

[Source: The Guardian]