Elton John may have pulled the plug on his touring career, but he’s not ready to forget all about his time on the yellow brick road just yet.
The singer, 76, has announced he is releasing a behind-the-scenes tour book in September, which comes hot on the heels of his 2019 autobiography Me.
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Sharing the news on Instagram, Elton explained the new tome wouldn’t be limited to his final round of concerts, but would also include “stories and memories” from “throughout my career”.
“I’m incredibly excited,” he said, adding that the book will be titled Farewell Yellow Brick Road: Memories of My Life on Tour.
New Idea has learned the music superstar is refusing to be reined in when it comes to spilling the beans.
Seven months out from the book’s publication, our source says, “Elton is arguing with the publishers as to how much he can put in there. If he had his way, the book would be the size of three encyclopedias.”
With a career spanning more than five decades – including the last five years he spent travelling the world on his farewell tour, which finally wrapped up last July – Elton has banked a wealth of stories about what really happens on and off the stage.
“There’s so many incredible people he’s met and partied with back in the day, and all of them are jaw-dropping names,” our source adds.
“Elton does not want to hold back when it comes to tour gossip, nor on all the big names he’s performed with and the huge names he gave backstage access to.”
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While dad-of-two Elton famously curbed his own partying when he got sober from alcohol and drug addictions in 1990, he’s remained very well-connected to a huge number of other A-listers, both as a friend and a mentor. But he’s also famously disagreed with some fellow celebrities along the way too.
“He adored George Michael and did everything he could to get him clean,” our source says.
“That’s why they’d fallen out before George’s death in December 2016. But that’s not to say they didn’t have some fun when they performed together.”
However, it’s not just fellow musicians who can expect to feature in the book, which Elton says will also include “unreleased photography and memorabilia”.
“Politicians and royalty have been coming in and out of his dressing room for decades,” tells our source. “One of his favourites was the current French president Emmanuel Macron and his glamorous wife Brigitte. Elton was more in awe of her than he was of Princess Margaret.
“Of course, he still loved Princess Margaret. They met backstage at a benefit concert in the ’70s and it broke his heart when she died.”
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Now that Elton has gone public with the new book, our insider says his many celebrity friends are preparing for their cameo in print.
“He’s got plenty of dramas to share still,” our source adds.
As Elton himself has teased, “It’s been a beautiful journey … remembering the people and places that shaped an incredible chapter in my life.”
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