The lyricist, 74, has been 77-year-old Elton’s writing partner since the start of his decades-long career, with the pair churning out hits including ‘Your Song’ and ‘Rocket Man’ – but he has now admitted the singer’s years on drink and drugs led to them both producing their worst creative efforts.
He told Time in an interview to mark Elton being named the magazine’s ‘2024 Icon of the Year’: “I was terrified for him. It was absolutely horrible… a lot of the work that we did in the times when he was at his worst wasn’t the best of both of us.”
Bernie added about watching Elton battle addiction forcing him to reform his heavy drug use for the sake of his work: “I wasn’t able to creatively invest any time in writing material that related to him until he actually found himself, and then it was easier for me to reflect upon it.”
Elton was introduced to cocaine around 1974 at the peak of his productivity, and even though he initially enjoyed the powder freeing him from his crippling shyness, it soon took over his life.
He told Time in a profile piece on him and his collaborators: “You make terrible decisions on drugs.
“I wanted love so badly, I’d just take hostages.
“I’d see someone I liked and spend three or four months together, and then they would resent me because they had nothing in their life apart from me.
“It really upsets me, thinking back on how many people I probably hurt.”
Time reported Elton now “divides his life into pre- and post-sober periods”.
Its profile highlighted how he has helped a series of others kick drugs, which has seen him become Eminem’s sponsor and get Robbie Williams into rehab for the first time.
Elton said about trying to coach people into giving up addictions: “It’s tough to tell someone that they’re being an a******, and it’s tough to hear.
“Eventually I made the choice to admit that I’m being an a******.”
