Elton John on Getting Well and Giving Something Back | Parkinson on BBC

By The Michael Parkinson Channel

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This is not the Elton John of 1986. That version was hiding behind gates and heading, as Parkinson puts it, for Palookaville. This is the one who came back. In this conversation, Elton talks about the moment someone sat him down and read out a list of everything that was wrong with him. It was long. His list of what was wrong with the other person lasted half a second. He knew then that something had to change. He talks about checking into rehab in Chicago for six weeks, about learning to do what he was told for a year, and about the phone call he made from a hotel complaining that the wind outside was too windy. He is not proud of it. He also talks about Ryan White, the American boy with AIDS who was firebombed at home and kept out of school, whose family's capacity to forgive made Elton look at his own life and find it worthless. That was what made him decide to give something back. To watch Elton John's early career interview on Parkinson: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGjgZkIX

Tags: michael parkinson, british talk show, a-list celebrities, hollywood stars, political figures, insightful conversations, witty banter, unforgettable moments