Elton John says cocaine made him a violent monster who earned Rolling Stones' Keith Richards' disapproval
Elton John got candid on how his cocaine habit resulted in him becoming a violent monster who had once hijacked a Rolling Stones gig and also destroyed a hotel suite.
The popular singer admitted to being very dependant on the drug during the 70s and 80s and recalled how it made him "irresponsible and self-obsessed." In John's new autobiography titled 'Me: Elton John Official Autobiography', an excerpt of which was published in DailyMail, he spoke about taking cocaine in 1974. He remembered how he was addicted to the euphoric feeling he got from it.
The 72-year-old singer shared, "My appetite for the stuff was unbelievable — enough to attract comment in the circles I was moving in. Given that I was a rock star spending a lot of time in Seventies LA, this was a not inconsiderable feat." In one cocaine-fuelled incident, John also remembers being stared down by Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards.
John had been high and was invited to join the band for a performance in Colorado. "I might have just performed Honky Tonk Women, waved to the crowd and made my exit. Instead, I decided it was going so well, I'd stay on and jam along to the rest of their set, without first taking the precaution of asking the Stones if they wanted an auxiliary keyboard player," he shared
"For a while, I thought Keith Richards kept staring at me because he was awestruck by the brilliance of my improvised contributions to their oeuvre," he added. He then realized that Richards' face did not seem impressed and John quickly left with Richards' still staring at him.
In the passage, John also spoke about how he ended up smashing his hotel room after having around eight vodka martinis and "a couple of lines of coke." He also punched his manager and former lover John Reid. John shared that he was unable to understand that he had a drug problem.
"You become unreasonable and irresponsible, self-obsessed, a law unto yourself. It's your way or the highway. It's a horrible drug," John shared. 'Me: Elton John Official Autobiography' by Elton John will be releasing on October 15.