Elton John says George Michael died because he was uncomfortable being gay: 'He did not want to be here'
Elton John has revealed that George Michael died because he was struggling with his sexuality, despite the coroners ruling that the latter's death was caused by "dilated cardiomyopathy with myocarditis and fatty liver."
The 72-year-old singer added that George battled drug addiction and his emotions all his life before deciding he did not “want to be here."
On Sharon Osbourne's show 'The Talk', Elton expressed his dismay at not being able to help his musician friend check into rehab in the final decade of his life, Mirror reported.
George died on Christmas days three years ago.
"He couldn’t get it, George. And he resented the fact that I had hinted that maybe he change his life a little bit and he’d be happier if he tried something else. The person has actually got to want it. It’s like me in the end; I really wanted it. I had two alternatives: one, to die, and one to live, and I wanted to live. But that’s the difference if you want it, and poor George didn’t want it," he said.
He added that he regrets not coming to the aid of George the way he helped Robbie Williams and Donatella Versace. Elton also recalled talking to Sharon and her husband Ozzy shortly after learning that the Wham! frontman had passed away.
"I remember talking to you the day he died on Christmas Day. And I phoned you and I was in Aspen and Ozzy got on the phone and he said, 'He didn’t want to be here.' I thought that’s the most succinct, apt thing, 'He didn’t want to be here,'" Elton said.
"He was so uncomfortable in his skin about being gay even though he said he wasn’t," he added. “We all make terrible mistakes, and some of us are addicts when we are born, and we have to battle that addiction. But you can turn the corner and you can get help and it’s been the most wonderful decision I’ve made.”