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Many popular singers, dancers, actors and performers after touching the heights or while struggling to achieve their destination have to go through difficult phases. The glamourous light that everybody yearns has darkest aspect in its hidden lap. As many personalities who after enduring great suffering come to the glamourous spot have to trigger with traumatic past events and with the fame that lead their boat towards a storm that causes agony in their hearts as bidden partner.
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Elton John, a renowned singer, astonishing pianist and a fabulous composer, won many awards including five Grammy Awards. His music albums flares up the fire of emotions in the music industry. Being so famous in the industry, he was going through the unbalance emotions that drives him towards the threshold of addiction. The pull of emotions don’t only drive him mentally but also played an important part as sexual drive. The foremost cause to be involved in the drug addiction is his childhood trauma, the dearth of parental love especially of his father who never acknowledged the god-gifted John. Society’s norms verses the human natural affection which we can find in love life that drained him too much. Finally, when legally same sex marriage become legal in west, he married to David Furnish.
The inner tug war and dilemma, the need to escape from the reality and to be lost in the music, became a source of suffering for John, it compelled him to open the forbidden gate that led him to addiction. While giving his iconic songs; Goodbye Yellow Brock Rock , I am Still Standing and the Sad Songs, it had been observed that he was encountered with drug addiction and had to go through the critical stage so ultimately, he started to relay on drugs.
Elton John’s Addiction
Elton’s addiction of drugs was come into consideration in Rocketmen and it caught the international eyes when he published his autobiography “Me”. He elaborates on his encounter with drugs and alcohol. Primarily, the artist elaborates his very first experience of taking Cocaine and the relief of sighing. The reason of taking Cocaine was to escape from the reality that let him feel miserable. He was suffering from mental disturbance, the unearned suffering that become the reason of deprivation from parental love. While giving an interview on “Today”, John elaborated reasons and fallouts of addiction. He described that self loath, depression, childhood trauma and the desire to escape from reality led his way to grim darkness.
The successful singer faced a lot of suffering. John Elton coped with fame by using drugs and alcohol. Because of his excessive use of Cocaine, he sometimes fainted before the performance, and he endured severe heart pain and endured suffering. The gateway that he opened for him for bearing the glamorous light hit upon him like thundering shocks. He explained that the Cocaine he used made him something else that he was not rational anymore. Furthermore, he explained
that Drugs made him self-obsessed and irresponsible also. Finding himself in a catastrophic situation, he decided to ask for help for coming out of the hell that he had made for himself. He decided to move to Rehab for treatment.
John went to Rehab
John’s friend, Rayan White’s death became the reason that he started the foundation for AIDS as well as he wanted to start a new life. After being abused by drugs and alcohol also by physical abuse, he ultimately decided to ask for help. As he went through Epilepsy, could faint at any moment, being crushed by excessive use of Cocaine, he finally decided to redirect his direction. With the passage of time, after fighting a battle with drugs, he realized that this addiction is not favoring him but ultimately ruining him, he started to ponder over it and asked for help, and he moved toward Rehab.
In 1990 He went to Chicago Rehab for figuring out his true self, the independent one meanwhile he stopped doing work. While being in the Rehab, he did make attempts to exile but he retrained himself for doing so! He told himself, where will he go if he goes away from Rehab? Back to misery, back to the hell from which he escaped, towards drug addiction for meeting the threshold of death?
In the Rehab , John jot down the words to his companion from the last twenty years; Cocaine ; “You my worst friend!”
He states while giving an interview that he took Cocaine to get confidence for speaking up, for performing on stage and for dealing with fame that he gained. While being in Rehab, he said
He would never touch it again !
His desire to eat more cocaine increased while getting treatment, he craved for Cocaine immensely.
Besides this, he was also suffering from the eating disorder, Bulimia. He didn’t opt a random Rahab, he opted for Parkside Lutheran Hospital, Chicago for the two reasons; The very first reason is that he wants to become sober and the second reason is that he wants to over come his eating disorder also. These two things are only found in Chicago Rehab.
Asked for Help, A voice came out ;
“Nothing can change you unless or until your inner voice doesn’t awake you from the dead sleep”
He took 16 years for accepting that he was suffering from inside and he needed help. He fought with battle from a long term and the result of his struggles bring fruit, he is not just recovered from the addiction, his recovery opens the gate of healthy life. Now he is sober from the 30 years. The recovery alleviates the burden that he bore over his heart, the darkest night ends by brighten the day and now he lives a drug free life.
He pays gratitude to all the friends and people who were kind to him in the days of depression, who helped him from coming out from the darkness and ingrained the element of hope in him.
His interviews :
While giving an interview to CTV Your Morning, he said :
In an other interview by sitting with NBC’s Harry Smith , he revealed his biggest regret :
He also gave an interview to Own where he talked about his suicide attempt and about his marriage ;
In his autobiography “Me” he talks in a simple and more connecting way to the readers about his experience when he was going through hell, he states all his experiences in such a way that it appeals the reader to know him very well. He shared the experience when he was lying on the bed and felt near to death.
Furthermore, when he was giving his interview, he elaborates his childhood trauma and the fear that was over his mind, he was attached to his mother but he was far away from his father as he ever encouraged John for his dreams.
He also stated in the interview that his mother before her death said to him that ; “I loved you but I don’t like you “
John’s Sobriety as a Source of Inspiration
The story of John’s sobriety become a source of inspiration for the young ones who waste their life in the grim darkness of drug addiction. His story is not just the story of welcoming the life again but also a gateway to those who are entangled in the web of drugs and want to come back to life again. One can easily get the lesson that being rich is not the success but the success can be analyzed from the one’s inner happiness. As even though John was rich and owned everything he wanted, he still wanted his inner satisfaction and for this he fought bravely by accepting that he needed help. If he would not ask for help then how it becomes possible for him to live a healthy and sober life . The journey was not easy but his willingness to come out of his miserable life makes it possible for him to walk on the life that makes him sure about his physically and mental health as well. Even though he had to face the enormous desire and pull towards drug but he never gave up! That’s why he now enjoys his peaceful life with his children.
Elton John today’s life
John is now living his life with his family. He is in quest to sustain peace by having mental peace. We can see the pinned tweet on his profile , where he enunciates his gloominess over the world who used his songs as misinformation for creating conflict among the masses .
All my life I’ve tried to use music to bring people together. Yet it saddens me to see how misinformation is now being used to divide our world. I’ve decided to no longer use Twitter, given their recent change in policy which will allow misinformation to flourish unchecked”.
John is encouraging people to come out from HIV stigma and “Let your inner Elton Out ” . He enunciates that do what you want to do and know the true you. He raises his voice regarding information of AIDs for this he runs the HIV foundation for saving the lives of millions. He is playing his role in serving the humanity as we know the hidden personality that compels Elton to run a foundation, is his close friend who died because of HIV.
