Elton John has admitted that, in his experience, the late Michael Jackson was a 'disturbing' person to be around.
The 'Rocketman' hitmaker, 75, made the revelation in his tell-all memoir, Me, where he recalled his interactions with the 'King of Pop', who passed away in 2009 at the age of 50.
Elton described Jackson, who had multiple accusations of child sex abuse against him, as 'mentally ill' and 'a disturbing person to be around.'
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The singer explained that he first encountered Jackson when he was a child, and he was allegedly a very different person back then.
"I'd known Michael since he was 13 or 14," Elton wrote. "He was just the most adorable kid you could imagine. But at some point in the intervening years, he started sequestering himself away from the world and away from reality, the way Elvis Presley did."
The singer revealed what he thought was behind the change in Jackson's character and speculated that it was the result of his reliance on prescription drugs.
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"God knows what was going on in his head, and God knows what prescription drugs he was being pumped full of, but every time I saw him in his later years I came away thinking that the poor guy had totally lost his marbles," Elton continued.
"I don't mean that in the lighthearted way. He was genuinely mentally ill, a disturbing person to be around."
Elton's words about Jackson's alleged mental state come after the release of high profile docuseries Leaving Neverland in 2019, which revisited the sex abuse allegations made against the singer.
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While Elton didn't comment on the allegations specifically, he did touch on the fact that Jackson appeared to prefer the company of children to adults.
He wrote: "For whatever reason, he couldn't seem to cope with adult company at all."
Jackson wasn't the only famous face that Elton opened up with in the memoir, as he also wrote about the recently deceased Queen Elizabeth II.
As other reports of the late monarch have suggested, Elton revealed that she had a fantastic sense of humour.
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"I know the Queen's public image isn’t exactly one of wild frivolity, but... in private she could be hilarious," he wrote.
The singer also added that Princess Diana was the People's Princess to him too and said she had been 'blessed with an incredible social ease, an ability to make people feel totally comfortable in her company.'
Me is available wherever you prefer to get your books.
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Topics: Celebrity, Michael Jackson