Elton John ended his engagement because “she didn’t truly appreciate my music” and faced intense feelings of loneliness, describing the experience as “so futile.”
By Website Content Manager
In the latest episode of David Frost Vs, the superstar opens up about how a woman’s doubtful musical taste unintentionally inspired one of his most cherished songs.
Elton John’s 1984 Top 5 hit, “Sad Songs (Say So Much),” remains one of his most memorable tracks from the ’80s. Throughout his nearly 60-year career, melancholy ballads have been a defining feature of his music, with classics like “Daniel,” “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me,” “Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word,” and “Candle in the Wind 1997,” his tribute to Diana, Princess of Wales.
In the fifth installment of MSNBC’s David Frost Vs series, titled David Frost Vs Elton John, John reflects on what gave one of his saddest songs such emotional depth. The episode highlights the ten interviews John conducted with the renowned British journalist over several decades—a relationship that blossomed into a close friendship.
Their first interview took place in 1975, and in a vintage clip featured in the episode, Frost poses a direct question to John about his work, much of which he created alongside longtime lyricist Bernie Taupin. John, now 78, reflects on that first meeting, noting he appeared “a bit timid” but fondly recalls wearing a Tommy Nutter suit.
Frost asks, “What’s the most emotional song you’ve ever done — the most meaningful, emotional song?”
John, then 27, replies, “There are two very emotional songs. They’re also very autobiographical. One’s called ‘Someone Saved My Life Tonight.’”
Curious about the story behind the song, Frost presses for details.
John explains, “I was living with a woman for about six months who didn’t really like my music. I liked her a lot, but she kept telling me I was rubbish and that I’d never make it. She said, ‘You’d be better off being a bank manager or something like that.’ We were even set to get married — I had the cake, the flat, the furniture, everything.”
One night, John met with legendary English musician Long John Baldry at a nightclub. Baldry, with whom John was working at the time, unknowingly ended up saving his life.
He recalled, “He said, ‘You’re crazy to get married because she doesn’t appreciate your music.’ He knew how much music meant to me. So I went home and said, ‘That’s it. It’s off.’ That decision pretty much saved my life, because if I had gone through with the marriage at that time, I think it would have been goodbye, Elton John.”
Fortunately for fans everywhere, John continued to create heartfelt music, though true companionship remained elusive. In the episode, Lulu—the singer of “To Sir with Love” and a longtime friend—reflects on the loneliness that often comes with being at the top, as John was during much of the ’70s. Then, in a 1978 interview with Frost, John opens up about his personal struggles with isolation.
“I have lots of close, wonderful friends,” he shares in the vintage footage, “yet there’s no one really close to me… No one at all. Sometimes when I’m alone in my 36-room house, it all feels so futile.”
John, who revealed he was bisexual in the late ’70s, briefly married Renate Blauel in the ’80s before publicly coming out as gay. In 1993, he began a relationship with Canadian filmmaker David Furnish. The couple married in 2014 and have two sons together, Zachary, 14, and Elijah, 12.