Given he’s been in showbusiness for more than 60 years, it’s to be expected that Elton John has amassed a fair share of famous friends.
And while he’s already known for this generous nature, the music legend has never shied away from offering his help to other industry names with a fair array of public, and private struggles.
Elton, 78, boasts famous pals including Ed Sheeran, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, and he has openly shared his attempts to support them through various woes.
He has previously detailed how he regularly ‘calls and supports’ others who are battling addiction, having been clean and sober himself for three decades.
More recently, Elton showed his unlikely role as a mediator in his godson Brooklyn Beckham’s feud with his family, with sources claiming he ‘said his piece’ on the matter during a swanky lunch with the chef and his wife Nicola Peltz.
Not all stars have been welcoming of Elton’s attempts to help, with the singer himself admitting he wished he could have done more to help the late George Michael, who battled drug addiction for many years.
It remains to be seen whether Elton’s attempts to help Brooklyn will be in vain, with sources previously saying he’s staying firmly neutral on the Beckham family row, but there is no shortage of other times when the star has assisted his famous pals…
During his 60 years in showbusiness, Elton John has amassed a vast array of famous pals, and regularly shares his attempts to help some with their woes (pictured with Ed Sheeran)
More recently, Elton also showed his unlikely role as a mediator in his godson Brooklyn Beckham’s feud with his family during a swanky lunch in St Tropez
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle
Since their marriage in 2018, Elton had been a close confidant for the Duke and Duchess Of Sussex, having been a close friend of Prince Harry’s late mother Diana.
Throughout the years, Elton has reportedly made an effort to speak to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex ‘every day’ and is ‘very protective of them both’.
This was evident when he defended the royal couple from backlash after they used his private jet to travel with their son Archie, then three months, to the singer’s summer house in Nice, France.
The move came as Harry and Meghan came under fire for their use of private jets, having been outspoken on environmental issues in recent months.
The Rocket Man singer addressed the ‘distorted and malicious account’ of the Duke and Duchess’s holiday in the press, writing on X: ‘Harry’s mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, was one of my dearest friends.
Since their marriage in 2018, Elton had been a close confidant for the Duke and Duchess Of Sussex, even letting them use his private jet to fly to Nice in 2019 (pictured that year)
Throughout the years, Elton has reportedly made an effort to speak to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex ‘every day’ and is ‘very protective of them both’ (pictured with Harry in 2018)
‘I feel a profound sense of obligation to protect Harry and his family from the unnecessary press intrusion that contributed to Diana’s untimely death.’
Elton also claimed he had ensured Prince Harry and Meghan’s flight to and from the French Riviera last week were carbon neutral by making the ‘appropriate contribution’ to a carbon footprint fund.
Harry and Meghan showed how grateful they were for Elton’s loyalty by recording a special video for his goodbye concert in 2023.
‘Thank you for being the friend that you were to my mum,’ the Prince said in the touching video tribute.
‘Thank you for being our friend, thank you for being a friend to our kids and thank you for entertaining people right around the world. We love you.’
Ed Sheeran
Elton and Ed’s friendship goes back to the earliest days of the singer’s rise to fame.
In 2015, Ed revealed that Elton was one of the first famous people to congratulate him on his success.
Ed wrote in his book Ed Sheeran: A Visual Journey: ‘I’d probably had about seven missed calls before I got a text from my manager saying: ‘Pick up your phone! It’s Elton!’
‘It was just mad, because I grew up listening to Elton John’s music. He was ringing to say congratulations, which was cool.’
Elton has also deemed the chart-topper his ‘close friend’, when he presented him with the coveted Global Success award via video link at the BRITs in February.
Elton and Ed’s friendship goes back to the earliest days of the singer’s rise to fame, and the Bad Habits hitmaker has revealed the singer still phones him every day
Four years ago, Ed and Elton joined forces to release a Christmas single together, and at the time The A Team hitmaker said his pal phones him every single day.
Ed noted that he and Elton had always been in regular contact, but he turned to his friend for comfort after the death of his pal, producer Michael Gudinski.
He told the New Zealand Herald: ‘I say this to people and they think I’m lying or exaggerating, but Elton calls me every single day.
‘He used to ring me about once a month – well, we do it on FaceTime via iPad because neither of us has a phone. Then when Lyra was born it became more like weekly – he’s a dad as well and he’d check in.
‘But then when Michael died he rang me the day after and I just broke down and cried.
‘And from that day – I spoke to him this morning, yesterday – no word of a lie, every single day he’s rung me. Whether it’s a half-hour chat or two minutes, he always checks up on me.’
Brooklyn Beckham and Nicola Peltz
Elton had been a longtime friend of the Beckham family, with footballer David even fondly referring to him as Uncle.
This close bond has continued for Brooklyn, who is Elton’s godson, and the musician has been honing his unlikely role as peacemaker, by sharing his thoughts on the chef’s ongoing feud with his family.
The Tiny Dancer hitmaker invited Brooklyn and his wife Nicola out for lunch at a swanky beach club in St Tropez, with sources claiming he ‘briefly’ spoke about the family’s feud in the hope Brooklyn would patch things up with his parents
Elton was pictured enjoying lunch with his godson Brooklyn and his wife Nicola earlier this week, with sources claiming he ‘said his piece’ on the chef’s feud with his family
The legendary musician, who has been friends with David, 50, and Victoria Beckham, 51, for over 30 years, treated Brooklyn and Nicola Peltz to a swanky lunch at fancy La Guerite beach club in the South of France
Speaking about Elton’s attempts to play peacekeeper in the row, a source said: ‘Elton is the showbiz equivalent of Switzerland. He’s utterly neutral in this row.’
‘Elton of old may have relished in taking sides – in this case his young godson, Brooklyn – but two years off his 80th birthday, he’s a man who has seen and done it all. He just wants everyone to be happy.
‘There is no side-taking as such; he simply adores his godson, and really has a laugh with Nicola who he thinks has a great sense of humour. He wants to look after them in his role as ‘spiritual adviser’ as a godfather, it’s a role he takes seriously.
‘Elton and David think the situation is terribly sad, and has gently suggested to all involved that life is short – to patch things up.’
The source added Elton is ‘adamant he doesn’t want to stick his nose in’ the feud, he just simply ‘wants peace’.
George Michael
Prior to his death in 2016, George had been a legendary collaborator of Elton’s, with the pair famously taking to the stage for a performance of Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me in 1991, which enjoyed huge chart success.
Elton previously opened up about how he tried to help George many times during his battle with drug addiction.
He told Channel 4 News: ‘I tried to put my arms around him. I tried to help, but you can’t help people who don’t want to help themselves.
‘I’ve learnt that as an addict and I’m 28 years clean and sober. When people told me when I was using that I was doing the wrong thing I was so angry and I just told them to go away or I actually used stronger language than that.’
‘So, I understand George, you know when I said a couple of things, and he did a whole page interview… saying I should shut up and I understood what his reaction was.’
George had previously shared his upset at Elton’s attempts to reach out, after the singer said in a 2004 interview with Heat Magazine he was in a ‘strange place.’
Elton previously opened up about how he tried to help George Michael many times during his battle with drug addiction, earning a tepid reaction from the 80s legend (pictured in 1995)
The pair patched things up in later years, and posed for a snap together at the Elton John AIDS Foundation party at the Royal Opera House in London in 2011
The Faith star hit back in an open letter in the same publication, writing: ‘Contrary to the public’s impression, we have spoken rarely in the last 10 years, and what would probably surprise most people is that we have never discussed my private life. Ever.
‘So, we never became genuinely close, which is very sad. And to this day, most of what Elton thinks he knows about my life is pretty much limited to the gossip he hears on what you would call the ”gay grapevine.”
After Elton hit back by telling George to ‘lighten up’, the 80s icon laughed it off the following year, saying: ‘Oh God, yeah! I wish I could lighten up. I spent my whole life wishing I could lighten up, you know.’
The pair patched things up in later years, and posed for a snap together at the Elton John AIDS Foundation party at the Royal Opera House in London in 2011.
Anastasia
Referring to Elton as her ‘fairy godfather,’ pop legend Anastasia has previously shown her appreciation for the hitmaker.
The I’m Still Standing singer has been a vocal supporter of Anastacia’s career from the beginning, and duetted with her on Saturday Night’s Alright (For Fighting) at Madison Square Garden in 2000.
Speaking to Attitude in 2017, she said: ‘He’s my fairy godfather; literally that’s what I call him.
‘He keeps pumping out lovely children that I envy and the Christmas cards keep getting cuter and cuter. I’m excited to see them actually.’
Referring to Elton as her ‘fairy godfather,’ pop legend Anastasia has previously shown her appreciation for the hitmaker
Anastasia added that after beating breast cancer following a double mastectomy in 2017, she was looking forward to sharing her ‘new boobs’ with him.
‘Hopefully while I’m in town there’ll be a moment I can share my new boobs with him,’ she said.
‘I have to show him, because he gets to see. Not that he’s really caring, but I flashed him my other ones so he has to see these ones too. He has to see the new set.’
Others battling addiction
Having himself been sober for 34 years, Elton has openly shared how he tries to help others that he knows have battled addiction.
In his 2019 memoir Me, Elton admitted he’s become a ‘celebrity helper’ of sorts for others stars who are battling addiction.
He shared that he previously helped actor Rufus Wain into rehab after he was ‘taking so much crystal meth that, at one stage, he’d gone temporarily blind’, and has also acted as rapper Eminem’s Alcoholics Anonymous sponsor.
He wrote: ‘I suppose because I was a high-profile addict who turned his life around very publicly, I became someone that my peers looked to if they had a problem.’
Elton added it’s “become a bit of a running joke — Elton always springing into action whenever a pop star has an issue with drink or drugs — but I don’t mind at all.”
Having himself been sober for 34 years, Elton has openly shared how he tries to help others that he knows have battled addiction
He previously said that there are several people that have struggled with addiction, that he rings up to show his support
In an appearance on The Jonathan Ross Show in 2021, he said that there are several people that have struggled with addiction, that he rings up to show his support.
He said: ‘I just ring them up and offer them my support basically… there’s been two or three recently, one young and one old and they’re doing ok, doing really well. I’m a recovering alcoholic.
‘[You learn to] pass the message on and help people when you can. You call them up and give them some support. That’s what happened to me… people were so kind to me.’
However, like George, not all names have been as willing to accept Elton’s help with Dionee Warwick asking him to help her niece once, the late Whitney Houston, but she never got back to him.
Elton had also expressed concerns to music icon Billy Joel over his alcohol use, but he was quickly dismissed as judgemental.
