Original subtitles

(BIRDSONG) (PIANO PLAYING SOFTLY)

(PIANO CHORDS CONTINUE)

(INDISTINCT CAMERA CREW CHATTER)

I love those kind of sad, sad songs.

Um... That's the Elton sound.

Yeah, it is. Yeah, yeah.

(CREW CHATTER)

ELTON: 'Honesty is so important.

But when you're an addict, you're lying all the time.'

It's all full of deceit, it's all full of, you know,

hiding what you've done.

I never talked about my problems. I was shut tight.

OK? Alright.

'But David could draw the best out of you

because he was a human being.

He was never intimidating. He was a friend.

I trusted him.'

I'm just trying to think what bloody key it's in, but it...

'But I felt it was the right time to discuss my life.'

It seemed natural just to tell him the truth.

(APPLAUSE) ANNOUNCER: The fantastic Elton John!

ANNOUNCER 2: Will you welcome...

David Frost! (APPLAUSE)

(DRAMATIC MUSIC)

Elton and Dad

both lived so publicly. They were a match for each other.

It's frightening sometimes when paparazzi crowd around you,

but I don't really see how it's going to change.

In an era when the tabloids were out for blood,

Dad's approach to interviewing was built on trust.

I've always been afraid. My life was built on fear.

David had a way of getting you to admit things

that you probably wouldn't admit to someone else.

I mean, clinically, I should be dead.

Really? Emotionally I was.

He just wanted to get the truth out of you and the real story.

I wouldn't have done it with anyone else.

And the only addiction left in your life is shopping.

Yes, David.

And I'm gonna take you out right now and buy you a fabulous ballgown.

Hello, good evening and welcome.

We want to involve both world leaders and world entertainers.

And what I've tried to talk with them about

are things that are not usually asked.

Every time a Black man's lynched, I'm lynched.

We're not just living in ivory towers in Hollywood.

Am I paranoid? The answer is:

at times, yes.

I had portrayed a myth, an image.

I've never really known how to communicate with people

on a one-to-one basis.

And now it's my pleasure to be talking with the man

who's been described as the most popular musician,

the most popular singer in the world right now, Mr Elton John.

Thank you.

I look a bit timid in that interview. Um...

I like the suit. It's a Tommy Nutter suit, and...

er... God.

Yes, those were the days.

When people say, "Why do you wear flamboyant clothes now?

And why do you do this and that?" I never really was

allowed to do it until I was about 21 when I was my own boss anyway.

I regard myself as a teenager now, even though I'm 28 nearly.

He was the person to be interviewed by.

Seriously. I mean, it wasn't like doing a chat show

or something like that, when you went on and...

David was a proper interviewer, and it was a challenge.

What age were you when you took your first job?

Well, I left school when I was 17.

There are a number of reasons

that would obviously attract David Frost to Elton John.

Because in the '70s, there is absolutely no question

that Elton John is the biggest pop star in the world.

The first five years of my career,

success came so quickly. I didn't get very big-headed

because I didn't have time to think about it.

# One, two, three, four...

# ELTON JOHN: Pinball Wizard #

(CROWD CHEERS)

It seemed like a fairy story.

I kept pinching myself thinking, "Is this really happening to me?"

# Ever since I was a young boy I played the silver ball

# From Soho down to Brighton I must've played them all

# But I ain't seen nothin' like him in any amusement hall

# That deaf, dumb, and blind kid sure plays a mean pinball...

Well, you've got to be mad if you didn't like Elton John.

What's wrong with you? (LAUGHS)

# Becomes part of the machine...

He was the most fun, talented,

larger-than-life person that you want to know.

# He's a pinball wizard, there has to be a twist... #

If you look at the charts, he's having hits all the time.

And he's a really flamboyant showman...

..despite his background being one of complete ordinariness.

To what extent do you think, Elton, that your childhood

formed what you are today?

I think my childhood has a great effect on what I'm doing now,

in the fact that I was always supressed as a child.

My father was a very big snob. He was in the Air Force,

and he wouldn't let me kick the ball in the garden

in case I touched the rose bushes, that sort of effort.

I was always sort of forced to practise the piano for three hours,

and he was very, very strict.

And this gave me great ambition, I think.

I knew what I wanted to do. I didn't want to be a classical pianist.

I wanted to be a pop singer.

My mother still has a letter from my father when I was 16.

Says, "Reggie must give up this idea of becoming a pop musician.

He's turning into a wide boy." (CHUCKLES)

(PLAYING "SOMEONE SAVED MY LIFE TONIGHT")

(CROWD CHEERS AND APPLAUDS)

What's the most emotional song you've ever done, do you think?

I mean, most meaningful emotional song.

There are two very emotional songs,

both very sort of autobiographical songs.

One's called "Someone Saved My Life Tonight."

# When I think of those east end lights

# Muggy nights, the curtains drawn

# In the little room downstairs...

And how are they autobiographical? How did someone save your life?

Well, I was living with a lady for about six months who, um...

..didn't really like my music.

I sort of liked her, but she didn't like my music

and kept telling me I was rubbish and I'd never make it.

She was always saying, "You're better off being a bank manager or something."

# Prima donna, Lord You really should have been there

# Sittin' like a princess Perched in her electric chair...

And I was due to marry her. I got the cake and everything like that,

and the flat and new furniture.

And I went out down to a nightclub

and met Long John Baldry who I was backing at the time.

And he said, "You're mad to get married because she, you know...

she doesn't, you know... she doesn't appreciate your music."

And he knew I was totally wrapped up in music.

So I went home and said, "That's it, it's off."

And it more or less saved my life cos otherwise,

if I had gotten married at that particular point in time,

um, I think it would have been Goodbye Elton John.

# Someone saved, someone saved Someone saved my life tonight

# Someone saved, someone saved Someone saved my life tonight... #

But gosh, I can't see you as a bank manager either.

Well, I look like a bank manager. That's why I always say

when people say, "What do you describe yourself as?"

Sort of like a freaked-out bank manager.

I'm not your actual Mick Jagger

or anybody... or your David Bowie.

I'm sort of like the boy next door who freaked out all of a sudden.

(CROWD CHEERS AND APPLAUDS)

LULU: The illusion is

that it's all hunky dory.

All happy clappy.

But it's very lonely being successful,

especially when you're a lead singer.

A lot of people think being a celebrity

will solve all their problems.

Forget about it.

I just get a feeling of people searching for something,

finding it, and then becoming disillusioned.

People are always searching for a god or a figure that they can...

They're looking for the Saviour, the Messiah,

to come down to save us all,

and then he lets them down.

You must have had some of those experiences

in a way, yourself. I mean, in the sense of having

a multitude of people almost worshipping you. I mean...

Oh, yes. When you do a concert tour, you know, you think,

"They must be mad. They like me."

For Elton, Dad was the right person to open up to,

that would have some level of understanding

of what he was going through.

(CROWD CHEERS AND APPLAUDS)

David Frost, he was the king of interviewers.

Welcome.Here we are again. Here we are again.

This is David, old friend of mine. We go back years.

Thank you.Gorgeous! Lovely to see you!

One felt glamorous when you were around David

because he knew absolutely everybody.

Because David was as famous as the people he was interviewing,

you felt you were dealing with someone who...

who understood your life.

If you are well-known yourself, it can help in certain ways.

Where you start with someone knowing you a bit

from the television screen, I think it can help

to short-circuit a conversation and get in deeper quicker.

ELTON: I just found that he was genuinely interested.

He was genuinely empathetic.

And he had a deep intellect of how to get the best out of you.

# ELTON JOHN: Rocket Man # # She packed my bags last night

# Pre-flight

# Zero hour, 9:00AM

# And I'm gonna be high

# As a kite by then...

You said once, inanimate objects

have given you more happiness than human beings have given you.

I still feel like that at the moment.

# The Earth so much, I miss my wife...

I've got loads of close friends, fantastic friends,

and yet I've got no one close to me.

# It's lonely out in space...

Would you like to have someone close?Oh, yeah.

But there's no one close to me at all.

# Timeless flight...

I think about it sometimes when I'm in my 36-room house

and I'm sitting there all alone.

And it all seems so futile.

# And I think it's gonna be a long, long time

# 'Til touchdown brings me round again to find...

Elton was struggling with who he was, who he really was.

And the loneliness is something

a lot of people are destroyed by.

# Rocket man... #

# ELTON JOHN: I'm Still Standing #

# You could never know what it's like

# Your blood, like winter, freezes just like ice

# And there's a cold, lonely light that shines from you

# You'll wind up like the wreck you hide behind that mask you use...

Elton John always came up with something brilliant.

His writing was fabulous.

# Once, I never could've hoped to win...

But he was such a sensitive soul.

He was surprised that he was still going in the '80s.

"I'm here. I'm still here."

# You know, I'm still standin' Better than I ever did

# Lookin' like a true survivor Feelin' like a little kid

# I'm still standing

# Yeah, yeah, yeah... (APPLAUSE)

# I'm still standing

# Yeah, yeah, yeah... #

The two biggest megastars of rock will be right here.

If a bomb drops on the studio, rock is finished,

because they're both here: Elton John and Rod Stewart.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

(CHUCKLES)

It was just great fun to be interviewed by him.

I remember doing, I think, a Rod Stewart interview with him. It was hilarious.

Absolute delight having the two of you here.

I had to drag him along because I thought

it would be good publicity for him. (LAUGHTER)

David, he had a great, naughty sense of humour.

Have you seen the video of I'm Still Standing?

I think it's one of the best singles he's done.Since the war?

Yep. (LAUGHTER)

David was just the greatest company, and we became friends

and we stayed friends.

So, on the surface,

everything appears to be going incredibly well.

Beneath that, Elton was in...

a really bad state.

Elton became seriously addicted.

Cocaine and drink.

Elton was a troubled soul, to be sure.

I was doing a lot of drugs, and then I wasn't doing a lot of drugs.

I was drinking a lot, then I wasn't drinking.

It was stop-start, stop-start hedonism.

And of course, when you keep going like that,

it leads to an unhappy place.

The filming of the video for I'm Still Standing

is a good case in point for the surface success,

but the inner turmoil.

# Did you think this fool could never win?

# Well, look at me, I'm a-comin' back again...

So all is going well, until Elton drinks

an enormous amount of vodka and does a load of cocaine,

and smashes everything in the hotel room to pieces.

(APPLAUSE)

I don't think the public had a clue

that Elton John was completely off the rails...

Elton John, thank you so much. We'll be right back.

..until stories first appear in some of the tabloids.

REPORTER: Britain's three most popular tabloid newspapers

attract a combined daily readership of 24 million.

But whether these can really be called newspapers

is increasingly open to question.

Tabloid journalism in the '80s was pretty much at a low,

cos they would buy up a scandal and hype it for sales.

Elton was a top target cos he was a top star.

Circulation is the name of the game.

Elton came out very publicly at a time

when that was a really, really ballsy thing to do.

But then the press start writing

these incredible accusations against him

some of which were absolutely homophobic.

"Bad Elton" sold a lot of papers.

It was cruelty personified.

Cruelty.

The press intrusion was so hellacious, you couldn't write it.

But they did write it!

One of the tabloids said that he had cut out his dog's voice box.

The only true part of that story was that Elton had a dog.

They love to shoot you down in this country.

And it is... it's hurtful. It's horrible.

But David never stitched me up on anything.

He wasn't a nasty kind of interviewer.

I think what really stood Dad apart from the tabloid approach

was that he cared a lot about these incredible people

that he was lucky enough to interview,

and so that line of respect was never crossed.

There are certain occupational hazards

about being in the public eye,

and there are times when people will print

totally false things about you.

And I try,

and I don't think I ever have, ever to respond to them.

What are the areas that you care not to be asked about?

(LAUGHTER)

A very good question. Isn't that a good question?

Can I just make a note of that? (LAUGHTER)

Risking your wrath, can I ask you

a little bit about your private life?

You're not married, for instance.

I mean, that intrigues a lot of people I know.

It intrigues the press more than I can understand, I must say.

I think that I've always decided I would...

get married when I decided I wanted it to be for life.

In the '70s, Dad was actually a little bit lost.

He went from country to country,

and more importantly, relationship to relationship.

But that all changed when he met Mum.

# ELTON JOHN: Amoreena #

REPORTER: David Frost got married this afternoon

to Lady Carina Fitzalan-Howard, the daughter of the Duke of Norfolk.

We were together for six months and then he proposed

and we got married in 19 days.

The timing was just right for both of them,

and it was very much the start of a new chapter.

# Lately I've been thinking

# How much I miss my lady... #

CARINA: We had so much fun.

I'm sure David wasn't easy to live with.

He used to go to the Concorde one day, come back the next day.

That's a hell of a lot to put up with for a wife.

He just thought everyone had that energy.

And, you know, I was always trying to keep up with him.

Carina was a great influence on him, and they became a great couple.

Carina was this pillar of strength.

There, 1000% for David to be able to shine.

REPORTER: The London Palladium, and a royal gala

in aid of the Prince's Trust.

The royal couple are now meeting David Frost,

the gala's executive producer, and Lady Carina Frost.

Ladies and gentlemen, will you welcome...

David Frost! (APPLAUSE)

Walking down the middle of the London Palladium,

one of the biggest stages in London,

to David it would've been absolutely natural because he was a performer.

His Royal Highness, the Prince of Wales.

(APPLAUSE)

I particularly want to say this evening how grateful I am

to David Frost for having suggested the whole thing,

for having masterminded it,

and for having got us here this evening.

(APPLAUSE)

And of course, it helped enormously that

the celebrities were largely his mates.

(PLAYING "CANDLE IN THE WIND")

To get one of the biggest rockstars in the world,

it was an unimaginable coup.

And no, no one else could have done it.

# Goodbye, Norma Jeane...

(APPLAUSE) # Though I never knew you...

I was in the royal box

with the Prince and Princess of Wales,

and I remember Elton was extraordinary.

# Seems to me you lived your life

# Like a candle in the wind

# Never knowing who to cling to

# When the rain set in...

Elton and the Princess had been very good friends

for quite a few years.

They just clicked.

They both found fame very, very quickly.

And they shared a fight against the tabloids.

I understood the media

might be interested in what I did,

but I was not aware

of how overwhelming that attention would become.

# Loneliness was tough

# The toughest role you ever played

# Hollywood created a superstar

# And pain was the price you paid...

Elton and Diana don't fit into the norm,

and when you don't fit into the norm, you are then persecuted.

# Would've liked to have known you

# Oh, but I was just a kid

# Your candle burned out long before

# Your legend ever did #

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

LULU: Elton had such a gift, but fame is hard

and the adulation passes very quickly.

You only feel the issues come up when you're on your own.

(CAMERAS CLICKING)

He was a drug addict, he was an alcoholic,

and he took his eye off the ball a bit musically.

# ELTON JOHN: Heartache All Over The World #

# Oh, oh...

In the late '80s, he released his worst ever album,

Leather Jackets.

It was obvious care had not been taken,

in either the writing or the recording of this material,

and it was a flop.

(SOMBRE MUSIC)

His life has really spun

catastrophically out of control.

He breaks down and he goes into rehab.

I get up in the morning and groan.

That's if I got up at all.

And it got me to the position where I didn't really want to live.

(BIRDSONG) (UNEASY MUSIC)

(INDISTINCT CHATTER)

The interview Dad did with Elton in 1991

came after Elton had come out of six weeks of rehab

following 16 years of addiction.

We always had a protocol with David. He didn't want too much chit chat.

So I was often given the role of chit chat.

People believe it and, you know, people buy into it and once again...

'Elton was a little fidgety that morning, a little kind of nervous.

You knew that this was a moment that he had thought about a lot.

The timing was significant. He was so much under scrutiny.

He needed somebody that would give him the time to explain himself.'

The fact he chose David to do this interview

after being in rehab, says everything.

Between '70 and '76,

you were the simplest, healthiest, most clean-living performer

rock had ever known. (CHUCKLES)

It changed, though. (LAUGHTER)

Well, A, of course I trusted him, and B, it was the right time

to discuss my life before getting sober.

He was a friend,

and so I'd talk to him as a friend and I could be open with him.

How did you cope with normal life? When you've got to go into a room

and you're terrified and you're the great Elton John, I mean,

that's when you drink or you take uppers

or you strengthen yourself in that way.

So I didn't drink really that much before I became successful.

But I did when I went to parties.

I went to the opening of a wallet.

I went to everything because I was having fun,

but I always had a drink to make me feel more comfortable, yeah.

Later on, I started taking drugs too.

That broke down all my barriers and I felt that I was part of the gang.

I felt I really arrived when I started taking drugs. Yeah!

I take drugs, so I'm finally accepted! I'm one of the in-crowd.

I'm a compulsive, impulsive person.

I can't have one drink and I can't have one drug

and I can't have one, as you've seen, one pair of glasses!

Can't have one car. That's my makeup.

And unfortunately, it got more and more out of hand.

And it closed me right back down again

and made me the isolated, unhappy person

that I already was in the first place, really.

I mean, clinically, I should be dead.

Really? Emotionally. Emotionally, I was.

I was like a carcass, David, shipped round

from country to country, wheeled out and playing Your Song.

(PLAYS "YOUR SONG" ON PIANO) "Here he is again!

Roll up before he collapses!" You know?(LAUGHTER)

And I saw Elvis Presley a week before he died,

or about... no, a year before he died, not a week.

It could have been a week, and I saw him in Washington, DC.

He was... I looked into his eyes, there was nothing there.

And in the end, there was nothing there with me.

So I decided one day...

..that maybe, or someone decided for me,

that maybe I couldn't do this on my own.

Maybe I'd come to the end of my tether.

A spiritual change did happen to me.

I think the Ryan White thing happened.

I was sitting in a doctor's office in Manhattan

waiting to have an appointment, and I picked up Newsweek.

And I read the story of what happened to Ryan White.

And what he had to go through with a people

who were so ignorant about AIDS.

REPORTER: Ryan White contracted AIDS after a routine blood transfusion.

And now his school have said they never want him back in class.

I don't want nobody else to get it. And I can see why they're worried.

But, I mean, if my doctor says it's OK to go back,

well, I don't see no reason why I can't.

Ryan's battle with AIDS and his determination

to get others to understand the illness

brought him to the attention of presidents and pop singers.

I was so enraged, I got in touch with his family

and became friends with them for life.

DAVID: You became like a figure of strength

to the Ryan White family and to Ryan White.

Well, if I would be truthful, I would say that was the thing

that really planted the seeds in my mind

that something was drastically wrong with me.

I went to Indianapolis to help Jeanie White, his mother,

cope with the funeral, and when he was dying,

or cope with when he was dying that week,

and I was just genuinely touched by the compassion.

BUSH: Ryan has helped us understand the truth about AIDS.

And he's shown all of us the strength,

the bravery of the human heart.

He was an astonishing, astonishing boy.

And it was through him that they actually did something about AIDS,

the American government, because they introduced the Ryan White Act.

It took a child to have AIDS for them to do anything,

when so many people had died of AIDS before him.

I wasn't sober at that time.

And they went through hell. I didn't.

I mean, mine was self-inflicted hell, theirs wasn't.

Theirs was just a horrible accident, and they forgave everybody.

They lit something inside me to say that my life was awful.

And I got thinking then, I thought, "Christ."

It was one of the most moving experiences of my life, being there for that week.

It brought me back to reality. "God, I wish I could be like this.

I wish I could be so forgiving and not such a nasty piece of work."

And I knew I wasn't a nasty piece of work, but I just...

It hit home then, and it wasn't long afterwards, in fact,

after that, that I started to get my life together.

And you've known me a long time. You've seen me...

You've seen me when I've been happy.

You've seen me when I've been troubled.

You've seen me when I've been oblivious

and on another planet, probably.

But it's the first time I've had peace of mind. It shows.

It shows... just why...

I know. I just feel it.

Everybody feels it. I think you look ten years younger.

I sense you're more at peace than I've ever seen you before, too.

More at peace? Yeah.

I think that's... and there's no inward battle going on anymore.

This is very early in my sobriety. I've been sober now for 33 years.

But this was... I'm looking at my face and I look so happy

and so different to the person I was before.

It wasn't hard for me to get sober. It was joyous.

We are all flawed.

It's just that I realise what my flaws are now.

I can do something about them.

And there are so many millions of people who have the same problems

as me, and they don't communicate

because they don't think people want to be there for them.

And if any of you are out there listening, just...

it's OK to ask for help. I didn't think it was,

because I thought it was a sign of weakness.

In fact, it's a very spiritual thing to do,

to ask another human being to help you.

And I'm very glad I did.

And now, as a result, my life has changed so much.

You're just about to do your new album in Paris.Yeah.

And maybe you'll find you're so happy

that you can't write sad songs anymore. It will be glad songs.

Wouldn't it be strange if I went, feeling like this,

and I get to Paris and I can't write anything?

And you know, that's what life is. I mean, that may happen.

I might go there and write the most mediocre shit I've ever written.

I don't sit there analysing my work.

Once one body of work's done, I go on to the next,

and I tend to... I tend to shift everything in the background

and squirm a bit when people mention old stuff.

But it's time in my life that I just stood up and said,

"Yeah, some of this is good. Some of this is OK."

Well, let's take a stroll over to the armchair, shall we?

Can you still walk after that? (BOTH LAUGH)

Start to finish, I think it's...

probably the single best interview Dad ever did.

(INDISTINCT CHATTER, LAUGHTER)

And it marked a turning point for Elton personally.

Asking for help was the hardest thing I ever did,

and when I finally did ask for help,

it was like my whole body relaxed and I always say,

the pilot light inside my stomach came back on again.

You're a very optimistic person, particularly now.Yeah.

I'd like to continue on in my life

getting involved, doing more philanthropic things.

REPORTER: Over 152,000 Americans have already died from AIDS.

The ever-growing list of individual human tragedies.

When he gets sober, the full weight

of what has happened to the gay community comes crashing in on him.

The number of people that he's lost,

fellow stars, people he knew.

And he's consumed with guilt.

We're dying.

People are dying.

For Christ's sake, help us. Do something. Don't just ignore us.

And I understand that. I didn't at first.

Another instance of me being completely detached

from what was going on in life.

It's affected me deeply. I won't rest until... (SIGHS)

hopefully that there's a cure found.

Elton was changed forever by the AIDS epidemic.

He formed the Elton John AIDS Foundation,

saving at least hundreds of thousands

and possibly millions of lives.

Every single that I release in America from this point,

all my proceeds will go to AIDS research and AIDS charities.

("DON'T LET THE SUN GO DOWN ON ME" PLAYING)

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

The thing I get most out of my life is

when I'm actually being a loving person,

I get more back than when I'm being a negative bastard.

Ladies and gentlemen, Mr Elton John! (CROWD SCREAMS)

# Don't let the sun

# Go down on me

# Although I search myself

# It's always someone else I see, yeah

# But losin' everything

BOTH: # Is like the sun going down on me #

I'm very happy to be presenting this award to our next guest.

Ladies and gentlemen, the incomparable Elton John.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

Elton's career in the '90s was astoundingly successful.

After rehab, he then went into writing for movies, for God's sake.

The Lion King. You know, he had maybe even more success.

It's very nice to get this award at this time in one's life,

going through the male menopause. (LAUGHTER)

There's a lot more life in the old girl yet.

Alright? (CHEERING)

Where Dad and Elton, I think, shared a big similarity

was being obsessed by their career.

He had Breakfast with Frost,

a centrepiece of British political life.

Hello, good morning and welcome

to the first edition of Breakfast with Frost.

The Breakfast with Frost years were

some of the best years of Dad's career.

It was just such an incredible show

that had some of the most amazing people on that sofa.

It would have his warmth, his stamp on it,

and he'd draw in the viewer

and take them through the biggest stories in the world.

(SIREN WAILING DISTANTLY)

Steven, I have to interrupt there,

because within the last few moments,

the Press Association in Britain,

citing unnamed British sources,

has reported that Diana, Princess of Wales, has died.

It would have been hard to imagine her

coming out of the kind of damaged car

and the kind of devastation we are seeing to the car in the tunnel.

Surgeons tried for two hours to save her life,

but she died at 3:00 British time.

CARINA: The Princess became a very good friend of mine.

So I was absolutely shell-shocked.

It came as such a surprise.

Princess Diana was my godmother.

It was just a monumental moment.

And...

you could just see what it meant to Mum and Dad.

She was just so charismatic.

She would just lift you up with her.

And everyone was... Listen, come on. The whole world was devastated.

REPORTER: Hundreds of thousands of people have spent the night

camped out at Westminster Abbey, the setting for her funeral.

Like a dream it was, really, the whole thing.

The funeral at the abbey and everything like that,

was surreal for me.

I mean, it was just an incredible thing.

REPORTER: Elton John, who has rewritten his famous song

Candle in the Wind, that was written for Marilyn Monroe,

for today.

We were sitting right opposite Elton.

He was just sublime.

I don't think anyone could have done it like Elton did.

There's only been one story in the news this past week,

and only one thought in most people's hearts.

This morning, we'll be talking to Elton John.

I don't think it's possible to have attended Diana's funeral

and to do such deep interviews about it

the very next morning,

and not be feeling deeply emotional.

Elton, everybody had that same reaction to the song

of being so moved and so on.

It was... It was more emotional when I finished, actually.

It was just such a huge relief to have actually sang it

and not got the words wrong or...

GEORGE: Dad and Elton were both so close to Diana

and they were bonded with that mutual grief.

DAVID: ..for 23 years, and the nightmare was that...

That was clearly apparent for anyone watching that interview.

You said this week,

"She will have no idea how much people loved her.

It's a shame she could not have known that in her lifetime."

I think she knew there was a lot of love because when she met people,

she gave out a lot of love and she got a lot of love back.

But it's impossible for anybody to comprehend

the outpouring that has happened.

The thing that's been the most impressive throughout the whole week

is the way the British people have conducted themselves.

Some journalists have said it's wrong to cry in public,

but those journalists, you know,

I just have no time for them whatsoever.

The British public have behaved so beautifully.

She won't be here anymore, but she'll be in our hearts,

and it's up to everybody now

not just to grieve publicly for a week

and then to forget about it, but, you know,

to try and carry on what she was all about, really.

Dad and Elton had the discussion

that the nation wanted,

and they kept it together, both of them.

What are the memories or the greatest memories

that you will take with you of your friend?

Um...

Well, her sense of humour.

And her wicked laugh.

And her teasing and her flirting.

Her compassion and her sincerity.

She was the most tinkling laughter friend.

She ran down corridors, giggling.

She was just like the wind.

And she came and she went, and Elton summed it up.

One of her other favourite songs was Your Song, wasn't it?

That line has a poignant quality today.

"How wonderful life is when you're in the world."Yeah.

Which would summarise your feelings about her, really.

Yeah, and "Yours are the sweetest eyes."

That was, I think, her most brilliant physical attribute

were those eyes.

They flirted with you, they were sorrowful.

They were laughing. She had those beautiful eyes.

# ELTON JOHN: Your Song #

# It's a little bit funny

# This feeling inside

# I'm not one of those who can...

The performance at Diana's funeral cements Elton

as a national treasure.

This incredible singer songwriter who has written these enduring songs

that are just part of the fabric of life.

As he gets older, there is a different kind of honesty

that comes into play.

Your friends all say that they think this has been probably the happiest

decade of your life so far. Are they right?

I would probably say so, yes. As you get older,

you have less time for the frivolous things.

I'd rather stay home, go to your house for a nice dinner

or whatever, and see people that you really find rewarding.

He was an absolute true, true friend.

And his family became friends.

That was the thing about David, with all the fame and renown

and everything, he was very happily married and he loved his sons.

(STIRRING MUSIC)

As a father, Dad was incredible.

He would always see the funny side in things

and would never take life too seriously.

Dad worked incredibly hard,

but he always had time for us.

I remember when I became 50, someone says, "Now, you do realise

that the majority of your life

is now behind you rather than in front of you,"

which is quite an interesting way of saying, "Don't waste time."

No, life is too short. There are more priorities in my life now.

CARINA: Elton, with all his fame and stardom,

he was very lonely.

And when he found David Furnish,

it was the perfect match for him.

They're devoted to each other.

(DISTANT CHEERING)

REPORTER: In Windsor, the crowds were definitely here for a wedding.

Sir Elton and David Furnish among the first in England

to tie the knot in a civil partnership.

Some had been here since six in the morning.

Many had a view about which Elton song fitted the day best.

# Rocket man! #

(LAUGHING) I can't sing for toffee.

# How wonderful life is

# While you're in the world #

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

# ELTON JOHN: Your Song #

There is no question that the marriage of Elton to David Furnish

has been the high point of his life.

He's always telling people

how much he loves David

with the same ferocity as he tells them

about how he beat his addictions.

# You can tell everybody

# This is your song...

'I had to learn how to live again.

And after 33 years of sobriety,

I have a husband, two wonderful boys,

and I couldn't be happier.'

# I hope you don't mind, I hope you don't mind

# That I put down in words

# How wonderful life is

# While you're in the world #

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE) Thank you, Las Vegas.

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