Sir Elton John is a man of many, many talents including singing, playing the piano and having a way with words.
You can see all these play out in his new musical biopic Rocketman,but if you haven't had a chance to see that yet then this short extract from his 1970s diary may suffice.
In an article for The Observer,John explains that at this point in his life his fame and talent was literally sky-rocketing and by keeping the diary it became a surreal account of the position he found himself in.
He writes:
Understandably, Bernie [Taupin, John's lyricist] and I had no idea what the hell was going on – you know, I hadn’t even wanted to be a rock star in the first place, I just wanted to be a successful songwriter – but it just got bigger and bigger over the next few years. I kept a diary the whole time, and it’s inadvertently hilarious. I wrote everything down in this matter-of-fact way, which ends up making it seem even more preposterous:
He then shares what the diary for that particular day said:
Woke up, watched Grandstand. Wrote Candle in the Wind.
Went to London, bought Rolls-Royce. Ringo Starr came for dinner.
The extract has since gone viral after The Times literary supplement editor Stig Abell shared it in a tweet but some people had different ideas about what constitutes as a great diary entry.
Elton John wins the award for the best diary entry ever (quoted in today’s Observer). “Woke up, watched Grandstand… https://t.co/kgl0bGNN8w— Stig Abell (@Stig Abell) 1558885973
@StigAbell Second best. https://t.co/bhWZTt4qsC— John Self (@John Self) 1558886118
@john_self @StigAbell May I humbly present an entry from the diary of my late Nanna, Sept 2001? https://t.co/Wd5FFk2bBR— Emma Wright (@Emma Wright) 1558891066
@StigAbell I saw this a loved it! https://t.co/tfJvTeV18C— Lyndsey (@Lyndsey) 1558892983
@StigAbell Fabulous. I recently read a 1925 diary entry by a Franciscan monk at the Santa Barbara mission - "Had j… https://t.co/tzzmCYMZDb— Jane Gerson (@Jane Gerson) 1558891199
@StigAbell This whole thread is wonderful. Sadly my best offering is a spectacularly depressing entry written 40 ye… https://t.co/UTuJazz4kM— Mike Hind (@Mike Hind) 1558887632
@StigAbell I would like to read Ringo's entry on his diary for that same day— Lucia Cervera G.C. (@Lucia Cervera G.C.) 1558897811
HT The Poke