Member Since: 8/12/2012
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From the great Elton John
I predict the same for Miley
Quote:
"I look at Miley Cyrus and I see a meltdown waiting to happen," says Sir Elton of the former child actress turned pop star who recently marked her coming-of-age with a bout of simulated sex with the singer Robin Thicke at the American Video Music Awards. "And she's so young! But she's got two records in the top 20, so who is going to stop her?"
Fame is on his mind, and not just because he has enjoyed, and suffered, through 40 years of it.
The Diving Board features poetic lyrics about the dangers of celebrity, set to elegantly simple piano pieces. The album's title is a metaphor for the disorienting experience of fame; of being on a giddy high you could fall from at any moment. And while the lyrics are by his regular collaborator, Bernie Taupin, the themes reflect the concerns of a man ready to dispense advice to any famous friends who are prepared to listen.
"The secret of success is: don't let everyone know everything," Sir Elton continues, his voice increasingly clear and animated as he warms to his subject - although the clarity is occasionally muddled by the sound of babies burbling in the background. "Keep some of it to yourself. It's why I'm not a big fan of the internet. There should be some privacy, some mystique left. Even with me. All they talk about is the hair, the flowers. Actually, they don't know me at all."
He returns to his ability to foretell celebrity disasters. "Maybe it's a British thing, but I can spot a car crash before it happens," he claims. "I was in my dressing room in Las Vegas when they announced that Michael Jackson was playing 50 dates at the O2. I turned to my agent and said: 'He won't do a single one of those.' I could tell you he was going to die. He'd been doing drugs for so long, he'd been a mess for so long - and I've known Michael since he was 12 or 13 - that it was never going to happen. Everyone was saying it was going to be great and I was saying: 'Hello? Are you looking at the real thing here?'"
Does he have any advice for his friend Lady Gaga, whose extreme public persona must surely be hard to reconcile with her private reality? "With Gaga - who I love, she's the godmother to our children - I'd like to be able to talk to her right now, but I can't get through to her. And there are times when you have to listen. When your persona begins to take over your music and becomes more important, you enter a dangerous place. Once you have people around you who don't question you, you're in a dangerous place."
Sir Elton points out that, if only they would listen to him, a lot of young stars could avoid all kinds of problem. "Sometimes you try and reach out to someone and tell them they're going to have a car crash, like I did with Ryan Adams, Ryan didn't listen to me. He had the car crash, he recovered, and now he's back and on great form. People either listen to you or they don't. Look at Lindsay Lohan. There was someone with a successful career and her parents completely f***ed her up. The dad was in jail and the mum was doing coke with her. Great!
"I've got a management company to help people like this. Ed Sheeran called up and said: 'I've got the opportunity to make another record, but I've also got the offer of a Taylor Swift tour.' I said: 'Do the tour. It will be hard work, it's her crowd, but you can't buy experience like that.' He reached out to me, I told him what I thought, and it's been a huge success for him."
If Sir Elton's claims to be able to help pop stars in trouble sound a little spurious, it's worth noting that, by his own admission, he was not always such a figure of wisdom, and that he has learnt chiefly from his own mistakes. He attempted suicide in 1969 after a disastrous attempt at married life (with a woman), and took a drug overdose in 1975.
Then came the years of profligate spending: he burnt through £30 million from 1996 to 1997 and racked up a flower bill for a little under £300,000 in the same period. He has always been saved, however, by a work ethic that ensures he is forever returning to the solace of the piano, and taking seriously the process of making music.
"As an artist, I've always listened to advice. As a person, I haven't. It's a case of: "Who the f*** are you to tell me what to do?' When you're young you don't want to hear it. I thought that because I was successful - and this is bonkers - I could solve all my own problems. That's ludicrous. You need people who are willing to tell you the truth, whether you like it or not."
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