Elton John performs onstage during the 2024 A Year in TIME dinner at Current at Chelsea Piers on December 11, 2024 in New York City.
Elton John isn't holding back about his feelings about legalized marijuana.
In an interview with Time magazine, which recently named John its 2024 "Icon of the Year," the music legend discussed his past drug use and how it influenced his current opinion on marijuana.
“I maintain that it’s addictive. It leads to other drugs. And when you’re stoned — and I’ve been stoned — you don’t think normally,” he told Time. “Legalizing marijuana in America and Canada is one of the greatest mistakes of all time.”
The issue is personal for the music icon, who struggled with addiction for many years. John was first introduced to cocaine in the 1970s. In the beginning, John used the drug to combat his shyness, but eventually, it became more of a hindrance.
"You make terrible decisions on drugs,” he said. “I wanted love so badly, I’d just take hostages. I’d see someone I liked and spend three or four months together, and then they would resent me because they had nothing in their life apart from me. It really upsets me, thinking back on how many people I probably hurt.”
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Since getting sober, John has taken it upon himself to help other musicians recover from their addictions, too. He serves as Eminem's sponsor, and he facilitated Robbie Williams' first trip to rehab, according to the article.
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John said in the interview that he regrets not being able to offer more help to pop star George Michael, who died of heart failure in 2016.
“It’s tough to tell someone that they’re being an a--hole, and it’s tough to hear,” he said. “Eventually I made the choice to admit that I’m being an a--hole.”
Bernie Taupin, John's longtime songwriting partner, said that as John became increasingly dependent on drugs, his work suffered.
“I was terrified for him. It was absolutely horrible," Taupin told Time. “A lot of the work that we did in the times when he was at his worst wasn’t the best of both of us. I wasn’t able to creatively invest any time in writing material that related to him until he actually found himself, and then it was easier for me to reflect upon it.”
The 77-year-old singer, who recently revealed that he lost vision in his right eye after battling an infection, said he is proud of what he has accomplished.
"If people remember that we tried to change the world a little bit, we were kind, we tried to help people,” that would be enough of a legacy for him, he said.
