Among the expensive goodies available from Dolce & Gabbana, the Italian fashion house, is a £250,000 pair of sunglasses, hand-tooled in gold and puckered with diamonds, which uncannily evoke the calamitous eyewear tastes of a certain veteran rock star. Sadly, Sir Elton John is unlikely to be buying a pair, for he has fallen out with the designers, and now doesn’t want the rest of us to buy their beastly sunglasses either.
It is never a pretty sight when Elton, 67, gets cross. With the passing of the years come regular reassurances that he has calmed down, learnt to control his temper, and discovered the joys of maturity. Then something will happen – a perceived slight, a hint of disrespect, an opinion he takes issue with – and up goes Rocket Man again.
Tolkien, in The Hobbit, wrote of a rage which “passes description – the sort of rage that only happens when rich folk who have more than they can enjoy suddenly lose something”. Among the things Elton seems to have lost is any sense of proportion.
Last week’s eruption began when D&G’s senior partner, Domenico Dolce, 58, a tailor’s son from a village in Sicily, told a magazine that he did not agree with gay adoptions. However shocking this might sound to the artsy-liberal London elite, it reflects the prevailing view in Italy, where such adoptions remain illegal. Dolce went on to claim that: “The only real family is the traditional one,” before turning his attention to IVF, saying: “You are born to a mother and father, at least that is how it should be. I call children of chemistry synthetic children.”
Elton, whose two adopted children with long-time partner David Furnish were born through IVF to a Californian surrogate, took enormous exception. “How dare you refer to my beautiful children as synthetic,” he fumed on a social media site. “Your archaic thinking is out of step with the times. Just like your fashions. I shall never wear Dolce &Gabbana again.” He signed off with: “#BoycottDolceGabbana.”
It was this all-tooEltonesque final flourish that did the damage. In effect, Elton was calling for the firm – with a £1 billion-a-year turnover and 5,000 employees – to be put out of business. The designers – who are also gay – hit back with a Charlie Hebdo- style ‘‘Je Suis D&G’’ motif – accusing the singer of attacking their right to free expression. Domenico’s
Targets of tantrums: Keith Richards, Lily Allen and Simon Cowell; above, Sir Elton John performing in Las Vegas in 2009
Family man: with David Furnish and their sons Elijah and Zachary
years at the top, doesn’t try to control himself. He regularly watches a biopic about himself – Tantrums and Tiaras – made by Furnish in 1997, the gruesome footage of which includes a scene where he is playing tennis at the Hotel du Cap near Antibes on the Riviera. A passing fan recognises him and innocently calls out “Yoo, hoo,” triggering a monumental meltdown that climaxes with the singer storming into the hotel demanding to be flown home in a private jet, while screaming: “I’m never coming back to the south of France.”
He credits the film with showing him what “a nightmare lunatic” he used to be, and appears to believe he has improved. “For me it was like having a mirror held up, and watching how not to be. I genuinely don’t think I have tantrums any more. I’ve become a much more calm and collected individual.”
Not everyone is convinced. The list of people he has feuded with over the years is long, illustrious and, on current form, incomplete. There was Keith Richards, whom he labelled: “an arthritic monkey” after the Stones guitarist scoffed that Elton could only write songs about “dead blondes”. Then there was Madonna, who he called “a fairground stripper”, adding: “She’s a nightmare. Her career is over.”
At an awards ceremony in London seven years ago, he exchanged barbs with singer Lily Allen, who – conspicuously well-refreshed – told him to eff-off, adding: “I’m 40 years younger than you, I have my whole life ahead of me.” The wigwearing rocker, known to be sensitive about his age, scowled: “I could still snort you under the table.”
Three years ago, he laid into the record industry, claiming it was run by “idiots”, who didn’t understand creative talent. “They’re sickening actually,” he explained. “They are as thick as s–––.” He fell out with Simon Cowell, refusing to appear on the impressario’s American Idol, which he called “boring” and “brain crippling”.
He has called for organised religion to be banned on the grounds that it fosters hatred towards gays. There have been many on-stage strops – in Las Vegas a few years ago, he reportedly badmouthed his production team, threw his piano stool and a glass of water across the stage and went off early. In Taiwan, he had a run-in with photographers, describing them as “vile pigs”.
Well, no one can be jolly all the time, but Elton’s anger appears to be of particular nature and to stretch deep into his troubled childhood. He has spoken of his difficult relationship with his late father, Stanley Dwight, and suggested that the frustration and lack of closeness laid the framework for his ambition.
Early in his career, he spoke far more fondly of his mother, Sheila Farebrother, but the pair reportedly fell out after she made disparaging remarks about Furnish. In 2011, Sheila said: “He has cut me off completely. It is a painful subject. My son has cut me out of his life.” Last week, at Mrs Farebrother’s 90th birthday party “Elton” was represented by a singing lookalike.
The irony of the current row is that both parties agree wholeheartedly on the importance of loving families. D&G’s most recent show was called “Viva la Mama” and presented as a colourful celebration of motherhood with pregnant models and babies on the catwalk. Elton and David Furnish may have taken a different route to parenthood, but no one could say they are not a conscientious and doting pair.
In Las Vegas on Friday Elton appeared to have calmed down, telling the audience at the Colosseum: “I love Dolce & Gabbana.” Back in Milan, the designers were assuring everyone that: “We love Elton John.” Now that’s the way to settle an argument.