David Furnish says making a documentary about his husband Elton John was a revelation

TORONTO — David Furnish says he made a comforting discovery about his husband during production of the new Elton John documentary: the music superstar long desired to be a father.

It’s something the Toronto producer and co-director of “Elton John: Never Too Late” didn’t expect to find when he culled through the archives and came across a candid interview taped almost 50 years ago.

In it, the now 77-year-old “Benny and the Jets” singer mused about one day being a dad. Furnish said John was adamant at the beginning of their relationship in the early 1990s that he didn’t want kids.

“And there he was in 1976 talking about what’s ultimately our life today,” 61-year-old Furnish said in an interview Saturday at the Toronto International Film Festival.

“I came from a very happy family, so I always wanted to have kids, but Elton was like, ‘No, my life’s too big, I don’t think I would be a good parent, I’m too self-centred.’ It was very much a non-discussion.”

John eventually changed his tune and he and Furnish now have two boys — Zachary Furnish-John, 13 and Elijah Furnish-John, 11 — through a surrogate.

Raising a family has brought new meaning to the music legend’s life, a point he made clear at the film’s TIFF premiere on Friday night.

“On my tombstone, I don’t want it to say he sold a million records. I want it to say he was a great dad and great husband,” John told the audience after the screening as he wiped away tears.

“Elton John: Never Too Late” winds through the fruitful early years of John’s career when he delivered 11 albums in little more than five years after meeting his songwriting partner Bernie Taupin.

The documentary also explores the demons he grappled with, including his troubled childhood and the excesses of fame that led to the darker periods of his life.

Much of the previously unseen footage was pulled from two warehouses in London that hold stacks upon stacks of John’s archival materials, said co-director R.J. Cutler.

Seeing some of those memories on the big screen made John emotional, he added.

“He was shaking,” Cutler said of the premiere. “The connection that he’s experiencing through the film … is pretty powerful.”

John briefly appeared on the TIFF red carpet with the filmmakers before hopping on a purple golf cart with his husband and being whisked inside the theatre. Earlier in the week, he announced on social media that he was recovering from a “severe eye infection” that’s left him with limited vision in one eye.

John retired from touring last year after an extensive run of farewell shows around the world. Furnish said as of late, his husband is seeing his career a bit differently.

“Because he’s not nostalgic; he’s also not very good at taking a compliment. There’s never any laurel resting at all,” he said.

“(Now) he’s looking at that early performance footage — out on the road doing gig after gig — and he’s saying, ‘God, I was bloody good, wasn’t I?’ He’s actually allowing himself to drink it in.”

While Furnish and John spend much of their time in the United States and overseas now that John is no longer touring, he said they’re looking forward to moving into an apartment they’ve purchased in Toronto next year.

“We can’t wait, our sons can’t wait — they love Canada,” he said.

“It’ll be nice to have a base here.”

“Elton John: Never Too Late” makes its Disney Plus debut on Dec. 13.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 7, 2024.

David Friend, The Canadian Press