''Me'' is the autobiography of the English singer, pianist and composer Elton John. It was released on 15 October 2019 by

Macmillan Publishers Macmillan Publishers (occasionally known as the Macmillan Group; formally Macmillan Publishers Ltd and Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC) is a British publishing company traditionally considered to be one of the 'Big Five' English language publ ...

. It was ghostwritten by journalist Alexis Petridis, who worked on the book with John for three and a half years.

Overview

The book recounts events from John's childhood in

Pinner Pinner is a London suburb in the London borough of Harrow, Greater London, England, northwest of Charing Cross, close to the border with Hillingdon, historically in the county of Middlesex. The population was 31,130 in 2011. Originally a med ...

through to his final tour,

Farewell Yellow Brick Road Farewell Yellow Brick Road is an ongoing tour by English musician Elton John that began in Allentown, Pennsylvania, on September 8, 2018 and will end in Stockholm, Sweden on July 8, 2023. It is intended to be John's final tour and will consist ...

. He describes his depression and suicide attempts as well as drug addiction and his prostate cancer diagnosis. He admits he spent his whole career "trying to show my father what I'm made of". He explains the reasons behind his advocacy against AIDS.

Comments on Michael Jackson

In the book, despite being good friends with him, John said that the American singer-songwriter

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...

was "genuinely mentally ill" and "disturbing to be around". The comments arose from a lunch John hosted to introduce his husband

David Furnish David James Furnish (born 25 October 1962) is a Canadian filmmaker and former advertising executive. He is married to English singer, pianist and composer Sir Elton John. Early life and education David Furnish was born in Toronto, Ontario, the ...

to Jackson in 1993.

Publication

''Me'' was released by

on 15 October 2019. Excerpts read by

Taron Egerton Taron Egerton ( ; born 10 November 1989) is a Welsh actor. He is the recipient of a Golden Globe Award, and has received nominations for a Grammy Award and two British Academy Film Awards. Born in Birkenhead, England, Egerton began acting at ag ...

(who portrayed John in the biographical film ''

Rocketman ''RocketMan'' (also written as ''Rocket Man'') is a 1997 American comic science fiction film directed by Stuart Gillard and starring Harland Williams, Jessica Lundy, William Sadler, and Jeffrey DeMunn. A partial remake of the 1967 film, '' The ...

'') aired on

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

's ''

Book of the Week ''Book of the Week'' is a BBC Radio 4 series that is broadcast daily on week days. Each week, extracts from the selected book, usually a non-fiction work, are read over five episodes; each fifteen-minute episode is broadcast in the morning (9:45a ...

'' in the first week of its release.

Reception

Hadley Freeman Hadley Clare Freeman (born 15 May 1978) is an American British journalist based in London. She writes for ''The Sunday Times'', having previously written for ''The Guardian''. Early life Freeman was born in New York City to a Jewish family. ...

, a writer for ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', called the book "racy, pacy and crammed with scurrilous anecdotes", saying: "Elton makes fun of no one more than himself. He is utterly, astonishingly, hilariously self-lacerating." ''Variety'' dubbed the book "deeply dishy". A ''Time'' review said: "Like John’s songs, ''Me'' overflows with whimsical characters, twisted humor, winking self-aggrandizement and stark pathos. True to his spirit, it's a little silly and over the top, but it's also an absorbing and unfettered joy." In ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

'',

Neil McCormick Neil McCormick (born 31 March 1961) is a British music journalist, author and broadcaster. He has been Chief Music Critic for ''The Daily Telegraph'' since 1996, and presented a music interview show for Vintage TV in the UK, Neil McCormick's Nee ...

said: "If you are in the market for an autobiography crammed with sex, drugs and rock and roll, Elton is clearly your man." In ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

'',

Will Hodgkinson Will Hodgkinson is a journalist and author from London (born in Newcastle-upon-Tyne), England. He is the chief rock and pop critic for ''The Times'' newspaper and contributes to ''Mojo'' magazine. He has written for ''The Guardian'', ''The Indepen ...

said that John's "sad, funny memoir reveals the insecurities that drive his needy behaviour."

References

{{Authority control 2019 non-fiction books Elton John British autobiographies Music autobiographies Macmillan Publishers books