Elton John stopped speaking to his mother for seven years after David Furnish remark

Amy Johnson
·Contributor
Sir Elton John with his mother, smiles after receiving an Honorary Doctorate from the Royal Academy of Music outside the Royal Academy of Music in London. * Sir Elton who studied at the Academy was accompanied by his partner David Furnish and his parents mother Sheila and stepfather Fred Fairbrother. (Photo by Andy Butterton - PA Images/PA Images via Getty Images)
Sir Elton John with his mother after receiving an Honorary Doctorate from the Royal Academy of Music outside the Royal Academy of Music in London. (Andy Butterton/PA Images/PA Images via Getty Images)

Elton John, 72, has divulged why he stopped speaking to his mother Sheila Farebrother for seven years following on from a comment she made about his husband David Furnish.

The icon married Furnish, 56, in 2014 and they have two sons, Zachary, eight and six-year-old Elijah.

Now, John has written about his difficult relationship with his mother in his upcoming first official autobiography, Me.

John has claimed the conflict that led to years of silence between them was sparked after his former PA Bob Halley had decided to quit.

Read more: Elton John reveals cancer battle that left him 24 hours from death

"Mum was absolutely livid when she heard Bob had left — they’d always got on well," John writes, according to The Mirror.

"She didn’t want to hear my version of events, and told me that Bob had been more of a son to her than I’d ever been.”

John then says she hit out at Furnish, declaring: “You care more about that f***ing thing you married than your own mother."

Sir Elton John and his mother Sheila Farebrother during The Fifth Annual White Tie & Tiara Ball to Benefit the Elton John Aids Foundation in Association with Chopard - Dinner at Elton John Residence in Windsor, England, United Kingdom. (Photo by KMazur/WireImage)
Sir Elton John and his mother Sheila Farebrother during The Fifth Annual White Tie & Tiara Ball to Benefit the Elton John Aids Foundation in Association with Chopard - Dinner at Elton John Residence in Windsor, England, United Kingdom. (Photo by KMazur/WireImage)

Farebrother died in 2017 aged 92, although she and John had rekindled their relationship before her passing.

The fractious relationship between John and his mother was depicted in the Rocketman biopic which hit screens earlier in the year.

Bryce Dallas Howard played the part of Farebrother in the film which charted John's life from childhood to his musical breakthrough and subsequent battles with addiction as well as his troubled family life.

Although Dallas Howard won the role, Amanda Holden revealed earlier this year that she had been asked to send a last-minute audition tape to director Dexter Fletcher for the part.

Photo by: KGC-247/STAR MAX/IPx 2019 5/20/19 Elton John and David Furnish at the premiere of 'Rocketman' in London, England.
Photo by: KGC-247/STAR MAX/IPx 2019 5/20/19 Elton John and David Furnish at the premiere of 'Rocketman' in London, England.

Speaking on her Heart Radio breakfast show, she spilled: "I was right in the middle of doing something for QVC and I got a call from my people saying: 'Listen, you need to quickly put yourself onto tape to play Elton John's mother in the new movie Rocketman'."

Holden added the experiencing was "embarrassing" and beloved there was "no chance" she'd land the part.