Elton John on his childhood and retirement plans

At the age of 72, Elton John is enjoying a renaissance. This year alone, he’s been the subject of a hit film, played 88 concerts, and previewed a new Broadway musical, based on the hit novel The Devil Wears Prada.

This week, he lifts the curtain on his career and his private life in a new memoir, simply titled “Me”.

It finds the star candidly talking about his impoverished upbringing, and the depths of his drug addiction in the 1980s, as he told BBC music reporter Mark Savage.