Ex-lover's suicide inspired Sir Elton John to create 'Next Fall'

The 62-year-old pop superstar told New York Post columnist Cindy Adams how he was left devastated when his ex-lover committed suicide.

Lover’s suicide
John revealed that the lover, whom he declined to identify, committed suicide by throwing himself before a passing lorry because he could not reconcile his homosexuality with his Christian beliefs.

“Years back I had a relationship, and I had absolutely no idea in the world he was going to do this… he threw himself under a truck,” John said. “There was so much grief.”

The multi-millionaire singer said he was shocked by his ex partner’s death, whom he was dating before he "married" Furnish, a film-maker 15 years his junior, in 2005.

His turmoil led to suicide
Furnish, 47, told The Sunday Telegraph that the lover had taken his life because he was torn between his sexual inclinations and his Christianity.

John said his grief had inspired him to provide financial support for a stage play, 'Next Fall', which opened in a New York theatre last week and features a gay American Christian

"He was so tortured by the conflicting views between his sexuality and his strong religious beliefs that he chose to take his own life," said Furnish. "It is very sad indeed."

Lover’s suicide prompted John to help fund ‘Next Fall’
According to Daily Mail, John said his grief had inspired him to provide financial support for a stage play, 'Next Fall', which opened in a New York theatre last week and features a gay American Christian.

The musician, who has a fortune of £175 million, and who once spent £15,000 a month on flowers, and his longtime partner Furnish are the producer of the play 'Next Fall', which documents the relationship between two homosexual men in the United States: one of whom hasn’t come out as gay to his parents and struggles with the conflict with his religion.

"It's the right timing for this," said Furnish, the tabloid reports. "The religious divide between Right and Left has gotten wider, and so the rights of gay people never got back to where it was heading."

John added that the play reflects some of the struggles he had coming out as gay. "Look, we all need love. We all have the same fears and insecurities. We should all be allowed to be free," he said.

The Rocket Man singer said it was Furnish who first turned him on to the play.

“David originally saw it and told me, 'I've just seen a spectacular piece of work. It's wonderful.' Our 'Billy Elliot' director also loved it. And a friend with whom I'm involved in another project wrote it. So they asked us to get involved,” he said.

Written by Geoffrey Nauffts, the play is a bittersweet comedy that John opened on Broadway on March 12, with David Furnish.

A bit on the singer’s personal life
Sir Elton John was previously married to a woman for four years before he and his wife divorced in 1988. The musician says he and his long-term partner David had an instant connection when they met in 1993. His civil partnership with David at Windsor Guildhall took place on the day same-sex unions became legal in 2005.

John is known for his addiction to alcohol and illegal drugs during the 1970s and 1980s. He spent years addicted to cocaine, snorting a line of the Class A drug every ten minutes, consuming alcohol, and even excessive food consumption including cockles and ice cream, both of which he would consume in pints during bulimic phases, reports Daily Mail.