His perfect “Love Song”! Sir Elton John and David Furnish have an everlasting love story after connecting right off the bat.
“He was very well dressed, very shy,” the “Rocketman” crooner told Parade in early 2010 of their first meeting in 1993. “We fell in love very quickly. He was independent. I didn’t need to take care of him. I thought, ‘God, this is new territory for me — someone wants to be with me just because he likes me.’”
After spending nearly a dozen years together, the pair made their relationship official in December 2005 shortly after same-sex civil partnerships were declared legal in England.
The twosome — who tied the knot in December 2014 — eventually expanded their family, welcoming sons Zachary Jackson Levon Furnish-John and Elijah Joseph Daniel Furnish-John in 2010 and 2013, respectively.
“For many years we have talked about fulfilling one of our greatest wishes by becoming parents,” the pianist exclusively told Us Weekly in December 2010. “And now this wish has been granted to us, we feel so blessed and lucky.”
He continued: “I’ve never felt anything like it in my life [holding Zachary for the first time]. You’re so awestruck. What can you say? You take it in. The feeling, the joy, the warmth of his body, his breathing. I will never forget that experience ever.”
While John announced his musical retirement in January 2018, he’s already passed down his interests to the duo’s children.
“They’ve obviously been exposed to a lot of music in their life,” Furnish exclusively told Us in March 2022 at the 30th annual Elton John AIDS Foundation Academy Awards Viewing Party. “They both love music. All Elton and I try to do as parents is expose them to as many things as possible and encourage them to be open-minded and follow in life what they love and what they feel passionate about. That’s more important than anything. You can’t tell your kids what to do.”
John — who publicly came out as gay in 1996 — opened up about his journey and meeting the “love of [his] life” in an open letter to Zachary and Elijah.
“Looking back over the past 75 years, there is so much I am proud of, so much I have learned. As you are the two most precious parts of my life, I want to share some of those lessons with you,” the songwriter penned in a Time magazine essay in March 2022. “When I was young, I was told to fit in, to do what others expected even when it didn’t feel right. Now I realize I can only be me. Being true to myself is what gave me my voice and helped me face my greatest fears. I’ve forged deep friendships, found the love of my life and became your Daddy. Whoever you grow up to be, just be you — fully and completely you.”
He added: “I know being accepted for who you really are in the world isn’t always easy. And in my 75 years as a gay man, I have seen so much positive social change. It used to be that LGBTQ+ people were seen as ‘wrong,’ or ‘the bad guys.’ We still have a ways to go, but, your Papa and I felt safe enough to bring you both into this world. We believed you would be welcome here, as the children of two daddies.”
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Scroll below for the pair’s complete relationship timeline:
