Elton John’s Mom Wanted to ‘Punch’ His Husband: ‘If I Had the Chance, I’d Do It’

Elton John and his mother, Sheila Farebrother, had a tense relationship that was exacerbated by her feelings about John’s husband, David Furnish. Though John said their relationship had been rocky since his childhood, she blamed Furnish. In a scathing interview, she explained that she thought Furnish was the root of their problems and shared that she would have hit him if given a chance.

Elton John met his husband through mutual friends

In 1993, John wanted to meet new people, so he told a friend to invite guests to his home for dinner. Furnish was one of the attendees. They felt a connection almost right away.

“I was attracted to David immediately,” he told Parade. “He had a real job, his own apartment, a car. 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.’ I knew he was the one, because he is not afraid of me. He always tells me exactly what he thinks.”

In 2005, John and Furnish entered into a civil partnership. Nearly 10 years later, in 2014, they married. The longtime couple now has two children together.

His mother did not approve of their relationship

According to John, his mother expressed her disdain with Furnish around the time of the couple’s civil union.

“When I wanted to have my civil partnership — when I was about to have my civil partnership — my mother was so against it, because it’s officially admitting that you’re gay,” he said, per the Daily Mail.

Farebrother, however, claimed she blamed Furnish for what she perceived as turning her son against her. In one particularly bitter fight, she expressed her intense dislike of her son’s husband.

“I said to him, ‘And you think more of that f***ing thing you married than your own mother,’” she told the Daily Mail.

At the time of the interview, Farebrother hadn’t been in contact with her son or Furnish for several years. 

“I’ve got over all the hurt of those seven years,” she said. “I’ve got over all the nasty things and the hurtfulness.”

Despite this statement, she explained that if she saw Furnish, she’d translate her anger into physical violence.

“I’d like to give Furnish a punch right on the bloody earhole!” she said. “If I had the chance, I’d do it.”

Elton John and his mother reconciled after a period of estrangement

The animosity between John and his mother boiled over into an estrangement. After eight years, however, they reconciled when she turned 90. John said he was grateful that they were back on speaking terms at the time of her death.

“We had a beautiful private ceremony for her in the chapel at Woodside — where my grandmother died, where her ashes are scattered,” he told The Sun. “It was just family and there was a cremation the next day. I wanted to have a private ceremony, and it was a beautiful religious ceremony. I sang, and I did a eulogy, and it was a lovely farewell. It was lovely that we did reconcile because otherwise … life’s too short.”