Elton John Reflects on Getting Sober After Hitting Rock Bottom | The Oprah Winfrey Show | OWN

You've been sober now how many years? - Seven. - Seven years. What turned you around? [APPLAUSE] What was bottom for you? Or was there a bottom? Bottom for me was being with Ryan White the week he died in Indianapolis. Seeing his family so dignified, forgiving people that have been horrible to them, losing a child, and having so much dignity. Whereas, I in my life would complain about everything. And I just knew at that point that my life was out of whack. I knew beforehand, but that was the point I really realized it. And months after that, I got sober and clean. That was a real big turning point for me. I read in an article-- because you never know what you read. But that you saw Elvis, and that was also a turning point. And that you didn't want-- Well, Elvis, when I saw him in Washington, bless his heart-- and I'm a huge Elvis fan-- it was so sad, because he turned into this big man with no eyes. They had sunken in the back of his head. And it was pathetic. And in the end, there are pictures of me when I look at them and think, oh, my god, you know? You turn into Elvis. You just shut your door, and you gained weight, and you did this, and you did that. And you didn't care how you were. And it's very easy to do that. But when you saw him, you thought you didn't want to end up like that. I knew he would be dead within a year if he carried on like that. And he was. - And he was? - Yeah. And he was. [INAUDIBLE]. I knew I had a problem. And the hardest thing for me was I thought I could solve everything myself, you know? I can do this. I'm intelligent. I'm wealthy. I'm rich. I'm successful. Why can't I do this? I can do this. I couldn't. And for 16 years, I couldn't say I need help. You know that? Those three words which will save your life, I need help. And as soon as I said that, I was away. And haven't looked back since. - Haven't looked back. - No. Just say those-- if you're in pain and you're afraid to reach out because you think people will think you're weak, or you feel ashamed of asking for help, just swallow your pride. Your pride will kill you. Just ask for help, and people will be there to give it to you. I think you just saved somebody's life tonight. - Well, I hope so. - Yeah. Yeah. [APPLAUSE]

Channel: OWN

Views: 248,427

Keywords: Oprah, Oprah Winfrey, Oprah Winfrey Network YouTube, Oprah Where Are They Now, Where Are They Now Oprah, Iyanla Fix My Life, full episodes, Super Soul Sunday, Oprah Winfrey Show, The Haves and The Have Nots, Have and Have Nots, If Loving You Is Wrong, Iyanla Vanzant, Livin Lozada, Oprah Life Class, how-to, season, episode, #oprahwinfreyshow, The Oprah Winfrey Show, oprah show, oprah interview, maya angelou, Elton John, Hitting Rock Bottom, interview, music legend, Ryan White

Id: HpDIK1iVSqU

Length: 2min 15sec (135 seconds)

Published: Thu May 16 2019