Sir Elton John has taken to social media to celebrate his 29th year of sobriety.
The 72-year-old singer shared a photograph of his Alcoholics Anonymous sobriety coin, inscribed with the organisation's motto of “Unity, Service, and Recovery."
"Twenty-nine years ago today, I was a broken man,” he wrote in the caption. “I finally summoned up the courage to say 3 words that would change my life: ‘I need help.’"
“Thank you to all the selfless people who have helped me on my journey through sobriety,” John added. “I am eternally grateful.”
John has long been open about his past struggles with addiction, with his fight for sobriety forming the core narrative to biopic Rocketman, starring Taron Egerton.
“The life I was leading - flying on [his legendary private plane] the Starship, living in beautiful houses, buying things left, right and center - it was not a normal life, not the sort of life I came from anyway,” John reflected in an interview with earlier this year.
“I lost complete touch with that.”
“There were times I was having chest pains or staying up for three days at a time,” the star added. “I used to have spasms and be found on the floor and they’d put me back to bed and half an hour later I’d be doing the same. It’s crazy.”
Many fans responded to the news of John's anniversary with thanks.
"Thanks for showing me that my creativity wasn’t tied to self-destruction," one follower replied. "I remember seeing you at Fireside in NYC and feeling like there was hope."
He added: "I got 27 years [sobriety] on the 13th."
