A new documentary from Sir Elton John and the World Gold Council is to explore how the music icon turned his kneecaps into jewellery.
The singer explains the process in this new short film, Touched By Gold, which is available to watch now. You can check out the trailer for yourselves below.
In the short film, Elton John speaks about how he met up with jewellery designer Theo Fennell after his double knee replacement last year.
“When I had my kneecaps removed, the left one first and then the right, I asked my surgeon if I could keep the kneecaps, which she was rather startled about", he said. “We had to bake them to dry them out. Then they get raw like pumice stone, they’re very porous, and so we had to paint them with acetate and then just polish them up".
As Fennell held up the resulting necklace, Elton John revealed that his surgeon had told him that he had the "worst knees" that he had ever operated on.
“That hole was actually in my kneecap. It looks a bit like an old artefact from Egypt", he stated.
He also added that Fennell “brilliantly had the necklace chain made out of bones” and included an inscription that translates to “I will no longer bow to any man,” in Latin. “Which of course you can’t do with a kneecap missing".
The documentary sees Elton John look back on how gold has inspired him and his work throughout his career.
“From the moment I was presented with my first gold disc in 1970, gold has been there throughout some of my defining moments – my gold awards, the microphones I’ve used for some of my biggest albums, and even the gold lamè suit I wore on stage at Glastonbury", he said.
“Throughout my career, gold has always had a magic that inspires my music, my style and the way I express myself".
It will also look at how gold has been used in detecting HIV, an initiative which means a lot to Elton John.
Over 20 years ago, the singer set up the Elton John AIDS Foundation, raising over $650 million to expand access to health care, fight HIV stigma and help to end AIDS as a killer disease.
Check out the trailer below.
