A new documentary from Sir Elton John and the World Gold Council explores how the legendary singer-songwriter and pianist turned his kneecaps into jewellery – watch it here.
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John explained outlined the process in the new short film, which is out now, with the help of jewellery designer Theo Fennell.
After his double knee replacement last year, he met with Fennell, and said in the film: “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.”
Fennell added: “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, John revealed that his surgeon said he had the “worst knees” he’d ever operated on, continuing: “That hole was actually in my kneecap. It looks a bit like an old artefact from Egypt.”
He 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,” Fennell explained. Check out the documentary here, with the kneecap discussion around 11 minutes in.
Through the documentary, John takes a look back at how gold has inspired him and his work across his career – from costumes to accessories.
“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.”
Touched By Gold also looks at how gold has been used in the detection of HIV, something close to John’s heart. He set up the Elton John AIDS Foundation over two decades ago, and it has since raised over $650million to expand health care access, fight HIV stigma, and help end AIDS.
John also features in Spinal Tap II: The End Continues, the long-awaited sequel to the 1984 mockumentary This Is Spinal Tap, which was released in cinemas last week. Appearing as himself, he also joined the band for a new version of their classic track ‘Stonehenge’ – which appears on the soundtrack – earlier this year.
And today, he joined UK artists including Paul McCartney and Kate Bush to urge Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to protect the work of creatives amid an imminent UK-US technology deal during President Donald Trump’s state visit.
He said that government proposals to let AI companies train their systems on copyright-protected work without permission would leave the door “wide open for an artist’s life work to be stolen.”
He added: “We will not accept this, and we will not let the government forget their election promises to support our creative industries.”
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