text: Celebs Elton John admits he cried listening to 'Yellow Brick Road' album again March 31, 2014 at 9:36 AM ET 
   
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   Sir Elton John's album "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road," released 40 years ago, was a huge breakthrough for the flamboyant singer/songwriter. The album sold more than 30 million copies — and even today, is powerful enough to bring John to tears. 
   
   During the first part of a chat with TODAY's Matt Lauer Monday, John explained that he'd listened to the record in anticipation of doing interviews about it. The experience, he said, "Made me very emotional. I cried a little at it, because it reminded me of a time when I was very innocent." 
   
   But "Road's" success was also a gateway into a downward spiral for the then 26-year-old, who began abusing drugs and alcohol after fame swept over him. John has now been sober for more than two decades, and has regrets but no anger. 
   
   "I don't blame anything," he said. "I don't blame anybody or anything. It was just me being inquisitive. ... 'I'll join in. I'll be part of the gang.' Bad decision. If I could go back again, I would never do it." 
   
   Maybe not the addiction, but John, 67, would still be making music, his "soul mate." He told Lauer music has been with him through "sadness, through laughter, through love." 
   
   On Tuesday, the second part of John's interview with TODAY airs, and he'll discuss his upcoming nuptials with partner David Furnish. The pair plan to wed as early as May, now that gay marriage is legal in England. 
   
   "We'll do it very quietly," John told Lauer. "But we will do it and it will be a joyous occasion and we will have our children. " They have two kids together , Zachary, 3, and Elijah, 1. 
   
   "I'm very proud of Britain and the laws that we've seen come into existence since we've been together , " John said. "Having our civil partnership was an incredible breakthrough for people that have campaigned for a long time — through the '60s and the '50s in England when it was so hard to be gay and hard to be open about it. And it was a criminal act. So for this legislation to come through is joyous, and we should celebrate it. We shouldn't just say, 'Oh, well we have a civil partnership. We're not going to bother to get married.' We will get married." 
   
   The pair have been in a civil partnership since 2005, which John said had a "huge impact" on their commitment. "We didn't think it would make much difference to our relationship, but it solidified our relationship." 
   
   Meanwhile, John continues to be as involved in his other relationship — making music — as ever. 
   
   "I love it as much now as I did," he said. "I don't like the fame part of it, and I don't like the technology part of it so much. But, the thrill of the music will never die for me ... when you hear somebody young, like Lorde, or someone like that, making a record like she did, and you think, 'You're 16,' I am flabbergasted. And it makes you want to write the best song in the world, because you just cannot believe that this music has come out of someone so young, and so brilliant." 
   
   Tune in Tuesday on TODAY for the second installment of the two-part interview. 
   
   Tweet email ||||| It looks like Elton John and David Furnish will get married in an English registry office in May, with their two kids Elijah and Zachary in tow, plus a few friends. 
   
   Furnish told me this news Friday while we sat in a luxurious booth at the Caesars Palace lounge he created, Fizz Las Vegas (the prettiest lounge I’ve ever seen in Vegas, by the way). 
   
   Elton and Furnish entered a British civil partnership eight years ago. But today is the first day gay couples can legally wed in England. 
   
   “We don’t feel the need to take an extra step legally. But since we’re committed for life, we feel it’s really important to take that step, and take advantage of that amazing change in legislation. We all live by example,” Furnish said. 
   
   I told him I was surprised he and Elton don’t want to throw another big wedding party. 
   
   “We do like big parties,” Furnish said. “Over eight years ago, we had 650 people on the 21st of December at our house in Windsor. 
   
   “But with the kids, everything is different. I think what we’ll do is go to a registry office in England in May, and take the boys with us, and a couple of witnesses.” 
   
   Furnish wears large tattoos of the boys’ names on the inside of his forearms in Old Gothic script, “Elijah” on the left arm, “Zachary” on the right. Elton has their names tattooed on his back, Furnish said. 
   
   Furnish, 51, said he and Elton entered a civil partnership as a symbolic way to support the movement that so many people had struggled to achieve, and to acknowledge their commitment to each other. 
   
   Civil partnership changed them more than they expected. 
   
   “After we did it, we felt this amazing sense of commitment and happiness we didn’t anticipate happening. It’s a really nice thing,” Furnish said. 
   
   “Initially, the political side of you is like, ‘No, no, we must have equality.’ When you finally get it, it’s like, ‘Oh my god, this feels really nice.’ It’s a lifting thing.” 
   
   When Furnish was younger, he never thought he’d get the opportunity to marry. 
   
   “I remember trying to come out to my mother and unfortunately going to all the negatives. ‘You’ll never get married. You’ll never have children. You’ll never be accepted by society. You’ll be prejudiced against. You won’t have a future.’ 
   
   “I resigned myself to having a different life. I found it particularly difficult and challenging, because I came from a wonderful marriage; my parents are madly in love still. They’ve been married over 60 years. 
   
   “I wanted what they had. I came from a happy union, and I loved the associations I had from that. I felt very loved and encouraged.” 
   
   He was frustrated when he found out marriage between two loved ones was forbidden. 
   
   “I found it particularly painful.” 
   
   But the world is changing. 
   
   “We’re living in extraordinary times. My god, 20 years ago, when I started seeing Elton, if you asked me if I’d be able to get married, if I’d be able to have children, it was unthinkable, literally unimaginable.” 
   
   Furnish believes people’s exposure to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people through our “more media-intensive times” has helped many people reexamine previous biases. 
   
   “With access to more information, the barriers come down.” 
   
   I said to Furnish I believe we should all send thank-you cards to “Will & Grace” for starting a landslide of public acceptance through that show’s exposure to lovable characters. 
   
   “I went to high school with Eric McCormack,” who starred on “Will & Grace,” Furnish said. “We were in the same drama program together. 
   
   “It’s funny how life works, coming from the same little conservative suburb of Toronto, but you find yourself years later in a room in L.A., saying, ‘OK, I’m in this super high-profile gay relationship, and you’re in this super high-profile gay TV series. Who’d have thought?’” 
   
   Doug Elfman’s column appears on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Email him at delfman@reviewjournal.com. He blogs at reviewjournal.com/entertainment/reel.
target: – Mazel tov: Elton John and longtime partner David Furnish are getting hitched in May, Furnish reveals to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. The two have been civil partners for eight years, but now that gay marriage is legal in England, they're planning a wedding at a registry office with just a few friends, plus their two children. "We don’t feel the need to take an extra step legally," Furnish says. "But since we’re committed for life, we feel it’s really important to take that step, and take advantage of that amazing change in legislation. We all live by example." John also discusses the upcoming nuptials in an interview airing Monday and Tuesday on Today. "We'll do it very quietly. But we will do it and it will be a joyous occasion and we will have our children," he says. "I'm very proud of Britain and the laws that we've seen come into existence since we've been together. ... For this legislation to come through is joyous, and we should celebrate it. We shouldn't just say, 'Oh, well we have a civil partnership. We're not going to bother to get married.' We will get married."