Sir Elton John once ‘completely blacked out’ on stage amid fears he had been shot-Asyia Iftikhar-Entertainment – Metro

Sir Elton John reveals the chaotic moment he was left bloodied on stage(Picture: REX/Shutterstock)

Sir Elton John recalled the terrifying moment his band thought he’d been shot when they saw blood streaming down his face during a concert.

After over five decades touring the world, the 77-year-old singer has plenty of wild tales – many of which he has recounted in his new book Farewell Yellow Brick Road: Memories of My Life on Tour.

In one memorable incident – which likely took place during his November 1974 concert in Greensboro, North Carolina -the Rocket Man hitmaker was knocked unconscious with a bloody hash pipe flung by a concert-goer.

As he explained: ‘Fans have often thrown things onstage when I’m playing, but usually it’s been something reasonably soft. Not in Greensboro.

‘As we plowed through a rendition of Burn Down the Mission [about halfway through the set], someone hurled a metal hash pipe toward the stage from the crowd. I didn’t see it coming.

‘The silver pipe smashed against my temple, drawing blood, and I completely blacked out. The band kept playing because it took them a second to realize what had happened.

He ‘didn’t see’ the metal hash pipe coming (Picture: WireImage)

The hitmaker has performed in Greensboro in 1974, 2001 and as recently as 2022 (Picture: Getty)

‘They told me later they thought I’d been shot because they saw blood pouring down my face.’

That’s when his bodyguard, Jim Morris, stepped in and lugged Sir Elton offstage in his feathered outfit where a paramedic bandaged up his head.

‘There were feathers everywhere,’ he added, per Radar Online.

Despite the dramatic turn of events, the singer revealed it was now one of his ‘favourite’ memories.

The multi-Grammy winner has performed in Greensboro twice more, once with Billy Joel in 2001 and once during his epic Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour in 2022.

The book is peppered with plenty of hidden gems and behind-the-scene stories such as his battle with painful vocal cysts while performing in Australia which left him coughing up ‘wads of gunk’.

After powering through ‘exhausted and in pain’, the chart-topper had throat surgery which improved the situation.

The I’m Still Standing singer has dealt with several health issues during hisdecorated career including near-deadly appendicitis and pneumonia.

He recently revealed on Good Morning America that due to a severe infection he picked up in the South of France he has lost vision in his right eye, rendering him unable to work.

The music artist, whose left eye is also ‘not the greatest’, added: ‘We’re taking initiative to try and get it better. But at the moment, that’s really what we’re concentrating on. It’s never fortunate for anything like this to happen.

He has suffered vision loss in one eye since picking up an infection over the summer (Picture: Getty)

‘And it kinda floored me, and I can’t see anything. I can’t read anything, I can’t watch anything.’

In October, the father-of-two made a candid speech about his deteriorating health to fans at New York Film Festival during the premiere of his movie, Elton John: Never Too Late.

‘To be honest with you, there’s not much of me left. I don’t have tonsils, adenoids or an appendix. I don’t have a prostate,’ he said, via People Magazine.

‘I don’t have a right hip or a left knee or a right knee. In fact, the only thing left to me is my left hip. But I’m still here. And I can’t thank you [enough], you’re the people that made me,’ he concluded.

Elton John: Never Too Late comes out on Disney+ on December 13.

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