'After while it became apparent that Gianni thought it was wonderfully brave because he'd misheard the title and was under the impression I'd called it 'Song for A Gay'.' 'I thought it was a bit over the top! It was certainly different, but I wouldn't have described it as brave. He kept saying how wonderfully brave he thought it was. 'Years later when I met Gianni Versace told me it was his favourite song of mine. I was furious But it became a colossal hit in Europe. He added: 'It was like nothing I'd done before, and my American record label refused to release it as a single. 'The next morning I found that a boy called Guy Burchett who worked for Rocket had died in a motorbike crash, virtually the same time I was writing the song, so I called it 'Song For Guy'.'

'One Sunday at Woodside, gloomy and hungover, I wrote an instrumental that fitted my mood, and kept singing one line of lyrics over the top: 'Life isn't everything',' Elton also confirmed in his memoir Me (whose audiobook was read by Rocketman star Taron Egerton). Elton John on Song For Guy - 'Me' Book Extract