ELTON JOHN - ELTON: 'LIVE 8 MEANS MORE TO ME NOW I'M CLEAN'

SIR ELTON JOHN wept with joy at the prospect of performing in the upcoming LIVE 8 charity concert, as he was so drug-addled during the original LIVE AID show he was unable to appreciate the cause behind it.

The ROCKET MAN star admits he was a "self-obsessed drug addict" at the 1985 rock extravaganza, but now he is clean he insists his inclusion in the London leg of Live 8 concerts alongside STING and COLDPLAY means all the more.

And the flamboyant singer can now see the horrifying reality of developing countries' poverty in full clarity since ditching drink and drugs.

He says, "When the Live Aid concert happened 20 years ago I was a self-obsessed drug addict.

"I was pleased to be part of a great day but I wasn't adult enough to realise the consequences of what we were doing.

"Since then I have been 15 years clean and sober. I'm now fully aware of the injustices.

"I'm honoured to play at this concert because it means more to me now than it did then."