Having declared himself to be bi-sexual in 1976, it came as a bit of a shock to some people when Elton John held a very public wedding to German recording engineer Renate Blauel in 1984.

It’s always easy to say in retrospect ‘we knew it wouldn’t work’ but, in this case, the writing did seem to be pretty clearly on the wall from the outset. (Both Elton and Renate seem rather less than passionate in the newsclip below) And, of course, history has proven us right (although, in fairness, Elton John himself has made it very clear that it wasn’t one of his better moves).

That particular period of his life was also marked by drug and alcohol abuse as well as issues such as bulimia. He was a mess, and it’s likely that his unresolved sexuality was a major contributor to that. Given his high public profile, most of this was reported in gory detail by a sensationalist media.

If there’s anything positive to be gained from this it is, hopefully, that the thousands of ordinary men and women struggling with their own sexuality have taken heart from Elton’s story. He was a mess but he is now very much an upfront and unapologetic gay man.

Admittedly he’s still prone to the occasional gaffe – such as his duet with homophobe Eminem or performing at the wedding of Right-wing commentator Rush Limbaugh. But he has made an immense contribution to HIV/AIDS research and support over the past couple of decades. His politics may be confused but at least his heart’s more or less in the right place.