Before living his truth, Elton John was in a heterosexual relationship. The singer was in the stage of life where he was making a name for himself in the industry and was still figuring out his relationship with himself. The rocker met Renate Blauel in 1983 while he was putting the finishing touches to his ‘Too Low for Zero’ album.
Renate was a sound technician then, and they even traveled together on the Australian leg of his ‘Too Low for Zero’ tour to support the album. After the tour, John proposed to Blauel, and the couple was married the following Valentine’s Day. They remained married for four years, and in 1988 the couple got divorced.
Soon after the divorce, the ‘Tiny Dancer’ singer came out as gay for the whole world to know where he stood with his sexuality moving forward. He even later described his marriage as nothing but him trying to be a good husband while running away from his true desires, which resulted in his then-wife being sad and him living in regret. However, the divorce was a smooth process, and the statements that were released all described the separation as nothing but amicable.
After the divorce, Renate pulled herself back from the public eye and became very cautious about her privacy. John went on to have a stellar career and a new, very public relationship with filmmaker and former ad exec David Furnish. The couple got married in 2005 and have been married ever since, alongside their two kids, Zachary Jackson Furnish-John and Elijah Joseph Daniel Furnish-John.
In 2019, Sir Elton decided to release a memoir titled ‘Me’ and a biopic ‘Rocketman’ to give his fans insight into his life story, including his relationship with ex-wife Renate Blauel. Even though the singer didn’t write anything but positive remarks like ‘dignified,’ ‘decent,’ and ‘someone I couldn’t fault in any way,’ Blauel sued her ex-husband for £3 million as he breached their contract that would prevent Elton from discussing the marriage publicly.
John had previously removed specific passages from his autobiography before it was fully published, and Renate Brauel’s name was only on eight pages within the book. Ms. Brauel had claimed that the memoir had disclosures that triggered her long-standing mental health problems. Although there were many miscommunications between the former couple, they eventually resolved the case in 2020.
A representative for Elton John announced the resolution of the dispute as follows:
“The parties are happy to announce that they have resolved this case in a way that acknowledges Renate’s need for privacy. For her part, Renate acknowledges that Elton has acted in a dignified and respectful way toward her in the last 30 years and has always been happy to help her. They will not discuss each other, or their marriage, in the future and will be making no further comment about the case.”
Although his ex-wife’s claims saddened the star after a very amicable 30-year relationship after their peaceful divorce, they managed to resolve the problem by making sure they would not mention each other, or their marriage, in any future interviews or endeavors, as Renate Blauel has chosen to have a very private life outside of the press. So, Elton John will continue to be supportive and respectful toward his ex-wife now and in the years ahead.
