Elton John calls Michael Jackson 'mentally ill' in memoir

Elton John’s memoir, ever since it has been published, has grabbed eyeballs with its revelations and tongue-in-cheek statements.

Among the many, one that stands out is labelling late pop icon Michael Jackson "mentally ill".

In the memoir titled, ‘Me’, Elton John also described MJ's company disturbing.

Elton John and Michael Jackson developed friendship early on in the latter’s career. Elton has now admitted that over the years, he became concerned about the way in which he started to "sequester himself away from the world".

"I'd known Michael since he was 13 or 14... He was just the most adorable kid you could imagine. But at some point in the intervening years, he started sequestering himself away from the world, and away from reality the way Elvis Presley did," he wrote in the book.

The singer continued, "God knows what was going on in his head, and God knows what prescription drugs he was being pumped full of, but every time I saw him in his later years I came away thinking the poor guy had totally lost his marbles. I don't mean that in a light-hearted way. He was genuinely mentally ill, a disturbing person to be around."

Recalling a time he invited MJ to one of his parties, Elton claims that the star wandered off and was found playing with his housekeeper's son, prompting him to deduce: "For whatever reason, he couldn't seem to cope with an adult company at all."

Michael Jackson died in 2009 due to an overdose of sedatives. He was recently accused of child sexual abuse in the documentary ‘Finding Neverland’.