Elton John turned his kneecaps into jewelry after surgery
Some celebrities prefer earrings, others go for necklaces, but Elton John opted for something out of the ordinary as he turned his own kneecaps into jewelry.
In a new documentary film, Touched By Gold, the veteran singer opened up about why he decided to preserve his kneecaps a year after undergoing a double knee replacement in 2024.
"When I had my kneecaps removed, the left one first and then the right, I asked my surgeon if I could keep the kneecaps, which he was rather startled about," he said.
"My surgeon said I had the worst knees he’s ever operated on. That hole was actually in my kneecap. It looks a bit like an old artifact from Egypt," he added.
He then reached out to jewelry designer Theo Fennell to turn his kneecaps into an accessory, telling him to do "what you want with them."
Fennell explained that he had to "bake" the bones to "dry" them out.
He continued, "Then they get raw like pumice stone, they’re very porous, and so we had to paint them with acetate and then just polish them up."
The result is a necklace with a fragment of John's right kneecap framed in gold. The back of the necklace features an inscription in Latin that means, "I will no longer bow to any man."
As for John's left one, it was turned into a brooch as it was a smaller kneecap and Fennell "couldn't do so much" with it.
"I honestly think these are timeless pieces that will last for centuries," the Rocket Man hitmaker highlighted.
The 78-year-old musician had his knees removed after undergoing hip surgery in 2021, when he suffered "considerable pain and discomfort" following a fall. He also suffered from an eye infection that severely affected his eyesight.
John is regarded as one of the best-selling music artists of all time, having made hit singles such as Rocket Man, Don't Go Breaking My Heart, I'm Still Standing, Can You Feel the Love Tonight, and more.
