Coronavirus: Elton John 'loving every second' of lockdown with his family
Sir Elton John has declared he is “loving every second” of lockdown - as it is giving him rare quality time with his family.
The 72-year-old singer - who is father to sons Elijah, seven, and Zachary, nine, with husband David Furnish - had been on his Farewell Yellow Brick Road world tour since September 2018, but is now following quarantine advice amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Elton told Zane Lowe on Apple Music: “This is the time where people are going to spend more time with their families than they've ever done before. And so far, again, check with me in two weeks.
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“I'm enjoying it so much because I don't spend that much time with my family during the day and I'm loving every second of it. So cherish it while you can. Every cloud has a silver lining.”
The I’m Still Standing singer revealed he and his family have been spending their time playing Snakes and Ladders and enjoying each other’s company.
He said: “To be honest with you, it's great to be able to spend this much time with my boys because normally I don't, even though they've been on the road with us since November in Australia and New Zealand.
“This is 24/7 with them and it's fantastic. I mean I'm saying that after a week, check on me in about three weeks.”
The Candle In The Wind singer had battled on with his world tour despite being diagnosed with Walking Pneumonia in February.
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Reflecting on the coronavirus pandemic and its effects on the world he said: “Maybe this will bring people together and be far more thoughtful about each other in a world where we're so selfish, me included...
“You have to be positive and say, ‘An end will come to this.’ We don't know when, but hopefully, scientists have never been so busy now trying to find something that works, trying to find a vaccine. But that takes time.”
And Elton urged panic-buyers to stop stripping supermarket shelves and leave food for NHS staff.
He said: “People just have to do what they're told and and stop buying all the groceries.People are buying everything in supermarkets. And then people who are working like 40 hour shifts in the NHS come off their shift exhausted go to the supermarket, there's nothing for them to buy. These are the people that are doing all the hard work.”