Elton John’s ex-wife Renate Blauel ‘suing singer for $5M’

Sir Elton John’s ex-wife Renate Blauel, whom he famously tied the knot with in Sydney, Australia in 1984, is suing him for £3 million (AU $5.3 million) amid claims the ‘Bennie And The Jets’ singer broke the terms of their divorce deal. According to The Sun, the former sound engineer is suing after he wrote about their short-lived marriage in his 2019 memoir Me.

Renate launched legal action against the singer in London’s High Court last month. Renate’s lawyer confirmed to The Guardian at the time, his client “hopes to resolve the matter privately and amicably”.

Elton and Renate were married for four years before the singer-songwriter filed for divorce in 1988 when he came out as gay. Elton went on to marry David Furnish in 2014, with whom he has two children, Zachary, nine, and seven-year-old Elijah.

Renate, who met Elton while he was recording his comeback album Too Low for Zero in 1983 which included the hit singles ‘I’m Still Standing’ and ‘I Guess That’s Why They Call It The Blues’, has kept a relatively low profile since their split, though their brief relationship was brought back into the spotlight in the 2019 biopic Rocketman, which was a musical about Elton’s life, and the autobiography in question.

In the memoir, Elton reflected on the failed marriage, writing: “It was the right thing to do, but it was a horrible feeling. I’d broken the heart of someone I loved and who loved me unconditionally, someone I couldn’t fault in any way. She could have taken me to the cleaners, and I wouldn’t have blamed her: everything that had gone wrong was down to me and me alone. But Renate was too dignified and too decent for that.”

Elton also revealed in his memoir that he had very limited contact Renate following their separation, but had invited her to meet his children because “I wanted her to be part of our lives, and us part of hers, in some way”.

He continued: “But she didn’t want to, and I didn’t push the issue. I have to respect how she feels.”