Elton John: 'I'm happier than ever'

Sir Elton John is the ''happiest'' he has ever been.

The 'I'm Still Standing' singer - who has 20-month-old son Zachary with his long-term partner David Furnish - admits his 19-year-relationship with the Canadian filmmaker, his family life and his charity work have made him happier than at any time previously.

He said: ''I work incredibly hard with my own career, my management company, the AIDS Foundation, my little boy. I've managed to intertwine everything perfectly. I've been with David 19 years in October, done a lot of work on myself, and I'm the happiest I've ever been.

''I'm not interested in the past - just now and the future.''

Elton - who has battled drug problems and was once married to German recording engineer Renate Blauel before coming out as a homosexual man - also thinks the key to his longevity in the music business has been his ability to laugh at himself and his image.

He added to Radio Times magazine: ''I don't take myself too seriously, which is one reason I've lasted. Irreverence is a great British trait. As much as I moan about the press - they love you for nine months, hate you for four - it's better than America, where they revere celebrity.''