Elton John is writing a book about his experiences in the fight against AIDS, it has been revealed. The book, which is titled Love Is the Cure: Ending the Global AIDS Epidemic, is due to be published by Hodder & Stoughton in July. It is tipped to include John’s personal memories of Queen frontman Freddie Mercury, who died from an AIDS related illness in 1991, and teenage activist Ryan White, who found himself at the centre of a high profile legal battle when his high school tried to expel him after discovering he was HIV positive.
Talking about his plans for the book, John said: "AIDS is a disease that must be cured not by miraculous vaccine but by changing hearts and minds, and through a collective effort to break down social barriers and to build bridges of compassion."
By also including stories of friends who continue to battle HIV/AIDS, John said that he hopes that the book will help to tackle the stigma which surrounds the disease. He added: "Why are we not doing more? This is a question I have thought deeply about, and wish to answer – and to help change – by writing this book."
It is an issue which is particularly close to John’s heart. In 1992, inspired after "seeing friend after friend perish needlessly", he set up the Elton John AIDS Foundation (EJAF), which aims to curb the spread of HIV/AIDS as well as provide care and treatment for sufferers. John has since become a prolific AIDS activist, even trying to adopt a 14-month-old HIV positive child from Ukraine in 2009. Last year, he told the Huffington Post that Freddie Mercury would be "saddened and dismayed" if he were alive to see the "rampant stigma and homophobia" which continues to plague the disease and its sufferers.
Proceeds from the sale of the book will benefit the foundation, which now operates from headquarters in both the US and UK.
Details of John’s book come after the 64-year-old pop veteran announced that he would like Justin Timberlake to play him in Rocketman, the forthcoming biopic about his life.
