Elton's former songwriting partner reveals heartache

Elton John's former songwriting partner Gary Osbourne has branded the singer terrible at break-ups.

The pair worked together on a string of hits including Little Jeannie and Blue Eyes but Osbourne was dumped without warning, and never heard his services had been terminated until he read it in a newspaper.

In Elton: The Biography, he tells author David Buckley: "Elton is the most talented, charismatic, generous and funny person I have ever known. But if he has a fault, it is that he's not very good at ending things.

"Even so, I was crushed to learn from a newspaper that... I would no longer be working with Elton. I tried not to take it too personally, but even now, over 20 years later... I often have dreams about Elton, and on some level there is an ache that never quite goes away."