Music icon Elton John said his surgically removed kneecaps were transformed into gold-plated jewelry after his double knee replacement.
The 78-year-old singer described the unusual process in "Touched By Gold," a new short documentary produced by the World Gold Council.
John said he asked his surgeon to preserve the removed kneecaps and later handed them to jewelry designer Theo Fennell, giving him permission to create something from them.
"When I had my kneecaps removed, the left one first and then the right, I asked my surgeon if I could keep the kneecaps, which he was rather startled about," John recalled. "Then I rang you," he told Fennell.
Fennell explained that the bones were dried and hardened before being coated and polished. One was fashioned into a gold-plated necklace with a chain made of bone fragments.
"That's my right kneecap," John said while handling the piece.
The necklace also features a Latin inscription: "I will no longer bow to any man." Fennell described the items as "talismatic," comparing them to historical relics.
"In 1,000 years, this will be Elton John's kneecap," he said.
John's left kneecap was used to create a smaller brooch. Fennell noted it was difficult to shape gold around the fragment because of its irregular form. John called both items "timeless pieces that will last for centuries."
The singer first displayed the necklace publicly at the October 2024 London premiere of his documentary "Never Too Late," where he wore it with a brown suit and striped shirt.
John underwent double knee replacement surgery last year. He said his surgeon described his knees as among the worst on which he had ever operated.
"That hole was actually in my kneecap. It looks a bit like an old artifact from Egypt," John said in the film.
John has spoken openly in recent years about his health issues and multiple surgeries. At the New York Film Festival, he listed the organs and joints he no longer has, including his tonsils, appendix, prostate, right hip, and both knees.
"In fact, the only thing left to me is my left hip. But I'm still here," he said, according to People.
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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