Elton John has revealed that he will cut back on his hectic touring schedule when his sons start school.

Elton takes Zachary, two, and six-month-old Elijah with him around the world as he performs up to 120 concerts a year. But he will spend more time at home once their education starts in around two years’ time so they can have a settled school life. "When Zachary goes to school and when Elijah goes to school... then I’ll have to take a look at my touring schedule," Elton told Front Row arts programme on Radio 4 on July 2, 2013.

"They’re always on tour with me. Zachary has been to Australia twice before he was two. When they start school of course they can’t come on tour. I can’t be away from them that long, and things will have to change." Elton revealed that he and David will "be there on the first day" that gay marriage is legalised.

The couple’s children were born using a surrogate mother but Elton said he had not planned to be a parent. "It’s only because I went to an orphanage in Ukraine that I saw a little boy who we wanted to adopt that we couldn’t because of the laws. It broke my heart. David sat me down and said, 'You know, why don’t we have our own'. I said, 'Well, I’ve always said I’m too selfish and I’m too set in my ways'. Life sometimes comes up with little signs for you, and that little boy was saying, 'You know what, you bloody well change your ways, you have a kid. You know, see what it does for you."

"It’s made me the happiest person in the world. And then the new one as well – I just wish I’d had them earlier. But Zachary and this new one Elijah have brought me more happiness in the last two and a half years than I could ever have imagined."

Elton and David became civil partners in a ceremony on the day it became legal in 2005 and intend to marry as soon as the law is changed. "I’ll be there on the first day it happens," Elton said. "It’s something that we’ve been given as gay people – a lot of gay people in the world don’t even have the right to exist practically, in Uganda and places like that, in the Soviet Union now. The fact we’ve been given these chances by the British Government is something that is joyous and I’m grateful for. I don’t want a big grandiose thing, I just want to go to a registry office.

"But I’d like to do it. I’d like to say, 'Listen, we’ve been given this as people, and years ago people had to have miserable lives because they were afraid of their sexuality'. Embrace it, be thankful and set an example and say, 'Yes, this is how far Britain has come as a society'. I’m very proud of that."

In the interview, Elton, who releases his 30th album, The Diving Board, in September 2013 – his first new material since 2006 – also hit out at television talent shows. He claimed they spawn "non-entities" who are propelled to fame too fast and struggle to achieve a long career because they are too young and ill-equipped to deal with life in the spotlight.

"Unless you’ve got real gravitas and you’ve earned your corn, it’s going to be hard for you to stay sane," said Elton. "It will be hard for you to maintain a career, you may end up being a bitter, non-entity. It’s about the pitfalls of being a young star, like a Justin Bieber. It’s hard when you’re young to go through that incredible fame when you haven’t had a childhood. And then, you want to grow up. Luckily, fame came to me when I was 23, and then I lived my teenage years through my fame. But I wouldn’t want to be Justin Bieber or any of those young artists. It’s tough on them."

"Television and video has done a lot of damage to music. They propel people into stardom that aren’t ready for it and can’t sustain it and they’re only as good as the next song. I hate that, I hate people being cast aside."

He cited Michelle McManus, now 33, who was dropped by her management shortly after winning Pop Idol in 2003. "It breaks my heart... it’s not fair," he said, while also criticising The Voice. "The Voice is all about watching the judges. Nobody on The Voice in America has had a hit record, nobody on The Voice in England has had a hit record. They’re non-entities," Elton said.

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