Ed Sheeran: Elton John’s dark drug tales have put me off

British singer Ed Sheeran was put off taking drugs after talking to Elton John.

The 24-year-old has admitted to trying ecstasy in the past but after getting to know the I'm Still Standing singer, he has no intention of dabbling in illegal substances ever again. Elton, 68, struggled with substance abuse, suffering an overdose in 1975 and checking himself into rehab in 1990, and his memories of that time were enough to stop Ed in his tracks.

"His stories about drugs put you off," he said, according to Britain's The Mirror newspaper. "You hear Elton talk about his darkest days and he tells you so you don't have those little moments. He has definitely lived it."

While Ed has no plans to follow such a destructive path, he thinks it's important to be honest about any vices he may have, particularly when he has young fans looking up to him.

"It may be the wrong way to look at it but it's far more important to be honest," he explained. "I can either pretend to be something I'm not, or I can be myself. If you're in the position of being a role model and go, 'No, I don't smoke', then get caught smoking, it's far worse."

The star has spoken in the past about how important it is to be someone his fans can look up to and last year he told the BBC that he would like people to see him as an authentic person.

"The whole of my first album is about drink and drugs and people picked up on that very fast, so I think if anyone saw me do anything, they'd be like, 'It's what he sings about,' not that I get up to it a lot now, I've calmed down," he said. "I like to be a role model, so I never want to be too much of an advocate. I speak about the experiences and those experiences are never positive so I don't think it promotes it, but it is freeing as an artist."