Sir Elton John calls late music icon Michael Jackson mentally unwell and ‘disturbing to be around’ in his new book, Me.

British singer Elton, 72, had a close connection with Michael early in his career, but has now claimed that he became concerned over the years as he began to sequester himself away from the world.

He wrote, ‘I’ve known Michael since he was 13 or 14… He was the most lovely child you could imagine.

‘But at some point in the intervening years, he began sequestering himself away from the world and reality, like Elvis Presley did.’

“God knows what was going on in his head, and God knows what prescription drugs he was pumping full of, but every time I saw him in his later years, I came away thinking the poor guy had completely lost his marbles,” Elton said.

He went on to say, ‘I don’t mean it lightly. He was actually mentally sick and unsettling to be around.

When he brought Michael to one of his parties, Elton alleges the singer slipped off and was seen playing with his housekeeper’s kid, causing Elton to conclude: ‘For whatever reason, he couldn’t seem to cope with adult company at all.’

In 2009, Michael unexpectedly passed away from a sedative overdose that his personal physician, Conard Murray, had prescribed.

In the documentary Finding Neverland, two men who were acquainted with the singer as a child accuse him of child sexual assault after his death.

Meanwhile, Elton’s brother has criticized the singer for disparaging their father in his new book.

In his autobiography, the Your Song singer claims that his late father, Stanley Dwight, did not support his career decision and never told him he loved or was proud of him.

However, Elton’s half-brother Geoff, 53, claims the singer simply chooses to ‘believe what he wants to think’ and appears to have suffered massive memory loss’.

‘I don’t understand, since my mother, father, and I went to meet him as his guests in Liverpool,’ Geoff told The Mirror. ‘That was absolutely a concert; my father was there; he was obviously performing, and we were definitely watching. I was five.

‘Either he has severe memory loss and truly believes his father hasn’t seen him in concert, or he wants to believe that.’

In the book, Elton writes, ‘I don’t recall [my father] ever coming to watch me perform live or chatting about music with him.” What I was doing was clearly not his thing.”

He also says he was terrified of him.

Geoff, who works as a carpenter and had a different mother than Elton after Stanley divorced first wife Sheila in 1962 and remarried second wife Edna, with whom he had four additional boys, argued that Stanley belonged to a different generation, one that was less open about their emotions.

[Elton] is playing the blame game. However, our parents came from a military environment in which men had to be men and women had to be females. It’s a different planet,’ Geoff explained.

”My father… I recall him saying “I love you” on his deathbed. There were four of us brothers there; Elton was not. I told Dad, “I love you.” And he said, “Yes, love is what it is all about.” That generation did not exhibit emotion in the same manner that we do now.

‘My dad was proud of him; when Elton appeared on TV, his eyes lit up.’

Elton’s representative stated: “Elton stands by what he said in the book about his father never seeing him perform.”

Earlier this year, Geoff raised concerns about the portrayal of his father in the film biography Rocketman.

Focusing on Elton’s life, Geoff argued that the film once again vilifies their father, telling the Mail last summer: ‘That’s not the Dad I remember. Dad had a large heart and loved each of us equally. He was really proud of Elton and all that he accomplished.

After their father died, Elton and Geoff lost contact. Geoff decides to live an unconventional lifestyle in the small village of Ruthin, North Wales, where he handcrafts yurts and harps and hosts music festivals.