Sir Elton John recently blamed his foul temper on his creative nature:

John told Britain’s Sunday Times magazine that his behaviour had changed since beating drug and alcohol addictions 14 years ago, yet “the rage and the temper are still there … but it’s part of being creative”.

The British superstar, famous for his outbursts, grabbed headlines last month when he cursed and shouted at Taiwanese photographers for surprising him as he arrived at Taipei airport, calling them “rude, vile pigs”.

At a London award ceremony a week later, he launched into a foul-mouthed tirade at pop star Madonna, accusing her of charging fans outrageous prices to see her lip-synch in concert.

“Anyone who lip-synchs in public on stage when you pay 75 pounds ($134) to see them should be shot,” he said.  Link here.

My gut reaction was that it was a bunch of hogwash–blaming his rage on the fact that he’s a creative individual. I know many creative sorts and can’t think of a single angry one! Additionally, in all my studies on the creative spirit, this has never come up, so I was skeptical. Apparently, however, there is some thought that rage could indeed be linked to creativity. However, not quite in the way that Elton suggests.

I ran across an interesting interview by Douglas Eby, who talks with clinical and forensic psychologist, Stephen A. Diamond. Diamond has written a book on the subject, titled: Anger, Madness, and the Daimonic: The Psychological Genesis of Violence, Evil and Creativity. Diamond believes that there is a

“very strong correlation between anger, rage and creativity, one which most people are not aware of. Most of us tend to view anger or rage negatively, associating it almost exclusively with destructiveness and violence. Certainly this correlation exists. But anger can also motivate constructive and creative behavior.

“Most artists realize the relationship between rage and creativity. It is their rage that, when redirected and channeled into their work, gives it the intensity and passion that performing artists such as actors and actresses seek.  Al Pacino’s, Robert DeNiro’s, Jack Nicholson’s and Jessica Lange’s work are good examples. These artists have learned how to harness the power and intensity of their own rage (among other daimonic emotions), deliberately tapping into their personal demons to animate and intensify their acting.

“Creativity, then, can in part be thought of as the capacity to express the daimonic constructively. This is what all great artists do.”

It’s a fascinating interview and I recommend reading the whole of it to gain a new perspective on how negative emotions can be directed into positive outcomes.

I think that the disconnect comes for me when Elton uses it as an excuse…saying that his rage is a result of him being creative. It’s a backwards view…a fallback to explain extremely poor behaviors. Diamond talks about how the difference between a rage-filled artist and a criminal is that the artist channels the negative energy into creativity, not the other way around. Creativity, in his mind, is the mode of expression for the daimonic. Nowhere in the interview does he say that creativity feeds the daimonic.

Seems to me that Elton needs to spend more time in front of a piano than in public with other people. Better to channel that anger into lyrics or a melody rather than cursing out his peers and the media who made him what he is today.