AceShowbiz - Sir Elton John tried to help pal George Michael with his drug issues but the late singer didn't want to be saved.

Michael died on Christmas Day, 2016 after battling addiction for years, with experts insisting years of heavy drug abuse took a fatal toll on his body.

And now Elton, who has also struggled with addiction issues, has revealed he tried to help George give up drugs, telling Britain's Channel 4 News, "I tried to put my arms around him. I tried to help, but you can't help people who don't want to help themselves."

"I've learned that as an addict, and I'm 28 years clean and sober. When people told me when I was using that I was doing the wrong thing, I was so angry and I just told them to go away or I actually used stronger language than that.

"So, I understand George, you know when I said a couple of things, and he did a whole page interview in Heat magazine saying I should shut up, and I understood what his reaction was."

"Addiction is a horrible thing," Sir Elton adds. "And two or three of our friends are mired in addiction at the moment and I've learned there's nothing you can do 'til you actually say, 'OK, I'm going to do something about it. I need help'.

"It took me 16 years to say it. I know I'm intelligent. I know I have a problem and I can go for six months without it, but it always got worse when I started back on it. And at the end of the day, addiction is a very serious problem and it needs to be addressed by yourself and you need help from people, whether it's an Alcoholics Anonymous or going to rehab or just having the humility to say, 'I have a problem, I can't do this, somebody help me'."