Elton John’s Mother-in-Law Gladys Furnish Dies

David Furnish is mourning the death of his mother, Gladys Furnish. The husband of Elton John took to Instagram to pay tribute to his “beautiful, angelic mother” following her death on Thursday. Her death comes nearly two years after John’s mother, Sheila, died.

“Today I lost my beautiful, angelic Mother. She passed away peacefully in the middle of the night, with me and my brothers by her side,” Furnish captioned a photo of his parents on their wedding day.

“Mum radiated gentle kindness. She was utterly devoted to her family. We all richly benefitted from her patient wisdom and bountiful love,” he wrote. “I treasure this photo of Mum and Dad on their wedding day – bursting with joy and fresh-faced optimism over their union and the life they planned to build together. They shared the greatest love I have ever known; A rock-solid foundation from which my brothers and I flourished.”

“Rest in peace Mum. You lived your life impeccably. I will never forget you. I promise to do my best to pass the gifts you gave to me on to my own beautiful sons.

Many of Furnish’s followers paid their own respects in the comments section of the post. “I’m so sorry David. I can see that you really had a special mum,” singer songwriter Brandi Carlile wrote. “We can only do our best and hope our kids say something this beautiful about us one day.”

“All our thoughts are with you, my precious friend,” wrote Elizabeth Hurley.

“So sorry to hear of your loss. She must have been so proud of you,” wrote music producer and business magnate David Geffen.

Furnish, a filmmaker from Toronto, married John in December 2005 after 12 years of dating, becoming one of the first couples to form a cilvil partnership in the United Kingdom the day the Civil Partnership Act came into force. The couple has two sons via surrogate — Zachary Jackson Levon Furnish-John, 8, and Elijah Jospeh Daniel Furnish-John, 6.

Back in January 2018, John revealed that his own mother, Sheila Farebrother, died at the age fo 92. “So sad to say that my mother passed away this morning,” he wrote on Instagram at the time. “I only saw her last Monday and I am in shock. Travel safe Mum. Thank-you for everything. I will miss you so much. Love, Elton.”