Elton John Served as a Pallbearer at the Funeral of 18-Year-Old Ryan White, Who Tragically Passed Away From an AIDS-Related Illness

On April 11, 1990, Elton John, Howie Long and Phil Donahue acted as Ryan White’s pallbearers after the 18yr old’s death due to AIDS-related illness. Ryan had caught the disease via a blood transfusion while still a baby. He was ostracized by his community in Indiana and barred from attending school.

As a hemophiliac, White became infected with HIV from a contaminated factor VIII blood treatment and, when diagnosed in December 1984, was given six months to live. Doctors said he posed no risk to other students, as AIDS is not an airborne disease and spreads solely through bodily fluids, but AIDS was poorly understood by the general public at the time. When White tried to return to school, irate parents and teachers in Howard County rallied against his attendance due to unwarranted concerns of the disease spreading to other students and staff. A lengthy administrative appeal process ensued, and news of the conflict turned White into a popular celebrity and advocate for AIDS research and public education. Surprising his doctors, White lived five years longer than predicted. He died on April 8, 1990, one month before his high school graduation.

Over 1,500 people attended White’s funeral on April 11, a standing-room only event held at the Second Presbyterian Church on Meridian Street in Indianapolis. White’s pallbearers included Elton John, football star Howie Long and Phil Donahue. Elton John performed “Skyline Pigeon” at the funeral. The funeral was also attended by singer Michael Jackson, and then-First Lady Barbara Bush. On the day of the funeral, Ronald Reagan wrote a tribute to White that appeared in The Washington Post. Reagan’s statement about AIDS and White’s funeral were seen as indicators of how greatly White had helped change perceptions of AIDS.

John has cited White’s death as the major impetus behind his decision to fight his long-standing alcohol and cocaine addiction; he went into rehab shortly afterwards.

“I think the catalyst was Ryan White’s funeral and seeing what Ryan went through,” John shared on Today of his decision to get sober, adding that White, without a doubt, saved his life.

“When he died, being there in Indianapolis and coming back to the hotel and complaining about the wallpaper, the décor in the room,” John continued. “[I’m] thinking, ‘You are the most ungrateful little bastard. You complain about everything. This boy has never complained about contracting HIV and AIDS from a blood transfusion. He’s never complained, he’s only encouraged people to get tested. You are a piece of sh*t.’ And that’s what I felt about myself.”

According to Ultimate Classic Rock, Elton John first became aware of Ryan White in 1985, after seeing a magazine article about the teenager’s struggle to have a normal adolescence after being diagnosed with AIDS.

In his book, Love Is the Cure: On Life, Loss and the End of AIDS, John described the bullying, violence and discrimination the teen, his family and their supporters experienced.

“Customers on Ryan’s paper round cancelled their subscriptions,” he wrote. “When the Whites went out to eat, restaurants threw away dishes they used. The parents of Ryan’s girlfriend forbade her from seeing him. Tires were slashed on [mother] Jeanne’s car. A bullet was shot through a window of their house. When the local paper supported Ryan’s right to attend school, the publisher’s house was egged and a reporter received death threats.

“The Whites were people of deep Christian faith. But after Ryan’s illness became public, the parishioners at their church were so afraid of developing AIDS that the family were asked to sit in either the first or last pew and no one would use the lavatory after him.”

The entire battle moved John so much, he reached out to the Whites and invited them to one of his concerts. In October 1986, the singer then went one step further and “arranged a private tour and a party for Ryan” at Disneyland. “I wanted to give him an adventure – limos, planes, fancy hotels – a carefree time to take his mind off his pain,” John wrote in Love Is the Cure. “I felt instantly comfortable with the Whites, instantly connected to Ryan.”

This relationship endured for years, in the form of show invites, phone calls, gifts and meetings. But what stood out was John’s selfless generosity: He lent Jeanne White $16,500 for a down payment on a house, and then refused to be repaid; instead, he put the amount in a college fund for Ryan’s sister, Andrea. And when the teen’s health took a turn for the worse in April 1990, John went to be with his family. The singer was even at Ryan’s side when he passed away on April 8.

“I grew close to Jeanne during Ryan’s final week,” John wrote. “She described me then as her guardian angel, but Jeanne and her family were guardian angels to me. And the message they were sent to deliver was clear: it might be my deathbed next. I had all the money in the world, but it didn’t matter, because I wasn’t well.”

In the years since White’s death, John has ensured his late friend isn’t forgotten. A 2010 open letter by the singer praised his courage, patience, grace and tolerance, and told him about the policy and health changes (and enduring frustrations) involved with the fight against AIDS. John also honored White’s legacy by founding the Elton John AIDS Foundation in 1992. To date, the global nonprofit has raised $321 million in support of HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention.

“Being around the White family made me want to be a better person,” John wrote in his book. “It took Ryan’s death to do so. When his eyes closed, mine opened – and they’ve been open ever since.”