Elton John Book to Delve Into AIDS Epidemic

Elton John will publish a memoir discussing the myriad ways the AIDS crisis has affected his life. The singer lost his close friend (and Queen frontman) Freddie Mercury to the disease, and became an outspoken advocate for AIDS awareness in large part though his friendship with the late Ryan White.

Love is the Cure: Ending the Global AIDS Epidemic will be released on July 17, according to The Associated Press. The book will be published by Little, Brown and Hodder & Stoughton.

The book will be the very personal story of Sir Elton's life during the AIDS epidemic, including his agony at seeing friend after friend perish needlessly, according to a Hodder & Stoughton statement. Through his stories of close encounters with people like Ryan White, Freddie Mercury, and many others, he will convey the personal toll AIDS has taken on his life-- and his infinite determination to stop its spread.

The AP reports that proceeds from the book will go to the Elton John AIDS Foundation.

This is a disease that must be cured not by a miraculous vaccine, but by changing hearts and minds, and through a collective effort to break down social barriers and to build bridges of compassion, John said in a Hodder & Stoughton statement. Why are we not doing more? This is a question I have thought deeply about, and wish to answer-and to help change-by writing this book.

John was one of the few people allowed to attend Mercury's funeral in 1991.

John had also forged a close relationship with Ryan White and his family. White, who had been engaged in a very public legal battle with authorities to attend school after word got out of his being infected, died of complications due to AIDS in 1990 at the age of 18. He had contracted HIV through blood treatments he received for hemophilia, a condition he was diagnosed with as a newborn.

John had forged a close -- and very public -- relationship with White and his family.

I miss you so very much, Ryan, John wrote in a 2010 letter shortly after the 20th anniversary of White's death. I was by your side when you died at Riley Hospital. You've been with me every day since. You inspired me to change my life and carry on your work. Because of you, I'm still in the struggle against AIDS, 20 years later.