Elton John Opened Up About His "Whirlwind Romance" With John Lennon
The crowd roared when they saw John Lennon walk out as a surprise guest at Elton John’s 1974 concert at Madison Square Garden. The two had collaborated on a song, so it made sense that the Beatle would appear on stage that night. But behind the obvious creative relationship shared by the two musicians, Elton has now revealed that they were much more than colleagues.
They had a special bond
Elton opened up about his special bond with John in a BBC Radio 2 interview with Sean Lennon, the late star’s son, in commemoration of what would have been John’s 80th birthday.
He covered the breadth of their relationship, starting with its very innocent beginnings in the year prior to that special show when they shared the stage at Madison Square Garden. Elton told Sean that he and the former Beatle had “just hit it off immediately.”
A "whirlwind romance" took place
The pair obviously had much in common – both musicians, they inevitably had lots to talk about. But their shared craft wasn’t what drew Elton to John, although his talent would be alluring to anyone.
Rather, it was his sense of humor, Elton revealed. From there, the relationship that they built became something of “a dream come true.” The “whirlwind romance” did more than just infuse the “I’m Still Standing” singer’s life with extra creativity and good music, though.
“Such an important thing”
He admitted to John’s son Sean that the pairing had been “such an important thing” to him. But the relationship fizzled out soon after that heady evening in New York’s Madison Square Garden.
The relationship's demise was a subject Elton covered in the interview, too. You’re probably wondering how the world missed out on the close relationship between the two famous singers. But it seems Elton felt ready to talk about it nearly 50 years later.
John is still in people's thoughts
The interview with Elton conducted by John’s son Sean was only one of a trio of fascinating conversations with those who knew the late Beatle best. BBC Radio 2’s three-part series welcomed the “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” singer as well as John’s eldest son, Julian, and his former songwriting partner and bandmate Paul McCartney.
Each part of the series brought to light new and fascinating information about the legendary musician, whose life was fated to end in tragedy when he was assassinated in 1980. McCartney, for one, admitted that he continues to think about John whenever he writes new music.
"What would John say?"
This was a particularly interesting revelation because, after The Beatles split up, the duo never penned a song together again. McCartney said, “I often do it, I’m writing something and I go, ‘Oh, this is awful.,’… and I think, what would John say?”
“And you go, ‘Yeah, you’re right. It’s awful. You’ve got to change it.’ And so I’ll change it. And I know from reports that he did similar things to that, you know, if I’d have a record out, he’d go, ‘Oh, got to go into studio, got to try and do better than Paul.’”
The father-son relationship was complicated
As for Sean’s relationship with his dad? Well, according to Sean, the relationship wouldn’t have even existed were it not for pianist extraordinaire Elton. It all traced back to that performance at Madison Square Garden in 1974.
At the time, John and his second wife, Yoko Ono, had been separated for 18 months. But, according to Sean, Yoko ended up attending Elton’s show and going backstage, where she crossed paths with her estranged spouse. There was no ill-will between them, though.
John and Yoko and Elton
In fact, their son recalled a photo from that very meeting. He said, “I grew up with this photograph of my mom and dad backstage at your show. And they’re looking at each other with real love in their eyes.”
The couple didn’t just reconcile that night, either. Sean revealed, “I was born nine months later, approximately, I mean, almost to the day.” And that’s why he credited Elton with his entire life — he had unknowingly helped facilitate Yoko and John’s reunion.
Elton is the reason for Sean's existence?
Their son concluded, “In a way if it wasn’t for you playing that show, I can honestly say I wouldn’t even exist probably.” This information was intriguing to those who revered John Lennon.
But there was one part of Elton’s interview in particular that turned heads. The “Rocketman” singer covered his relationship with the former Beatle — and, as it turned out, they were closer than most people knew.
Elton was a Beatle fan from the beginning
Long before John and Elton met, Elton had obviously been a fan of John’s music. He told Sean that one of his schoolmates had introduced him to The Beatles via their 1962 debut single “Love Me Do.”
The classmate assured Elton that the band was going to be the biggest band the world had ever seen — and he was quite accurate in that prediction. Elton quickly got on board with Beatlemania.
Elton was almost as big of a star
He explained why to Sean, saying, “It was the first thing that really came out of Britain as far as pop music goes… even though they were influenced, and we were all influenced, by American artists, it had an original sound. Things were written about Liverpool, Strawberry Fields. It felt authentic.”
And it wouldn’t be long before Elton joined the Fab Four in the spotlight. His second studio album, Elton John, came out in 1970, and it marked the singer’s first commercially successful production. It didn’t hurt that “Your Song,” one of the artist’s most iconic ballads — and his breakout single — appeared on the record.
The Beatles were big Elton fans
Like The Beatles, Elton began to enjoy success with American audiences. And, when he did, the quartet made it clear that they supported the singer-songwriter. They even sent private messages to Elton.
Elton recalled that he received “a telegram from George [Harrison] when my first album, the Elton John album, got in the charts in America, and that was so exciting.” John was particularly supportive, too.
The feelings were mutual
John made it clear that he was a fan of the “Candle in the Wind” singer when the pair met for the first time in 1973. And for Elton, the feeling was very much mutual.
He told Sean that he was “a little bit, obviously, I was in awe” — more so than he had been while meeting any of the other Beatles. The pair met on the set of John’s music video for “Mind Games.”
John Lennon had a presence
Why was he so much more enamored by this Beatle when the other three had “treated [him] so brilliantly”? Elton said, “Your dad had that edge that none of the other Beatles had, kind of because he wasn’t afraid to say what he thought.”
But John hadn’t been critical of Elton’s work. Sean said, “My dad, when he first heard your voice he was in America I think already, and he was thinking that’s the first new kind of British singing that he really liked and dug.”
John loved "Your Song"
Sean went on to say, “I think he said that he loved your music and the songs and he liked the song, ‘Your Song.’” John made it clear that he respected Elton’s talent.
John invited Elton into a recording session for his 1974 studio album, Walls and Bridges. Specifically, he had asked Elton to sing and play piano on the song “Whatever Gets You Thru the Night.”
Elton made a bet with John
After hearing the track for the first time Elton was convinced that it should be the lead single of the album, but at that stage, John wasn’t persuaded. The record label agreed with the “Crocodile Rock” singer, though, so Elton made a bet with his new collaborator.
If the song went to number one, then they’d perform live together. John agreed — and we all know how that turned out since the Beatle appeared on stage with Elton at Madison Square Garden.
It was more than just music
Thousands of people saw John and Elton on stage that night, but what they didn’t know was that the duo were more than just musical collaborators. As Elton told Sean in 2020, the pair shared a “wonderful two- or three-year whirlwind romance.”
When Elton said “romance,” though, he meant a close friendship and strong connection shared by the two men — not a literal romance. It was more than just music that brought them together, too.
The pair had a lot in common
The “Tiny Dancer” singer said he and John had “laughed so much because we talked about the ’50s and ’60s and where we grew up, you know... the radio shows we liked, the songs we liked.”
Seven years older than Elton, John proved to be “a fountain of knowledge” for his close friend. Their connection felt like “a hand-in-glove thing” to Elton – a perfect fit. And the fact he shared it with John was something he “never thought that would ever happen.”
“We did a lot of naughty, naughty things together”
Of course, on the music scene in the 1970s, it wasn’t just about bonding over comedy and childhood. John and Elton got into some trouble, too. Although he was a bit shy about giving up details.
When Sean pressed his interviewee about the “other things” he did with his father, the “Bennie and the Jets” singer admitted, “We did a lot of naughty, naughty things together.”
They had "a lot of fun"
Elton didn’t explicitly go into what he meant by “naughty, naughty things.” But the singer did admit that those activities were “a lot of fun,” sighing, “Oh my God” as he vaguely recalled them to the son of his partner in crime.
He then revealed that the pair had “nearly got in trouble a few times,” although he didn’t say for what. Mostly, though, Elton remembered John as someone “as kind and as generous and sweet.”
Elton never saw John's bad side
Throughout their three-year relationship, the rock star said that they had “never had a bad word,” even though others had warned him about the former Beatle’s range of moods and seemingly scary behaviors.
Elton admitted, “You know, I always thought that John was the one that could… turn, or people say, ‘Oh, watch out for him, he can turn.’ And I think maybe when he was drinking a lot and everything he did, but I never saw that.”
There were tears at Madison Square Garden
In fact, the only time the “Imagine” singer brought any other emotion to Elton was during that fateful Madison Square Garden show. When John came out on stage that night, Elton said that he and others involved in the show began to break down.
He revealed, “A lot of us cried, and there were tears running down our faces because here was one of the four people that were the biggest band ever coming out and playing with us.” This was a good way into the stars’ friendship, too – an indication of just how big an icon the one-time Beatle had been.
"His life had become another thing"
But the “whirlwind romance” shared by John and Elton didn’t last forever. The latter admitted in the interview that, after Sean’s birth, he “didn’t really hear [from] or see [his] dad at all.”
The fact that their friendship suddenly ended didn’t bother the “Philadelphia Freedom” singer, though. Elton explained to Sean, “He was so happy being back together with your mom [Yoko Ono], and he was so enchanted having you that it was — his life had become another thing.”
Elton is the godfather
“So I didn’t really speak to him or see him that much at all or hear from him,” Elton continued. “And I didn’t mind because it was just the fact that that night was so consequential in the history of his life.”
But the Lennon household did acknowledge Elton in one beautiful way after his life took a new direction and the friends lost touch. Because of the “happenstance and Kismet” involved in Elton’s New York concert bringing the then-new parents back together, Sean later chose the singer to be his godfather.
Elton was moved by John's death
Even though their friendship faded, Elton told Sean that he had still been “very, very affected” by John’s murder in 1980. He organizing a church service in Melbourne, as the singer was in Australia when he got the news.
He also put pen to paper to write a musical tribute to his slain friend. Elton collaborated with his long-time writing partner Bernie Taupin on the song “Empty Garden (Hey Hey Johnny),” which appeared on Elton’s album Jump Up!
Elton wished John could have lived longer
To conclude the eye-opening, touching, and heartbreaking interview, Elton imagined what John might’ve been up to if he’d had the chance to live into old age. Naturally, he thought his friend would have changed the world.
The singer told Sean, “I think if your dad had still been alive, he would have... maybe won the Nobel Peace Prize or something.” Why? It came down to the same reason that John and Elton became such wonderful friends in the first place.
"He was a uniter"
The “Imagine” songwriter could connect so well with others, but he had no trouble expressing his opinions. Elton explained, “He wanted to bring people together. He was a uniter.”
He continued, “He was prepared to go to any lengths to make people see what his point was.” Maybe, with more time, John and Elton could have rekindled the flame and restored their close friendship, too. The “Candle in the Wind” singer said he wished his one-time pal was still with him.
John was one of a kind
Elton said, “There aren’t many people around today with that kind of personality or strength of character.” The fact he waited so long to share the details of his relationship with John suggests that was a quality they shared.
As part of the three-part radio series, Sean also spoke to his brother Julian. Sean and Julian spoke intimately about their relationships with their father and how he taught them about music. Julian even revealed that John bought him a guitar when he was 11 years old.
John's last song
In the same conversation, Julian revealed that he got a sneak preview of one of the last songs his dad had written. The tune would end up being John’s final single, “(Just Like) Starting Over.”
And his eldest son said that he had loved the track as soon as he heard it over the phone. That phone call took place just before John’s murder, which made it one of Julian’s last memories of his father.
He was in a happy place
It was a good final mental image to have. He said, “I just remember that as being the last kind of moment, listening to him being extremely happy, in a happy place...”
He continued, “Doing what he loved and the music that he played me at that particular point... I was very happy for him and looking forward to seeing him again. Anyway, you know, in another dimension!”