When chatting with David Walliams at the Hammersmith Apollo, in London, the Rocketman spoke at length about his bond with the Imagine hitmaker. And while talking about his rise to fame, the 72-year-old also revealed how he was afraid to meet Lennon, despite their friendship blossoming into something ‘wonderful’. The exclusive interview with the Honky Cat singer was shared with Elton’s 6.6million followers on Tuesday night by Facebook Watch. He told the audience: ‘I was intimidated when I first met John because I’d heard how he could be very abrasive, but I never found that in that friendship, ever.
‘He asked me to play on Whatever Gets You Through The Night, and I went into the session in New York. ‘I made a bet like, “John if this makes it to number one, would you come on stage with me?” And he said, “Sure.”’ Laughing at the memory, the living legend added: ‘Silly him, because it did get to number one and at Madison Square Gardens in 1975, on Thanksgiving, he came onto the stage with the biggest round of applause I’ve ever heard for anyone throughout my entire life.’
The father-of-two explained how ‘moving’ the crowd’s reaction was as the late star had not played live since the Toronto Peace Concert in 1969. ‘He was literally, physically sick before he came onto stage,’ Elton recalled before adding: ‘I’ll never forget that night, I think all of us in the band cried, we had tears streaming down our cheeks because the love those New Yorkers had for him.’ The icon continued: ‘He didn’t realise. He was embroiled in an FBI investigation, he had no idea there was so much love.
‘When he came onto that stage and got that reception I think it really shook him and it gave him confidence, and quite rightly so.’
metro