Legendary British musical artist Elton John turned 75 this week and, in honor of that occasion, the U.K. Express shared that performer’s recollection of a brief if rather intense and close relationship with another legendary British musical star — John Lennon of The Beatles.
The duo had what was described by John as a “whirlwind romance” of close friendship for a few years in the mid-1970s that included deep discussions of their mutual interests, making music together, and engaging in “naughty things” as a pair, presumably a reference to the prolific abundance of alcohol, drugs, and sex in that era of rock and roll.
A “whirlwind romance” and close friendship
Elton John’s recollection of his relationship with John Lennon was first shared in Oct. 2020 in an interview with the Beatle’s star’s son Sean Lennon, of whom Elton John is his godfather, in an interview for the BBC’s Radio 2 in honor of what would have been John Lennon’s 80th birthday.
“That was the kind of wonderful two or three-year whirlwind romance we had, and it was such an important thing in my life, Sean, and it just really helped me. It gave me so much confidence. Your dad was as kind and as generous and sweet and we just hit it off immediately,” John told the younger Lennon of his friendship with his father.
The pair had only first met in 1973 after both were already big stars but hit it off immediately and became fast friends over their mutual appreciation of each other’s talents.
“We laughed so much because we talked about the 50s and 60s and where we grew up, you know, Round the Horne in England, the radio shows we liked, the songs we liked, we didn’t like, and your dad was just a fountain of knowledge. It was a hand-in-glove thing and I never thought that would ever happen,” John recalled. “There was no attitude. I hate posers and I hate attitude and your dad didn’t have any of it.”
“We did a lot of naughty, naughty things together. We had a lot of fun.”
In recalling the first time they had met at a Beatles video shoot, John said, “I was a little bit, obviously I was in awe, I was meeting any of The Beatles and they all treated me so brilliantly, but your dad had that edge that none of the other Beatles had, kind of because he wasn’t afraid to say what he thought.”
“Your dad was as kind and as generous and sweet and we just hit it off immediately. He was so funny. That’s what I loved about him. And we talked about music, we talked about records we loved,” he continued.
Asked about “other things” that may have also occurred, John replied with a laugh, “Yeah, we did other things. We did a lot of naughty, naughty things together. We had a lot of fun. Oh my God.”
The relationship diminished when Lennon finally settled down to start a family
The brief but intense “bromance” between the two, according to the Express, culminated and then began to fade following what would turn out to be a historic concert appearance together at Madison Square Garden in New York City in 1974, where they performed a song they wrote together, “Whatever Gets You Through The Night,” and which would end up being Lennon’s last live performance before his assassination in 1980.
“After that and then you were born, I really didn’t hear or see your dad at all and I didn’t mind because you know what, he was so happy being back with your mum, and he was so enchanted having you that it was his life had become another thing and so I didn’t really speak to him or see him that much at all or hear from him,” John told the younger Lennon.
“And I didn’t mind because it was just the fact that that night was so consequential in the history of his life,” he added. “The fact that he got back together with your mum and then they had you.”
