Elton John and John Lennon shared a whirlwind friendship that included helping the former Beatle and his partner, Yoko Ono, reconcile.
In his new documentary, “Elton John: Never Too Late,” available now on Disney+, John states he was the “catalyst” for Lennon and Ono’s reconciliation in the mid-1970s.
The musicians first met on the set of a commercial shoot through a mutual friend, Tony King, in 1973.
“I was obviously very intimidated and very excited,” the “Tiny Dancer” singer-songwriter said, adding, “It was like I’d met someone I’d known my whole life.”
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They began spending time together, with John recalling, “We just hung out and had a great time. We just laughed and laughed and laughed. We did a lot of drugs.”
“This man was in The Beatles, and he still wanted to make music, he still wanted to be politically involved, he still has a purpose in his life, and I love people like that. I love people who think about tomorrow rather than yesterday,” he explained.
In an old interview clip shown during the documentary, Lennon said, “Elton and I are very close.”
The duo collaborated on the 1974 song “Whatever Gets You Through the Night,” with John starting on background vocals and then offering to add some piano to the track, and ultimately turning it into a duet.
“I was very nervous, but for me, it was a dream come true. I could have died and gone to heaven,” the Grammy-winner said in the documentary.
John loved the song and believed it would become a No. 1 hit, but Lennon wasn’t convinced, so they made a bet: If it did reach the top of the charts, Lennon would join him on stage to perform.
“Whatever Gets You Through the Night” became the No. 1 song on the Billboard Hot 100 chart the week of Nov. 16, 1974.
Less than two weeks later, Lennon followed through on the bet and made a surprise appearance during John’s Thanksgiving concert on Nov. 28 at New York’s Madison Square Garden.
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A member of John’s team recalled Ono reaching out and asking to attend the concert, but said Lennon couldn’t know she was in the audience. They all agreed to keep her presence a secret and sat her 11 rows back, noting that Lennon’s eyesight wasn’t very good, so he wouldn’t be able to spot her in the crowd.
Backstage, Lennon received two gardenias and, according to the documentary, said, “I bet they’re from Yoko,” adding, “I couldn’t do it if I knew she was here.”
In a 2020 interview with Howard Stern, John noted that Lennon wore one of the flowers in his lapel on stage.
At the time, Lennon and Ono had been separated for almost two years.
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They first met in 1966 and later married in 1969 but had separated in 1973, after which Lennon went on his “Lost Weekend” in Los Angeles with the couple’s assistant, May Pang.
“John went completely off the rails,” Lennon and Ono’s pal, Elliot Mintz, told Fox News Digital earlier this year of that time period. “He filled most of his time in L.A. under the influence of substances, staying up all night, not producing a lot of anything. When I spoke with him, he sounded more depressed than he sounded happy.”
Backstage before the Madison Square Garden show, John recalled Lennon “was terrified. I mean I can absolutely tell you he was terrified. And I can tell you he was physically sick before the show, absolutely physically sick.”
Lennon hadn’t performed at a major concert in New York since The Beatles’ show at Shea Stadium in 1965.
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The concert went on and when John brought Lennon out onstage, he was greeted by an overwhelming celebration from the audience.
“The reception that he got, I’d never heard a noise or roar like it,” John said in the documentary. “A lot of us cried, and there were tears running down our faces.”
They played “Whatever Gets You Through the Night,” and after the song, Lennon thanked John and the band, and then addressed the crowd, telling them they’d do one more song so he could go be “sick” backstage.
Lennon told the audience they were going to do “a number of an old, estranged fiancé of mine called Paul. This is one I never sang, it’s an old Beatle number, and we just about know it,” before launching into “I Saw Her Standing There.” They also played a cover of The Beatles’ “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” that night, which John had recorded with Lennon and released as a single.
Not only did the show end up being the last Lennon would ever do, it also brought the former Beatle and Ono back together.
“I was probably the catalyst in Yoko and John getting back together,” John said. “If I hadn’t played on ‘Whatever Gets You Through the Night,’ if I hadn’t told him that he had to do the show, maybe he never would have met Yoko again.”
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He added, “Of course they did get back together, and they had Sean.”
In 1975, Lennon and Ono renewed their vows and welcomed their son, Sean Ono Lennon, on Oct. 9, Lennon’s 35th birthday.
John is Sean’s godfather and recalled Lennon changing for the better with fatherhood.
“He became in love again. His wildness, he’d stopped the drugs, stopped the craziness, which was great. I was very happy for him,” the Oscar winner said.
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“Didn’t stop my craziness,” John added, referring to his own issues with drugs and alcohol, which he conquered in 1990.
In a conversation between Sean and John on BBC 2 in 2020, Sean joked that he was “very appreciative” of Lennon and John’s friendship “because it literally led to my conception and existence.”
He also recalled that there is a backstage photo from the concert of Lennon and Ono “looking at each other with real love in their eyes,” and John confirmed they all went out for a post-show gathering.
“The astonishing thing was, Sean, after that, 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, his life had become another thing,” said John.
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He continued, “Just the fact that that night was so consequential in the history of his life, the fact that he got back together with your mum, and then they had you, and then, consequently, that’s why he asked me to be your godfather because it was happenstance and kismet.”
Speaking with Stern, John said the friendship was shortened after Lennon’s focus on fatherhood.
“He was a friend. For the two years that we knew each other and hung out with each other, until he got back together with Yoko and had Sean, and I didn’t mind that. It was wonderful,” said John.
“Then, of course, the tragedy happened, and I never really told him how much I loved him,” he continued. “You don’t, do you? People go and think, ‘I wish I could have said something.’ In those circumstances, where he died, you can’t do that.”
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Lennon was shot and killed on Dec. 8, 1980, sending shock waves throughout the world.
In his conversation with Sean, John recalled he learned of Lennon’s death while flying from Brisbane to Melbourne in Australia. He said they were told to stay on the plane when they landed, and John initially thought his grandmother had died.
“And when we were told about John, none of us could believe it,” he said during the conversation on BBC. “I was very, very much affected by the death of your father, as everybody was. We couldn’t believe it. There was no health issues, it was just a blatant and awful homicide.”
John and his songwriting partner, Bernie Taupin, later wrote a song dedicated to Lennon, “Empty Garden (Hey Hey Johnny).” Sean said the song “meant a lot” to him and told John it was a part of his “mourning process.”
John summed up Lennon’s impact, telling his son, “He was here. He went, but when he was here, he did so much good. And he influenced and inspired so many people and I miss that. There aren’t many people around today with that kind of personality or strength of character. I wish he was here, obviously you do, we all do.”
