Madonna And Elton John End Longstanding Feud: 'We Finally Buried The Hatchet'
Elton John thanked Madonna for forgiving him and his "big mouth" so they could finally end their decades-long conflict.
Madonna, Elton John (Source: Supplied, Ben Gibson)
Madonna and Elton John have made peace after a decades-long feud, with the former confirming the pair have finally “buried the hatchet.”
Billboard reports that the feud between the two superstars began in 2002 when John commented that Madonna’s song, Die Another Day, was the “worst Bond tune ever.”
He threw criticism her way once more at the 2004 Q Awards, where, upon her winning the Best Live Act award, he said: “Madonna, best live act? Fuck off. Since when has lip-synching been live?” He added, “I think everyone who lip-synchs on stage in public when you pay 75 quid to see them should be shot.”
In 2012, the quarrel between the pair escalated. The pair were in the same category at a different awards ceremony—Best Original Song at the Golden Globes—where Madonna took home the award for her song Masterpiece from the 2011 film W.E.
After she won the award, John’s husband, David Furnish, took to social media and wrote that her victory showed the awards had “nothing to do with merit.”
Now, it seems, all of that is behind them. Madonna posted to her Instagram that, over the weekend, John was the musical guest on Saturday Night Live, and she decided to attend.
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At first, Madonna intended to confront him about the decades-long conflict. However, when she met him backstage, the first thing he said was, “Forgive me,” and she recalled how the “wall between us fell down.”
Elsewhere in the post, she discussed John’s longstanding impact on her life, remembering how she snuck out of home in her teens to watch him perform live. “Seeing him perform when I was in high school changed the course of my life,” she wrote. “I had always felt like an outsider growing up and watching him on stage helped me to understand that it was OK to be different-to stand out - to take the road, less travelled by. In fact, it was essential.”
Madonna also outlined the pain of their feud. “Over the decades, it hurt me to know that someone I admired so much shared his dislike of me publicly as an artist,” she wrote. “I didn’t understand it. I was told Elton John was the musical guest on SNL and I decided to go.”
After John asked for forgiveness, the pair hugged “within minutes.” She added, “Then he told me [he] had written a song for me and he wanted to collaborate. It was like everything came full circle!!”
You can view the post below.
John responded in the comments section, thanking Madonna for “forgiving me and my big mouth.”
He continued, “I’m not proud of what I said. Particularly when I think about all the groundbreaking work you have done as an artist - paving the way for an entire generation of female artists to succeed and be true to themselves. You were also one of the very first people to rise up against HIV/AIDS in the 80’s, bringing love and compassion to so many who desperately needed it. I’m grateful we can move forward.
“I’m increasingly distressed by all the divisiveness in our world at the moment. Both you and I have wholeheartedly been accepted and embraced by communities who are under threat around the world. By pulling together, I’m hopeful that we can make great things happen for those who really need support. And have a lot of fun doing it!!”
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