Sir Elton John and Madonna finally bury the hatchet after years of bad blood

Sometimes the entertainment world is just too small for two iconic pop stars to live in harmony.

But that is no longer the case for Madonna, who has finally put an end to one of the music industry’s most famous feuds with her longtime rival, Sir Elton John.

The queen of pop took to social media and shared how they finally made amends after she attended his live performance on Saturday Night Live (SNL), where the two spoke backstage.

The 66-year-old Material Girl singer explained how much it hurt her that “someone I admired so much shared his dislike of me publicly as an artist.”

“I didn’t understand it,” she wrote.

In 2002 Sir Elton disparaged Madonna’s Die Another Day as “the worst Bond tune ever” and then went on to say, “Madonna, best live act? F*** off” at the Q Awards in 2004. He also then accused her of lip-syncing at the same awards ceremony.

However, in her Instagram post, Madonna revealed that the two have “finally buried the hatchet.”

Recalling the experience, Madonna explained how she decided to confront him after she was told Sir Elton would appear on the long-running comedy sketch show.

“I needed to go backstage and confront him, when I met him, the first thing out of his mouth was, ‘forgive me’, and the wall between us fell down,” she said.

“Forgiveness is a powerful tool, within minutes we were hugging.”

She even hinted that a musical collaboration between the pop legends could later be in the works.

 

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The Crocodile Rock singer responded in kind and thanked Madonna for her visit on his own Instagram account.

“Thank you for coming to see me at SNL, and thank you for forgiving me and my big mouth,” he wrote.

“I’m not proud of what I said, particularly when I think about all the ground-breaking work you have done as an artist – paving the way for an entire generation of female artists to succeed and be true to themselves.”

The comments come days after Sir Elton opened up about his health journey and revealed how his vision problems have disrupted his life.

In September 2024 he revealed in an Instagram post that his vision had been affected in his right eye after contracting an infection.

During an interview with The Times Sir Elton elaborated on the emotional strain his vision loss has caused and how he has been coping.

“I can see you, but I can’t see TV, I can’t read, I can’t see my boys playing rugby and soccer, and it has been a very stressful time because I’m used to soaking it all up,” he told the publication.

“‘It’s distressing. You get emotional, but you have to get used to it because I’m lucky to have the life I have.

“I still have my wonderful family, and I can still see something out of (my left eye). So you say to yourself, just get on with it.”

– with PA.