When Elton John "set the record straight" with fellow megastar who "roasted" him

30 June 2026, 13:34

When Elton John took aim at Tina Turner - and then explained why he did it.

Elton John is a musician renowned for both his incredible records and stunning live performances, capped off by his five-year farewell tour that took in a remarkable 330 shows.

But as well as that, he's also grabbed the occasional headline for his pop feuds with fellow megastars.

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Most famously, Elton and Madonna had a decades long dispute that was only put to bed in April 2025, but he also had tiffs with Rod Stewart, Keith Richards and Janet Jackson.

And one fellow musician Elton had a squabble with was Tina Turner.

The pair had started off happy enough. Tina covered Elton's 'The Bitch Is Back' for her Rough album in 1978 and also played it on the road.

She even covered it for a second time for the 1991 Elton John/Bernie Taupin tribute album Two Rooms and went on to play it with Elton himself at the 1995 VH1 Fashion and Music Awards and VH1 Dias Live '99, where they also played 'Proud Mary'.

Tina Turner & Elton John - The Bitch Is Back (Live at VH1 Fashion Awards, 1995)

They actually planned a joint tour in 1997, which would have been one of the biggest tickets in rock history, but it never happened.

The tour fell apart during rehearsals after a spat between the pair, which Elton later described in his memoir Me: Elton John,

"The idea of doing a joint tour with Tina Turner in 1997 was a nice idea that quickly turned into a disaster," Elton said.

"While it was at the planning stage, she rang me up at home, apparently with the express intention of telling me how awful I was and how I had to change before we could work together.

Tina Turner, Elton John & Bernie Taupin talking about "The Bitch Is Back" (1991)

"She didn't like my hair, she didn't like the colour of my piano, and she didn't like my clothes. 'You wear too much Versace, and it makes you look fat — you have to wear Armani,' she announced."

Elton cried and complained to his other half David Furnish that Tina "sounded like my f**king mother".

Things only got worse when they started rehearsing, with things coming to a head during their runs through 'Proud Mary', the Creedence Clearwater Revival hit that Ike and Tina Turner had covered way back when and taken to the next level.

Tina took issue with each of the band in turn, before pointing her guns at Elton himself, which he was less than happy about.

"The subsequent debate about whether I knew how to play 'Proud Mary' became quite heated, before I brought it to a conclusion by telling Tina Turner to stick her f**king song up her arse and stormed off.

"I've thrown plenty of tantrums in my time, but there are limits: there's an unspoken rule that musicians don't treat their fellow musicians like s**t."

Elton wondered if Tina had become insecure because of her own poor treatment over several decades in the industry.

John "went to her dressing-room and apologised" and they realised that they were just too different as live performers to make a joint tour work, with Elton preferring improv and fills compared to Tina's ultra-tight and rehearsed performances.

"We made up later," Elton said. "She came for dinner and left a big lipstick kiss in the visitors' book."

Tina Turner talks about fall out with Elton John

It seems like it was Tina's comments to CBS News a few years later that sparked Elton's desire to tell his side of the

"I made a mistake when I needed to show him how to play 'Proud Mary'," She said. "The mistake is you don't show Elton John how to play his piano.

"Oh lord, it just exploded. It was like the past slapping me back in the face truly before all of those people. When all I was simply trying to do was get an arrangement right."

She added: "So then he stormed off, he just went into a rage, for which he apologised later. He said he was wrong. 'I was wrong, I was wrong, I'm sorry'.

Tina Turner, Elton John & Cher Proud Mary

"He's not like [Mick] Jagger or some of the other people that's professional enough to give a bit when two people are working together to make it work. He's just very sensitive. Very, very sensitive."

As for why Elton felt the need to rake over the old falling out, Elton told GQ: "I wanted to settle a few scores and I did with Tina Turner.

"I have nothing but love for Tina, but when she roasted me on The Oprah Winfrey Show – she roasted me uphill and down – it wasn’t fair, although I never said anything at the time.

"I thought when all this has settled down, I would say exactly what happened and set the record straight."

Elton John & Tina Turner LIVE HD - The Bitch Is Back | VH1 Divas Live 1999

He added: "I didn’t want to write a book where I was horrible about people. I wanted to write a joyful, honest, funny book. The older you get, you start to put things into perspective."

And when Tina tragically died in 2023 at the age of 83, Elton was among the first stars to pay his respects to the Queen of Rock and Roll.

“We have lost one of the word’s most exciting and electric performers," Elton said.

"A total legend on record and on stage. She was untouchable."