{"id":638620,"date":"2026-04-30T13:17:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-30T13:17:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/638620\/"},"modified":"2026-04-30T13:17:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-30T13:17:09","slug":"elton-john-met-his-hero-in-1976-and-regretted-it-instantly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/638620\/","title":{"rendered":"Elton John met his hero in 1976 and regretted it instantly"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Elton<\/p>\n

Credit: Far Out \/ Alamy<\/p>\n

Thu 30 April 2026 10:41, UK <\/p>\n

Throughout the latter stages of his career, Elton John<\/a> has become a father figure to younger artists attempting to navigate their way through an ever-confusing music industry.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As one of the best-selling solo artists of all time, he\u2019s not a bad mentor to have. Artists such as Sam Fender, Lewis Capaldi, and even indie outfits like Yard Act are among the many that John has taken under his tutelage, being on hand to offer advice during any difficult juncture, and even pop up in a song or two.<\/p>\n

While it would be easier for John to focus on his own career, his family life, and \u2018Life President\u2019 position at Watford FC, he\u2019s a deeply caring person who wants others not to make the same mistakes he did in the roaring cocaine days of his 1970s. <\/p>\n

Despite performing in sold-out arenas with the company of thousands, standing on the stage can be an incredibly lonely place to be. Few are better placed to offer words of encouragement than Elton, who has previously stood in the same shoes. However, when he was in their position, his meeting with his idol was an incredibly regretful encounter.<\/p>\n

The singer-songwriter hero-worshipped Elvis Presley as a child growing up in suburban London, which invited him into an exciting new world. During his youth, Elton\u2019s mother would make regular trips to the record store and introduce her son to the latest sounds from the hit parade. The moment she brought back \u2018Heartbreak Hotel\u2019 by Elvis Presley, it had a transformative effect on John.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

\"Elvis<\/a>Credit: Far Out \/ Ollie Atkins<\/p>\n

\u201cMy mum always used to buy a record every Friday. She came home, and she had the 78 of Elvis Presley, and she said, \u2018I heard this in the record shop, and I\u2019ve never heard anything like it!\u2019 She played it to me, and I\u2019d never heard anything like it either,\u201d he once told The Guardian<\/a>.<\/p>\n

With a wistful air of reflection, Elton continued: \u201cIt was weird because, about ten days before, I\u2019d had my hair cut in the local barbers, where I went as a little boy, and I\u2019d noticed a Life magazine. I was reading this article on a man who looked like an alien but was so handsome \u2013 I\u2019d never seen anything like him, and I put two and two together and said, \u2018That was the man I saw in the magazine!\u2019 So that was the record that really changed everything.\u201d<\/p>\n

Decades later, they had gone from listening to Elvis\u2019 records<\/a> in the comfort of their family home to seeing him perform in front of their very eyes. However, the man they saw before them was a far cry from the idyllic version of Elvis Presley that John had dreamt up in his head or seen in magazine pages. The concert occurred in 1976 when Presley\u2019s health was in dire straits, and the global superstar was a shadow of his former greatness, as John discovered when he met him before the show.<\/p>\n

Seeing Elvis in the flesh was a warning sign about what could happen to Elton if he didn\u2019t change his ways. The \u2018Rocket Man<\/a>\u2018 singer opened up about the gruelling ordeal to Oprah Winfrey in 1996 and revealed: \u201cIt was so sad because he turned into this big man with no eyes. They had sunk into the back of his head, and it was pathetic.\u201d<\/p>\n

Elvis had succumbed to an addiction to painkillers, which utterly consumed him. As a result, he was no longer reminiscent of the musician Elton once adored. It had a scarring effect on the British singer, who was overcome with sadness following the event. He had gone from proclaiming that \u2018Heartbreak Hotel\u2019 \u201ccompletely changed the way I listened to music forever\u201d and hailing its \u201cprimal\u201d beauty to feeling utterly deflated.<\/p>\n

Once, he had said, \u201cHe looked amazing and he sounded amazing and it changed everything for me. It was rock \u2018n\u2019roll! This was what I wanted to be.\u201d But one meeting as he was fulillig that juvenile ambition in \u201876 sullied all that.<\/p>\n

John spoke about his experience of the evening to Tom Doyle in the book Captain Fantastic and painfully admitted, \u201cIt was sad.\u201d The pair conversed before Elvis took to the stage, but according to Doyle, it was an awkward discussion. \u201cElton looked into the eyes of the King and felt there was \u2018nothing there\u2019,\u201d he wrote after discussions with the Rocketman.<\/p>\n

Reportedly, Elton requested Presley to perform a rendition of \u2018Heartbreak Hotel\u2019 during the concert, but unfortunately, Elvis could not alter his pre-determined set. Elton recalled: \u201cIt was someone who was in a complete drug haze giving nylon scarves away to these fans. And yet it was still, in a way, magical.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Elvis did have a mystical aura, John saw a frightening glimpse behind the curtain, which dissipated the illusion of grandeur. He wasn\u2019t this superhuman figure who existed in another realm; Presley was a flawed and fragile individual like the rest of us. If John wasn\u2019t careful, the meeting was also a haunting reflection on his future.<\/p>\n

In the end, perhaps it beneficially dismissed the notion of stars being superhuman, and may well be part of the reason Elton has since dedicated so much time supporting the stars of the future.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

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