Madonna has said she has “buried the hatchet” with Sir Elton John and hinted she will collaborate with him, after watching the pianist and singer perform with Brandi Carlile on Saturday Night Live (SNL).
The pair have had a frosty relationship since 2002, when Sir Elton was quoted by US outlet CBS News describing her theme to Die Another Day as “the worst Bond tune ever”, before going on to say “Madonna, best live act? F*** off” on stage at the Q Awards in 2004, going on to accuse her of lip-syncing.
The pair have traded a number of remarks since, but in a post on Instagram on Monday, Madonna, whose full name is Madonna Ciccone, said: “We finally buried the hatchet.
“I went to see @eltonjohn perform on SNL this weekend, wow, I remembered when I was in high school- I snuck out of the house one night to see Elton perform live in Detroit.
“It was an unforgettable performance that helped me understand the transformative power of music.
“Seeing him perform when I was in high school changed the course of my life. 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. In fact, it was essential.
“Over the decades it hurt me to know that someone I admired so much shared his dislike of me publicly as an artist. I didn’t understand it. I was told Elton John was the musical guest on SNL and I decided to go.
“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.
“Forgiveness is a powerful tool, within minutes we were hugging.
“Then he told me had written a song for me and he wanted to collaborate. It was like everything came full circle.”
On SNL, Madonna, 66, watched Sir Elton and Carlile, whose collaborative album Who Believes In Angels? is on course to top the UK albums chart and become Sir Elton’s 10th UK number one album, perform Little Richard’s Bible from the record.
In response to Madonna, Sir Elton wrote on Instagram: “Thank you for coming to see me at SNL, and thank you for forgiving me and my big mouth.
“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.
“You were also one of the very first people to rise up against HIV/AIDS in the 80s, 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.”
Beginning her career in 1979, Madonna saw her career peak in the 1980s with hits such as Like A Virgin, Like A Prayer and Material Girl, and she has achieved 13 UK number one singles and 12 UK number one albums.
Sir Elton, 78, released his debut album Empty Sky in 1969, and went on to achieve global stardom with a string of 1970s albums such as Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (1973), Don’t Shoot Me I’m Only the Piano Player (1973) and Madman Across the Water (1971).
He is best known for songs such as Your Song, Rocket Man and Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting, and has achieved 10 UK number one singles and nine UK number one albums.
