David Bowie was ‘out of his mind on coke’ during infamous takedown of Elton John
Elton John (L) (Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty) and David Bowie (R) (Chris Walter/WireImage)
David Bowie was allegedly “out of his mind on coke” when he called Elton John “the token queen of rock and roll”.
Elton John made the comments in a section of his new autobiography Me where he opened up about his tumultuous friendship with the late singer-songwriter.
Bowie famously called John “rock ‘n’ roll’s token queen” in an interview with Rolling Stone in the 1970s – and now John has revealed that the pair were never “great friends”, the Daily Star reports.
David Bowie allegedly had ‘a problem’ with Elton John.
“I loved his music and we socialised a couple of times, visiting the Sombrero with Tony King and having dinner together in Covent Garden while he was rehearsing for the Ziggy Stardust tour,” John wrote.
“But there was always something distant and aloof about him, at least when I was around.
“I honestly don’t know what the problem was, but there clearly was a problem.
“Years later he’d always make snippy remarks about me in interviews: ‘The token queen of rock and roll’ was the most famous one although, in fairness, he was absolutely out of his mind on coke when he said it.”
There was always something distant and aloof about him, at least when I was around. I honestly don’t know what the problem was, but there clearly was a problem.
John had previously opened up about their friendship in an interview with the London Evening Standard in 2016.
“David and I were not the best of friends towards the end,” John revealed.
“We started out being really good friends. We used to hang out together with Marc Bolan, going to gay clubs, but I think we just drifted apart.”
He went on to say that Bowie’s comments about him being a “token queen” were “a bit snooty.”
“I wasn’t his cup of tea,” John continued.
John opened up about his friendship with Freddie Mercury last week.
This is not the only celebrity friendship Elton John has opened up about in the lead up to the release of his memoir.
Last week, John was interviewed by various celebrity friends in The Guardian. When asked about his favourite memory of Queen frontman Freddie Mercury, John had the best possible story to tell.
He reflected on their time performing at Live Aid and his hilarious conversation with Freddie Mercury backstage.
“Freddie came over after Queen had stolen the show. I said, ‘Freddie, nobody should go on after you – you were magnificent.’ He said: ‘You’re absolutely right, darling, we were – we killed them.’ He was so excited.
“Then he said, ‘You, on the other hand, dear – you looked like the f**king Queen Mother when you were on stage. Where did you get that absolutely awful hat?”
