Madonna is putting her decades-long feud with Elton John behind her.
On Monday, the pop icon shared a photo of her and John backstage after he appeared as a musical guest on “Saturday Night Live,” and wrote that they “finally buried the hatchet!”
Over the years, the “Rocket Man” singer has publicly dissed Madonna, which she said “hurt” her. But following their latest reunion, she said all is well with them now.
In her Instagram post, Madonna explained that she decided to go see John perform over the weekend and “confront him.”
She began her post by recalling sneaking out of her house when she was in high school to see John in concert in Detroit.
“It was an unforgettable performance that helped me understand the transformative power of music,” she wrote, before touching on how the moment affected her and how much it hurt her to know he disliked her.
“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,” she said, “to take the road, less traveled by. In fact, it was essential.”
However, she noted, “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.”
So, she decided to see him backstage after his performance on Saturday and shared how their interaction went down.
“When I met him, the first thing out of his mouth was, ‘Forgive Me’ and the wall between us fell down,” she wrote. “Forgiveness is a powerful tool. Within minutes. We were hugging.”
Madonna revealed that John told her that he wrote a song for her and he wanted to collaborate.
“It was like everything came full circle!!” she wrote, adding lyrics from one of his hits “And you can tell everybody, This is Your Song.”
The “Tiny Dancer” crooner also shared Madonna’s post on his Instagram story and called their reconciliation “a healing moment.”
Read more for a timeline of Elton John and Madonna’s feud over the years.
2004: Elton John accuses Madonna of lip-synching
John hasn’t held back his thoughts about the “Vogue” singer for more than 20 years.
When the British artist was accepting an award at the Q Awards in 2004, he accused Madonna of lip-synching.
“Madonna, best live act? F— off,” John said. “Since when has lip-synching been live? Sorry about that, but I think everyone who lip-syncs on stage in public when you pay, like, 75 quid to see them should be shot.”
He clarified his comments, telling Entertainment Weekly a few weeks later that he didn’t want to “escalate” the situation and would apologize to her.
“I don’t want to escalate it because I like Madonna,” the singer-songwriter told the magazine. “She’s been to my house for dinner. It was something that was said in the heat of the moment, and probably should not have been said.”
“Would I apologize to her if I saw her?” he said. “Yeah, because I don’t want to hurt any artist’s feelings. It was my fault. I instigated the whole thing. But it applies to all those bloody teenage singers.”
2004: Madonna’s rep denies lip-synching
Following John’s initial comments at the awards, Madonna’s spokeswoman, Liz Rosenberg, denied the allegations.
“Madonna does not lip-sync nor does she spend her time trashing other artists,” Rosenberg said in October 2004, according to the Associated Press. “She sang every note of her Re-Invention tour live and is not ashamed that she was well paid for her hard work.”
January 2012: Elton John’s husband also criticizes Madonna
Elton John’s husband, David Furnish, expressed his frustration over Madonna winning best song at the 2012 Golden Globes for her track “Masterpiece” from the film “W.E.” over John’s “Hello Hello” from “Gnomeo & Juliet.”
“Madonna. Best song???? F— off!!!” he wrote in a since-deleted post on Facebook.
Days later, he apologized saying that his love for John’s song took over his emotions.
“Wow! What a tempest in a teapot. My comments regarding The Golden Globes have been blown way out of proportion,” Furnish wrote on Facebook, according to E! News. “My passion for our film ‘Gnomeo & Juliet’ and belief in Elton’s song really got my emotional juices going. But I must say for the record that I do believe Madonna is a great artist, and that Elton and I wish her all the best for next week’s premiere of the film ‘W.E.’”
January 2012: Madonna acknowledges Elton John’s dislike of her
According to Us Weekly, Madonna told reporters after the 2012 Golden Globes that she knew John had a tendency to “get mad” at her.
“I hope he speaks to me for the next couple of years,” she said after her win. “He’s been known to get mad at me so I don’t know. He’s brilliant and I adore him so he’ll win another award. I don’t feel bad!”
August 2012: Elton John says Madonna’s “career is over”
In August 2012, John called Madonna “a nightmare” who dresses like a “fairground stripper” during an interview with Australia’s Channel 7 “Sunday Night.”
In that same interview, he also said “her career is over.”
Meanwhile, Madonna’s spokesperson said at the time she doesn’t spend her time “trashing other artists.”
August 2013: Elton John says their feud is “over and done with”
The following year, John told “Extra” that he and Madonna had put their feud behind them. When asked if he would ever make up with Madonna, he replied, “We have.”
John said that they made up while in France when they happened to be in the same restaurant.
“She came in, I sent over a note, she was very gracious,” he shared. “I apologized profusely because what I said should never have appeared in public. She was very gracious. She accepted my apology. We bought her dinner — and that’s over and done with.”
Furnish, who was also being interviewed with his husband, added, “We don’t believe in putting negativity out into the world and both of us were embarrassed when all that stuff came out”
At the time, John said that Madonna “had every right” to not want to talk to him ever again.
It appears from Madonna’s latest Instagram post that it took her another decade to fully accept his apology.
2025: Madonna says she and Elton John “buried the hatchet”
In her Monday Instagram post, Madonna shared why she decided to “confront” John backstage after his “Saturday Night Live” performance.
Madonna shared how she was a fan of John and how it “hurt” that “someone I admired so much shared his dislike of me publicly as an artist. I didn’t understand it.”
The two then forgave each other and put the past behind them. John called it “a healing moment” on his Instagram story.
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