I was hired by VH1 to be Elton's assistant for this "Divas" show, and I could see from where I was in the house that Elton was starting to fume. It was my job to not let him out of my sight while he was at the venue (the Beacon Theatre in New York) and when he got up from the piano and stormed off, I panicked! Thankfully I beat him backstage before he attempted to go back to his trailer outside on the street. If he would have gone out there on his own, he would have been mobbed! When I got backstage, he yelled, "She's trying to tell me how to fucking play!" We took him out to his trailer to cool off, and then Tina went out to his trailer to talk it out with him. I was standing at the stage door as she went back into the theatre, and she gave me a wink as if to say, "He's okay now." I never forget this moment. As soon as we got him back into the theatre, Elton apologized to all the performers and crew. Another note; Cher was on stage during this whole time, and never said a word! She knew better than to get involved,...LOL!
Even if I were Elton John, if Tina Turner or John Fogerty had anything to say to me about how to play "Proud Mary" I'd have listened. Those two and no other people.
I've heard a longer version of the story where during rehearsal Tina kept stopping the band because someone kept playing the wrong chord but she couldn't tell who it was. So she went down the line and asked each musician in the band to play the part and they were doing it correctly until it was Elton's turn.
They are both divas. They were right to cancel it, they were too old and successful to have to put up with being unhappy at work. It's a lesson to us all to say no to thinks that do not serve you. Both are still great artists.
Elton is temperamental. In his memoir, Elton said Tina criticized his weight in a Versace outfit. Well, both are legends in their own rights. Some people can't work together
