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Daily Mirror
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Rose Hill

Elton John's celebrity spats as Prince Harry and Meghan 'no shows' at Oscars party

Throughout his 60-year career, Elton John's celebrity spats and brutal barbed honesty have been well documented.

So, despite his close friendship with Harry, it shouldn't have been surprising when the Duke of Sussex became embroiled in a tense row on the last day of their holiday together with their partners and children.

In his memoir, Spare, Harry recalled congratulating Elton on finishing his memoir, Me, but admitted that the atmosphere soured after the pop legend said that it would be serialised in the Daily Mail.

Harry wrote: "He saw my face. He quickly looked away. 'Elton, how in the absolute...?"

The Duke asked Elton why he had chosen the newspaper which had "made your life miserable", to which he replied that he wanted people to read it.

Harry and Meghan failed to show up at Elton John's Oscars party (Getty)

"He didn't have an answer. But I didn't push him. I loved him. I'll always love him. And I also didn't want to spoil the holiday," Harry added.

However, following the recollection, Harry failed to pay his thanks to Elton at the back of Spare alongside the likes of James Corden and Chris Martin.

More recently, Harry and Meghan also didn't show up to Elton's famous Oscars party - it's not clear as to whether they were invited or not - appearing to cement the brewing discord between them.

It comes after Oprah also appeared to "distance" herself from the couple with her latest telling comments.

This certainly isn't the first, nor the last, time that the Tiny Dancer hitmaker will become entangled in an awkward celebrity feud.

Madonna

Both titans in the pop world, Elton and Madonna's relationship first became strained around 2003 when he criticised her James Bond song Die Another Day.

Branding it "the worst Bond tune ever", he admitted "she's probably killing me after that". He did add at the time that he was still a "big fan" of hers, but that quickly changed a mere year later.

While accepting his songwriter gong at the Q Awards in 2004, Elton slated Madonna on stage for the fact that she had been nominated for best live act.

Elton John has been in a decades-long feud with Madonna (New York Daily News)

"Madonna, best live act? F*** off," he said. "Since when has lip-syncing 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. Thank you very much.”

He added: "That's me off her Christmas card list, but do I give a toss? No."

Their sour relationship continued over the years, with Elton likening Madonna to a "fairground stripper" in 2012.

Yet in 2016 on the Graham Norton Show, he admitted that he had apologised to Madonna when they had a chance meeting in France.

He went back on his promise not to insult her again in 2019 by calling her "ungracious and nasty" over her feud with Lady Gaga.

Rod Stewart

Considered the ultimate frenemies, Elton John and Rod Stewart first met during their early days in the showbiz industry and were incredibly competitive with one another.

Initially, the pair clashed after Rod covered Elton's song Country Comfort but changed the lyrics competely.

Elton had complained: "He changed the lyrics, something I complained about at length in the press: ‘He sounds like he made it up as he went along!

"He couldn’t have got further from the original if he’d sung 'The Camptown Races'!’”

Their feud started after Rod deliberately changed the lyrics of Elton's song (Mirrorpix)

But the pair grew close and played elaborate pranks on one another, with Elton hiring someone to shoot down a blimp advertising Rod's tour in the 80s.

Rod managed to get his revenge after a banner advertising Elton's tour was cut down.

“We’ve spent nearly fifty years constantly taking the p*** out of, and trying to put one over, each other," Elton said.

Rod Stewart sparked anger with his comments about Elton's tour (WireImage)
The pair weren't on speaking terms anymore (Getty Images)

Sadly, all good things must come to an end after Rod angered Elton with comments he made on Watch What Happens Live in 2018.

Speaking to Andy Cohen, Rod criticised Elton for his "money-grabbing" tour, suggesting that it was only about him selling tickets.

"It's dishonest, it's not rock 'n' roll," he said.

Rod later revealed the following year that they had had a falling out over his comments and they weren't even on speaking terms anymore.

He went on to apologise to him on stage in 2022 with a savage impression.

Simon Cowell

Elton John's scathing criticism of music talent shows in 2011 drew the attention of Simon Cowell, who promptly hit back.

Speaking to Piers Morgan, he said that he wasn't phased by Elton's comments as he considered Elton to be "money-grabbing".

Simon Cowell hit back at Elton's talent show criticisms (ITV)

"Well, look. This is somebody who charges what, a million dollars a private gig? Two million dollars, you know? I don’t know whether he’s concerned about himself – maybe he is," he snarked.

Yet Elton revealed in 2010 that he had declined a seat on the judging panel on American Idol - which Simon was appearing on at the time - because he found the concept "a***-paralysingly brain-crippling".

Ouch.

Leona Lewis

Speaking of singing show talents, X Factor winner Leona Lewis found herself at the brunt of Elton's brutally honest comments after he told the Radio Times in 2010 that he didn't think much of modern pop stars.

Name-dropping Leona and Alexandra Burke, he said that they were "at the mercy of the next song they can get".

"TV vaults you to superstardom and then you have to back it up, which is hard," he said at the time.

George Michael

Initially, Elton John and George Michael had started out as friends, but their relationship soured after Elton slammed Michael's 2004 album Patience.

Branding it a "disappointment", he told Heat magazine that he thought Careless Whisper singer was "in a strange place".

Elton paid an emotional tribute to George Michael after his death in 2016 (Getty Images)

But George hit back and insisted that Elton didn't know anything about his private life and that his knowledge about him was from gossip through the "gay grapevine".

Elton appeared to have not meant his comments to hurt George, with their falling out reportedly leaving him very upset.

Following the Fastlove singer's death in 2016, Elton made an emotional tribute to him on his radio show, saying: "I'll miss him so much for his music, but more than anything for his humanity."

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