Elton John and Madonna have officially ended their decades-long feud after a heartfelt backstage encounter at "Saturday Night Live." The pop icons, who have had a rocky relationship since the early 2000s, were photographed embracing during the NBC show's taping over the weekend.
Madonna later confirmed the reunion in a viral Instagram post, sharing a photo of her and Elton John with the caption: "We finally buried the hatchet!"
Longstanding Feud Dates Back to 2004
The fallout between the two superstars can be traced back to Elton's fiery speech at the 2004 Q Awards. While accepting the Classic Songwriter honor from Elvis Costello, he delivered a scathing remark about Madonna's live performances.
"Madonna, best f**king live act, f**k off. Since when has lip-syncing been live?" he said during his speech. "Sorry about that, but I think anybody who lip-syncs in public on stage when you pay, like, £75 to see them, should be shot. That's me off her f**king Christmas card list, but do I give a toss? No."
The comments made headlines and created a lasting rift between the artists—until now.
"Forgive Me" — The Moment It Changed
In her recent Instagram post, Madonna reflected on how painful the criticism had been.
"Over the decades it hurt me to know that someone I admired so much shared his dislike of me publicly as an artist," she wrote. "I didn't understand it. I was told Elton John was the musical guest on SNL and I decided to go."
Madonna shared that she went backstage with the intention of confronting the singer. "When I met him, the first thing out of his mouth was, 'Forgive me' and the wall between us fell down," she said. "Forgiveness is a powerful tool. Within minutes. We were hugging."
The "Material Girl" singer also revealed that John had proposed a musical collaboration. "Then he told me had written a song for me and he wanted to collaborate. It was like everything came full circle!" No further details about the potential project have been announced.
Elton John Responds With Praise
Elton responded to Madonna's post with an apology of his own, acknowledging the harm caused by his past words.
"Thank you for coming to see me at SNL. And thank you for forgiving me and my big mouth," he wrote in the comments. "I'm not proud of what I said. Particularly when I think about all the groundbreaking work you have done as an artist—paving the way for an entire generation of female artists to succeed and be true to themselves. I'm grateful we can move forward."
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