Elton John and Billie Jean King clicked immediately and knew they would be friends for life.
In the documentary Give me the ball!, which follows King’s life and iconic tennis career, Elton recalled meeting her the first time.
Elton recalled their first meeting at a party in Los Angeles in the early 1970s, saying, “My friend Tony said, ‘Billie Jean King is over there.’ He said, ‘Come and say hello'”. “I said, ‘No, I’m too shy.'”
“Tony comes over and says, ‘Elton would like to meet you, but he’s too shy,’” King added. “I looked up at Tony and said, ‘Same.'”
“I clicked with her immediately. I loved her so much, and I loved her passion,” Elton continued. “We talked until 4:30 in the morning.”
“I had never met anyone who was built exactly like me – in the sense of, ‘Let’s do this, let’s think ahead, let’s do good things,’” he explained.
The duo opened up about their struggles with being closeted gays and their struggles with food addiction.
“We confided in each other what it was like for each other and how hard it was to be gay,” King said. “We talked a lot about that and how terrible it was to hide – what do you do, how do you find out?”
The Rocket man singer explained how difficult it was for King to be a household name and be gay.
“It was much easier for me. Everyone in the business knew I was gay. I mean, in show business it’s not that big of a deal. I think it was much, much harder for her,” he noted.
