Elton John and Billie Jean King clicked instantly and knew they’d be lifelong friends.
In the documentary Give Me the Ball!, which follows King’s life and iconic tennis career, Elton recalled meeting her the first time.
Recalling their first meeting at a party in Los Angeles in the early 1970s, Elton said, “My friend Tony said, ‘Billie Jean King is over there.’ He said, ‘Come say hello,'”. “I said, ‘No, I’m too shy.'”
“Tony comes over and says, ‘Elton is dying to meet you, but he’s too shy,'” King added. “I looked up at Tony and said, ‘Ditto.'”
“Instantly, I clicked with her. I loved her so much, and I loved her passion,” continued Elton, “We talked until 5:30 in the morning.”
“I had never met anybody who is built exactly like I am — in the way of, ‘Let’s do this, let’s think forward, let’s do good things,'” he explained.
The duo talked about their struggles with being closeted gay people, as well as struggle with food addiction.
“We confided in each other about how it was for each other and how hard it was to be gay,” King shared. “We talked a lot about that and how it was horrible hiding — what do you do, how do you figure it out?”
The Rocket Man singer explained how tough it was for King to be a household name and be gay.
“It was much easier for me. Everybody 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.