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Elton John has many faces-musicians through and through, style icon, activist. But who would have thought that the “rocket man” is also a Tupperware thief? Patti Labelle, the legendary soul singer, recently said in an interview that the musician apparently knows no limits when it comes to securing a bit of extra household goods.
Card games, hunger – and Tupperware
“He was my pianist in London, for about a year,” recalls Labelle of the 1960s, in which young Elton John was on the road as part of the band Bluesology. At that time he was still known under his birth name Reginald Dwight. The singer invited the group’s boys to their apartment at the time to play cards – and not only cleared them out musically. “I won all her money – all her pound,” she says with a laugh in an interview with “Sherri”.
But that’s not all: Since the musicians had no money for food, Labelle cooked for the entire band without further ado. They were allowed to take the food in tupper cans – but not without a clear announcement: “My tupperware is very important to me – I don’t just give it away.”
“I want my damn Tupperware!”
The deal seemed clear, but the tupper can of Elton John never saw Labelle again. “I said to Elton: ‘I want my damn tupperware!'”, Said the singer. The anecdote got stuck – and developed over the years into a running gag between the two stars.
Two years after the incident, Elton John contacted her by phone and invited her to one of his shows. Labelle’s first reaction: “For whom do you do the opening?” The answer came promptly: “I’m now Elton John.” Labelle remembers how she thought at the time: “This is rocket science! So he did it in front of me, right?!”
A ring for a can
Decades later, when the two worked on Labelle’s cover of “Your Song” for their album Classic Moments in 2005, the late reparation occurred. At a joint appearance, Elton pulled his rings off and put them on the piano. After the song, Labelle wanted to give him back his jewelry – but Elton said: “This is your tupperware.” Labelle ends the anecdote: “But the ring is beautiful – I still have it.” Check out the whole interview here:
Only recently, on April 4, did Elton John publish the album who Believes in Angels together with Brandi Carlile?