Rod Stewart reveals he’s ‘mates’ again with Elton John after ending ‘spiteful’ feud

Rod Stewart has reportedly ended his ‘spiteful’ fallout with old pal Elton John, saying sorry almost three years after they fell out.  

Things had became strained in 2018 when the Maggie May rocker, 76, poked fun at the Your Song singer’s retirement tour and again in 2019 after he made a remark about the biopic based on Elton’s career called Rocketman.

However they are now thought to have patched things up and be ‘mates again’, with father-of-eight Rod wanting to set a good example for his children by apologising. 

According to The Sun, Rod told an upcoming episode of the The Harry Redknapp Show podcast that he realised he’d been ‘spiteful’ criticising Elton’s tour.

He said: ‘I was a bit spiteful when he announced his tour. I regret it, I really do regret it. So we’re mates again now. I do love him.’   

He continued: ‘I say to my kids, “A man apologises, go and apologise to your mother”. We’ve just made up as friends again, me and Elton.

‘We’ve always been fierce enemies… through the years, but it’s always been at a playful level. But we had the worst row, like a married couple. It went on forever.’

MailOnline has contacted Rod and Elton’s representatives.

Rod and Elton have been friends for around 50 years, with them often making playful comments about each other and even using nicknames Sharon and Phyllis. 

Last October it was reported that Elton has addressed their feud in a brand new chapter from the paperback version of his autobiography called Me. The original hardback version was published in October 2019.  

In an excerpt obtained by The Sun, the legendary musician is said to say that Rod had a ‘f***ing cheek’ lecturing him about ‘rock and roll’.

It read: ‘I certainly didn’t feel like I needed a lecture on the feral spirit of rock and roll from someone who’d spent most of the last decade crooning his way through the Great American Songbook and Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas. 

‘What’s more, I thought he had a f***ing cheek, complaining about me promoting a tour while he was sat on a TV show promoting his own tour.’

According to the publication, Elton goes on to reveal that he reached out to Rod and told him they had ‘known each other far too long to fall out over something like that’. 

Yet Rod’s manager reportedly told him that he was unable to speak to him on the phone as he was on ‘constant vocal rest’ between touring.

Elton is said to say: ‘I had no idea what I’d done to upset him so much. Which was ironic, given the hours I’d put in over the years deliberately trying to annoy him.’

MailOnline contacted both Elton and Rod’s representatives for comment at the time.

Rod previously addressed the comments he made about Elton on television in an interview with The Mail on Sunday’s Event magazine in 2018.  

He had said on a U.S. TV show earlier that year that Elton’s retirement tour ‘stinks of selling tickets’ and added: ‘It’s dishonest. It’s not rock ‘n’ roll.’ 

Talking to Event about the remark, Rod admitted: ‘I was a bit unfair to Elton on a drunk night on television in New York, when I spitefully said, ”I think it’s bang out of order that you announce a farewell tour every time, and it stinks of grabbing money.”

‘I wish I hadn’t said it. I think he’s very upset with me. Penny keeps saying, ”Send him an apology.” So I should really.’ 

A source close to Elton later told The Sun: ‘Rod’s continued barbed and personal criticism of his recent successes has crossed a line beyond their usual friendly rivalry. 

‘Elton cherishes his friendship with Rod and hasn’t wanted to go public so made attempts to contact Rod directly to clear the air.

‘When his requests to speak were either knocked back or went unanswered, Elton felt compelled to set the record straight with this new chapter in his autobiography. 

The source added that Elton claims he never received any attempt at an olive branch from his former pal. At the start of last October, Rod made claims he had tried to reach out to Elton to try and heal their rift, only for this to be ignored.   

Speaking to Chris Evans on his podcast, Rod said: ‘We don’t talk to each other anymore. Big falling out. 

‘Last time I emailed him I said, ”I’ve got this football pitch, would you like the boys to come up?” You know, cos they both love football.’

It appears the invite to Rod’s personal pitch was not of interest to Elton – who shares sons Zachary, nine, and Elijah, seven, with husband David Furnish – as he allegedly never replied.  

Rod, who is married to Penny Lancaster, has two boys too, of a similar age: Alistair, 14, and Aiden, nine.

In 2019, Rod revealed the feud during an interview with Dermot O’Leary. 

‘We’re not talking nowadays. He has got the hump with me now,’ Rod revealed. ‘We’re both very stubborn, so neither of us call each other.’

He had previously claimed: ‘I do love Elton, only we’re not talking at the moment. We’ve had a spat. I criticised his tour as being money-grabbing.’  

The tour in question – titled Farewell Yellow Brick Road – is an ongoing endeavour, which was announced in 2018 and is said to last until 2023, consisting of 300 gigs worldwide. It’s supposedly the crooner’s last-ever tour.  

Rod also branded Rocketman – which lost out on scooping any Oscars last year – ‘not very flattering’.

He compared it to the Freddie Mercury biopic, Bohemian Rhapsody, from the previous year, saying: ‘I don’t think [Rocketman] quite lived up to it.’

Rod also said of Elton that they were, at one time, ‘close friends’ and that Elton was ‘a wonderful ally’. 

‘He’s one of the most generous people I’ve ever met,’ he told Dermot at the time.