When Elton John met Elvis Presley

“On June 27, 1976, Elvis performed in Largo, Maryland. He gave two shows in the city and the second show of that day was observed enthusiastically by a very special fan: Elton John. Elton, a long time fan of Elvis, nourished the desire of meeting him and the opportunity finally arose that day. Elton was escorted backstage minutes before Elvis entered the stage and finally could meet his idol.” 

“According to some sources Elvis complimented Elton on his work, and Elton in return, told him how excited he was to meet him. Elton also offered to write a song for Presley, and even do a duet with him in a future project (a fascinating possibility that unfortunately never took place). Before he left, the British singer asked Elvis to sing “Heartbreak Hotel”, and informed him that his parents would also be in the audience. Elton and Presley said good-bye cordially and Elton was escorted once again to his seat in the arena, but not without posing for a picture with an illustrious fan: Lisa Marie, the daughter of his idol.” 

One of our longest listening supporters, Tony King sent in a comment regarding the below report on Elton John remembering the unforgettable time that he 
met his idol, Elvis Presley before a June 1976 concert in Washington D.C. –  Or did he?

 An audience with the king of rock ’n’ roll was something that most baby-boomer musicians could only dream about. But when Elton John finally got his 
chance to meet Elvis Presley, he found the experience to be more nightmarish.

John (who grew up as a gawky English kid, miming to Presley records in his bedroom) got the chance to meet his idol in June 1976. At the time, the Brit’s own fame was peaking, 
following hits such as “The Bitch Is Back” and “Philadelphia Freedom.”

As he recalls in “Captain Fantastic” (a book out Tuesday, written by Tom Doyle and based on hours of new interviews with the singer), John took his mother, Sheila, to a concert 
in Washington, DC. But the Elvis of his youth had long left the building.

“It was sad,” he tells Doyle in the book for the first time, recalling Presley’s bloated and drugged state. The two met backstage prior to the show, and engaged in awkward chitchat. 
John requested “Heartbreak Hotel,” but Presley was unable to deviate from the rehearsed set and couldn’t perform the epochal 1956 single. “Elton looked into the eyes of the King 
and felt there was ‘nothing there,’” Doyle writes.

John and his mom were then escorted to their seats, and they watched with equal parts horror and admiration. “It was someone who was in a complete drug haze giving nylon 
scarves away to these fans,” John recalls. “And yet it was still, in a way, magical.”

Sheila, however, wasn’t quite as dazzled by this fading star. As soon as the show was over, she predicted Presley would be dead in six months.
“Well,” John reflects in the book, “it was a year.”

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Sources

https://www.elvis-collectors.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=63150

http://www.elvis-express.com/news2017-03-1602.html