Elton John is one of the best-selling artists of all time, and was one of the many artists who admired The Beatles. There was a time when the Fab Four ruled the music world, influencing many artists, including the “Rocket Man” sensation. So when the former Beatle member John Lennon was murdered, the world of music was in shock and deep grief. Inspired by Lennon and saddened by his death, John penned “Empty Garden (Hey, Hey Johnny), the perfect song to mourn a member of such an iconic group.
Elton John Admired the Beatles and John Lennon
John admired Lennon, and the feeling was mutual. When they met in 1973, they were already huge stars; John was on a trajectory to greatness, whilst Lennon was still getting to grips with solo music after The Beatles’ breakup. The friendship ran so deep that they performed a duet together in November 1974 at John’s Madison Square Garden concert.
In an interview in 2020 to mark the 40th anniversary of Lennon’s death, John opened up about his friendship with the late Beatle, and even described their friendship as a “whirlwind of romance” of love, friendship, and music. “That was the kind of wonderful two or three year whirlwind romance we had, and it was such an important thing in my life, Sean,” he said to Lennon’s son, Sean Lennon, “and it just really helped me. It gave me so much confidence. Your dad was as kind and as generous and sweet, and we just hit it off immediately.”
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The pair became so close that John was featured on Lennon’s fifth album, “Walls and Bridges.” John’s vocals helped Lennon get his first number-one hit as a solo artist, as his vocals were featured on “Whatever Gets You Thru The Night”. As revealed in an interview, they saw less of each other after the birth of Lennon and Yoko Ono’s son. Sadly, their friendship would be short-lived.
John Lennon’s Murder Devastated Many
December 9, 1980, marked one of the darkest days in music, as a Beatles fan took Lennon’s life. Many artists paid tribute; Freddie Mercury wrote a song about the legendary Beatle, and his former Beatles bandmates, George Harrison and Paul McCartney, released a heartfelt tribute. John was one of the many artists who were deeply affected by Lennon’s death, as he told Sean, “I was very, very much affected by the death of your father, as everybody was. We couldn’t believe it.”
John decided to write “Empty Garden (Hey, Hey Johnny)” following the news of Lennon’s murder. He worked with his long-time collaborator Bernie Taupin on the tribute that would appear on his sixteenth album, Jump Up!, and become the lead single in the United States. John released the heartfelt tribute in 1982, nearly two years after Lennon’s death. It peaked at 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 and at 51 on the UK Singles Chart. In an interview, John opened up about the process of writing “Empty Garden (Hey, Hey Johnny)”. “About a year later, Bernie said, ‘I’d really like to write a lyric about John, if you think that’s a good idea?’” John revealed. “And I said, ‘I would love to.’ And I love the lyric, and I love the song.”
44 Years Later, Elton John Refuses to Perform the John Lennon Tribute
Elton John in his new Disney+ documentary Elton John: Never Too Late.Image via Disney+
John performed “Empty Garden (Hey, Hey Johnny)” only a few times, as he performed it during his Saturday Night Live debut in 1982 and at Madison Square Garden in front of Lennon’s family. Since then, John would rarely perform the song, as he found it too painful, and understandably so.
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John recalled the performance in Vegas, which featured a video of Lennon, Ono, and Sean walking through Central Park. “It’s very hard for me to sing it,” he said to the late Beatles’ son. “I get quite emotional singing that song, and it moves me so much because it reminds me of how…god, if your dad was alive today, can you imagine what he’d be doing?!”
When John reminded Sean that “There were no health issues; it was just a blatant, awful homicide,” he was reiterating and highlighting how tragic and sudden Lennon’s death was, and still is today. Lennon was one of the artists that many did not expect to lose so soon, and the impact he had left is still felt in the music world today, especially with a touching tribute from John that illustrates how empty the world is without Lennon. The two surviving members, McCartney and Ringo Starr, are also a reminder of what was lost so soon, as Harrison would later die in 2001 after a battle with cancer. If Lennon were still alive today, there was so much more he could have done.
