Sir Elton John "bares [no] grudges" towards Sir Rod Stewart.
Sir Elton John
The two stars have been at loggerheads since the former Faces singer criticised his old friend's plans for a retirement tour, branding it "not rock ‘n’ roll" and insisting he wouldn't do the same, but the 'Sorry Seems To Be the Hardest Word' hitmaker insists he wouldn't throw away "years of great friendship" over such a small incident.
He told DJ Howard Stern: “Rod and I have always had this kind of rivalry but it’s always been very friendly and it’s always been funny and I love him to death.
“We’ve had this rivalry for a long time and it’s been very, very funny, and I love him dearly, and if I saw him in the street I’d give him the biggest hug.There’s no point in carrying on vendettas in this world. Life’s too short.
“Honestly, I don’t bare any grudges about him whatsoever. He gets a Christmas card from me and I wish him the best. You can’t erase all those years of great friendship by just one thing that happened, and I’m not going to do that.
“As far as I’m concerned he’s a brilliant artist who’s had a great career, and he’s such good fun.”
Rod, 75, recently claimed Elton - who has sons Zachary, nine, and Elijah, seven, with husband David Furnish - had snubbed his efforts to make amends when he invited the 'Candle in the Wind' singer over to play football with his kids.
He said: "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."
Rod claimed Elton never replied to his invite, adding that he feels very sad about the situation because they used to be good friends.
Rod and Elton first met around 50 years ago, and they were even neighbours in London back in the Seventies.
Despite their feud, they've admitted to sharing a similar sense of humour.
Rod previously explained: "I loved the fact that he was the kind of bloke who could see the comedy value in driving 30 times around the roundabout that surrounds the Marble Arch monument in the middle of London."
Similarly, Elton has also admitted they're "cut from the same cloth" and insisted their jibes towards one another were just for publicity.
He said: "We try and publicise the fact that we always have a go at each other in the papers, but in fact we do that for reasons only known to us, really. We’re actually very good friends."
However, the celebrity duo have also exchanged jibes over various issues, including their music.
Rod previously shared: "Elton sent me an email saying, 'I never have a headache but yesterday morning I had the biggest f****** banger I’ve ever had. It was because you were on the f****** radio!'"
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