Elton John replaces the knee of the woman referenced in “Someone Saved My Life Tonight”
Elton John struggled with his sexuality for years before coming out as gay. At one point, he was engaged to be married to a woman named Linda Hannon. They’d met in a Sheffield club and for a while, she paid for everything while Elton (still known as Reg Dwight at the time) worked on his music career.
When Elton was 21 and Hannon was 24, they were set to get married. But Reg/Elton wasn’t sure. In the end, he bailed at the last second, talked out of the whoe thing by his songwriting partner, Bernie Taupin.
The story was later told in the song “Someone Saved My Life Tonight” from the Captain Fantastic album.
Elton went on to become a global superstar. Hannon went on to live her life in the US, eventually settling in Dallas.
But then Linda needed a knee replacement and American health care being what it is, she couldn’t afford it. She made efforts to contact Elton through his management company, but she heard nothing back. But when she told the story to The Mirror newspaper, Elton heard about her plight and immediately arranged to pay for the surgery.
I suppose it’s the least he could do, given that (a) he jilted her so many years ago; (b) he had a massive, massive hit single based on the whole experience.
