Karen M
2010-11-13 20:06:24 UTC
http://www.philly.com/dailynews/features/20101113_Elton_John_s_ex_hopes_to_be_his_friend.html
Elton John's ex hopes to be his friend
By PRESTON JONES
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
EULESS, Texas - For most, "Someone Saved My Life Tonight" is just
another classic rock song.
For Linda Hannon, it's a pointed reminder of a very turbulent,
confusing and painful time in her life.
In the summer of 1970, Hannon (then going by her maiden name, Woodrow)
was engaged to a struggling musician, sharing a flat in London's East
End with him and his collaborator, supporting all three of them with
secretarial work. She had been in the relationship for nearly two
years, but less than a month before the nuptials, Hannon's beau
returned home late - around 4:30 a.m. - from a night of drinking with
friends and told her it was over.
"I was devastated," Hannon, 66, recalled, perched politely on the edge
of a couch in her home in a quiet Euless subdivision.
The musician who got away was Reginald Dwight, best known to the world
now as Elton John.
Four years after his failed suicide attempt and his canceled wedding,
with the release of the seminal 1975 album "Captain Fantastic and the
Brown Dirt Cowboy," John and lyricist Bernie Taupin framed the whole
episode as a harrowing near-collision.
That's Hannon being referenced in "Tonight's" emotionally charged
chorus: "You almost had your hooks in me, didn't you dear/You nearly
had me roped and tied/Altar-bound, hypnotized."
"It was Bernie that actually wrote the words. . . . Bernie has
probably said more negative things than Reg has," she said. "In some
of the songs, I was very hurt."
Hannon said she has moved on, but upon learning that John, along with
fellow '70s survivor Leon Russell, would be performing in Fort Worth
tonight, she felt compelled to reach out to the press in an attempt to
facilitate a meeting.
She said she isn't after money, fame, sparking romance anew or even,
really, setting the record straight. Since he walked out of her life
four decades ago, Hannon has not had any communication with John.
"I suppose I just carried on and put it down to an experience," Hannon
said. "As he got more and more famous, I thought, 'Wow.' It was
incredible. I never at that time imagined he would be who he is
today."
When contacted for this story, John's representatives said he was not
available for comment.
Hannon moved to the United States in 1984. The native of Scotland has
made her home in North Texas for the past 15 years. Retired and
single, she has three sons from a previous marriage, all of whom live
in North Texas, and three grandchildren.
The portrait she paints of her brief time with Dwight, as he
transitioned from Long John Baldry's band Bluesology to solo artist,
is tinged with wistfulness and nostalgia. According to Hannon, it was
a joint decision to get married.
There would be only one other woman in John's life, sound engineer
Renate Blauel. Their 1984 marriage lasted four years. He came out as a
gay man not long after they divorced; John met his current partner,
David Furnish, in 1993, and the pair entered into a civil partnership
in 2005.
When asked what she would say if she had the opportunity, Hannon
paused briefly.
"I would like to see him," she said, "and tell him what I've been
doing and about my three boys and my grandbabies . . . just rekindle a
friendship with him.
"There's no bitterness there."
Elton John's ex hopes to be his friend
By PRESTON JONES
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
EULESS, Texas - For most, "Someone Saved My Life Tonight" is just
another classic rock song.
For Linda Hannon, it's a pointed reminder of a very turbulent,
confusing and painful time in her life.
In the summer of 1970, Hannon (then going by her maiden name, Woodrow)
was engaged to a struggling musician, sharing a flat in London's East
End with him and his collaborator, supporting all three of them with
secretarial work. She had been in the relationship for nearly two
years, but less than a month before the nuptials, Hannon's beau
returned home late - around 4:30 a.m. - from a night of drinking with
friends and told her it was over.
"I was devastated," Hannon, 66, recalled, perched politely on the edge
of a couch in her home in a quiet Euless subdivision.
The musician who got away was Reginald Dwight, best known to the world
now as Elton John.
Four years after his failed suicide attempt and his canceled wedding,
with the release of the seminal 1975 album "Captain Fantastic and the
Brown Dirt Cowboy," John and lyricist Bernie Taupin framed the whole
episode as a harrowing near-collision.
That's Hannon being referenced in "Tonight's" emotionally charged
chorus: "You almost had your hooks in me, didn't you dear/You nearly
had me roped and tied/Altar-bound, hypnotized."
"It was Bernie that actually wrote the words. . . . Bernie has
probably said more negative things than Reg has," she said. "In some
of the songs, I was very hurt."
Hannon said she has moved on, but upon learning that John, along with
fellow '70s survivor Leon Russell, would be performing in Fort Worth
tonight, she felt compelled to reach out to the press in an attempt to
facilitate a meeting.
She said she isn't after money, fame, sparking romance anew or even,
really, setting the record straight. Since he walked out of her life
four decades ago, Hannon has not had any communication with John.
"I suppose I just carried on and put it down to an experience," Hannon
said. "As he got more and more famous, I thought, 'Wow.' It was
incredible. I never at that time imagined he would be who he is
today."
When contacted for this story, John's representatives said he was not
available for comment.
Hannon moved to the United States in 1984. The native of Scotland has
made her home in North Texas for the past 15 years. Retired and
single, she has three sons from a previous marriage, all of whom live
in North Texas, and three grandchildren.
The portrait she paints of her brief time with Dwight, as he
transitioned from Long John Baldry's band Bluesology to solo artist,
is tinged with wistfulness and nostalgia. According to Hannon, it was
a joint decision to get married.
There would be only one other woman in John's life, sound engineer
Renate Blauel. Their 1984 marriage lasted four years. He came out as a
gay man not long after they divorced; John met his current partner,
David Furnish, in 1993, and the pair entered into a civil partnership
in 2005.
When asked what she would say if she had the opportunity, Hannon
paused briefly.
"I would like to see him," she said, "and tell him what I've been
doing and about my three boys and my grandbabies . . . just rekindle a
friendship with him.
"There's no bitterness there."