When legendary divas Aretha Franklin and Elton John came together for an epic duet

14 May 2025, 16:34

There's divas. Then there's the divas who out-diva all other divas.

When the term diva comes to mind, the boldest, loudest, most glamorous and most uncompromising stars in showbiz spring to mind.

Whitney Houston, Chaka Khan, Mariah Carey, Celine Dion, Diana Ross, Madonna, Donna Summer, and Barbra Streisand are all worthy of the title.

But there are two divas who arguably top the list when it comes to typical diva behaviour: Elton John and Aretha Franklin.

You'd think that certain personality types would clash, especially when they're renowned for being hardline in their attitude.

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That wasn't the case with Elton and Aretha, however, who had a tremendous amount of respect for each other's music, and each other on a personal level.

The two even took to the stage to show how in sync they were, in a remarkable duet of Elton's 'Border Song' in 1993.

It was a performance that not only brought the house down, but won a place in the hearts of millions who watched it on television.

The duet came about as part of Aretha's television special Aretha Franklin: Duets, which was put together as a benefit event for AIDS research.

It was a matter close to Elton's heart, who jumped at the opportunity to sing alongside one of his own idols.

He wasn't the only performer to sing alongside the 'Queen of Soul' however – Gloria Estefan, Smokey Robinson, Bonnie Raitt and Rod Stewart also shared the stage with Aretha.

Naturally, Franklin took centre stage throughout the concert, given she had top billing and it was arranged around her.

It's certainly not easy to sing alongside one of the greatest voices popular music has ever heard, but Elton held his own.

What audiences might not have known was that Aretha's connection to 'Border Song' stretches much further back than the concert on the night.

Watch Aretha Franklin's epic 'Border Song' duet with Elton John below:

Aretha Franklin & Elton John - Border Song - LIVE 1993.

The gospel-inspired song was penned by the budding songwriting partnership of Elton and Bernie Taupin back in 1970.

In a rare instance in those early days, Elton even contributed some of the song's lyrics.

He wrote the third and final verse: "Holy Moses I have been deceived / Holy Moses let us live in peace / Let us strive to find a way to make all hatred cease / There's a man over there / What's his colour I don't care / He's my brother let us live in peace."

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In a later interview, however, Elton admitted that his words were "very mundane" in comparison to Bernie's, but they still made the final recording.

Released as the first single from Elton's self-titled second album, he told Rolling Stone in 2011 that it was a major step forward for him creatively.

Elton John - Border Song (BBC In Concert 1970)

"I'd finally found my own voice, and the seismic change was happening in Bernie's lyrics," he admitted.

"And recording Elton John was a terrifying step, because I had to play live with an orchestra, and we had a £5,000 budget, so we had to do three tracks in the morning and three in the afternoon.

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"I was really frightened, I didn't want to mess up and that steeled me. It gave me great fortitude for the rest of my life."

But not long after it's original release, Aretha recorded her own cover version which fared better than Elton's.

Border Song (Holy Moses)

By that time, Aretha was a bonafide soul music superstar, and lent her unique spiritual heft to the song.

Her rendition of 'Border Song' charted in the US at number 37, four months after Elton's.

But her cover version showed the world (and perhaps both Elton and Bernie) that the songwriting pair had a unique talent of their own.

It was clearly a song that Aretha had an affinity with, given she called on Elton to perform it alongside her at New York City's Nederlander Theatre where the concert took place.

And the similarities between Aretha and Elton don't even end there – they both share the same birthday: 25th March!

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