"People started to leave. I was terrified": The story of Elton John's favourite Elton John album and the calamitous stadium show that followed

English pop singer Elton John photographed next to his piano at home, mid 1970s.

In 1975, Elton John was the biggest rock star in the world. His last four albums had all gone to No.1 in both Britain and America and he’d notched up a dozen US Top 10 singles, including three No.1s. His most recent chart-topper, Philadelphia Freedom, was inspired by his new friend Billie Jean King, the American women’s tennis legend who had beaten Bobby Riggs in the famous Battle Of The Sexes match the previous year. King was now part of the Philadelphia Freedoms, a newly formed professional tennis team.

Elton’s previous single had also gone to No.1: Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds, featuring backing vocals and guitar from another new best friend, John Lennon, who’d written and sung it in The Beatles.