When Rock Legends Lennon, Hetfield, and Elton Get Weird

In this episode, PJ Pat brings rib-cracking stories from rock legends John Lennon, James Hetfield, and Elton John. From Lennon's bizarre garden party where guests dug a giant hole for no apparent reason, Hetfield's muddy ATV adventure, to Elton John's wild midnight tennis match in a Donald Duck costume with Billie Jean King, these tales promise to bring a smile to every rock fan's face. Tune in for these hilariously entertaining stories of rock history!

00:00 Welcome to Rock with PJ Pat
00:59 John Lennon's Bizarre Garden Party
03:27 James Hetfield's Muddy Adventure
05:13 Elton John's Midnight Tennis Match
07:35 Closing Remarks and Social Media Plugs

Transcript

[00:00:00] Greetings, rock fan. I really appreciate you clicking on this podcast and checking out this episode. My name is PJ Pat and today I've got a doozy for you. For those of you who don't know, I do have a YouTube channel called Rock with PJ Pat and regularly I post all kinds of stuff on there actually. Rock history, rock news, rock views.

[00:00:27] And most recently I've been posting some stories of our legends that we love. And today I am going to just grab the audio from those YouTube videos and put them here as a podcast episode. And we've got some rib cracking stories from three legends. John Lennon Obviously from the Beatles, James Hetfield from Metallica, and Sir Elton John himself.

[00:00:50] Hilarious stories. Enjoy. Hope this brings a smile to your face. Alright, let's roll.

[00:00:59] Okay, so here's a wacky story about the man right here, the legend actually. John Lennon, the humanitarian. The peacemaker, whatever you want to call him, a hell of a songwriter. I got to say, so this is the time where John Lennon actually hosted a strange garden party. Okay. So picture this it's 1968 and John Lennon is deep into his experimental boundary pushing phase.

[00:01:21] He's got the round glasses, the long hair, and he's spending his days in this giant mansion called Kenwood. Now John loved throwing parties. He wasn't just a beetle, he was a beetle who would do things just a little too weird for the average human brain to process. One day, he decides to throw a garden party at his mansion.

[00:01:40] But it wasn't a typical, let's grill some burgers and sip some lemonade kind of a deal as we chill by the pool type of party. No, no, no. This was John Lennon, so what did he do? He invited all these people over, some close friends, some randoms, and then, this is where it gets weird, he starts wandering around the party with a shovel.

[00:01:58] What was he doing with the shovel, you ask? Planting flowers, maybe? Digging up treasure? Nope. He was going from person to person, trying to convince them to help him dig a giant hole in his backyard. A really big hole. Why, you ask? Even John can tell you exactly, depending on when you asked him, he would say it was for art or to connect with the earth, or maybe he just thought it would be funny to see people digging up a bunch of dirt.

[00:02:24] I don't know. I, I would, that's kind of funny, actually. But a bunch of guests actually started digging because who's going to say no to John Dillon, right? So now you've got this scene, a bunch of this stylish sixties, hipsters and bell bottoms and velvet jacket standing in his fancy garden with shovels, just digging away like it's a construction site.

[00:02:43] Meanwhile, John's walking around like a foreman cracking jokes and handing out cups of tea. And here's the kicker after hours of digging this giant hole that nobody knows the purpose of John suddenly gets bored. He's like, all right, that's enough. Everyone, let's just stop. The hole? It never filled in, he just left it there.

[00:03:04] Can you imagine being one of those guests? Years later, people would probably look back on that day and say, what the hell was I doing? Did I really spend my afternoon digging a damn freaking hole for no reason? And at the same time, why did it feel like the best day of my life? So that was John Lennon for you.

[00:03:19] So random. He would make anything seem cool even digging a pointless hole in the middle of a garden party

[00:03:27] Okay, because I have my metallica christmas sweater on it's only fitting that I tell you a crazy story about the man himself James Hetfield One of the five metal gods here on the cover of guitar world a vintage guitar world magazine right here So here it goes picture this back in the late 90s metallica was on tour and james being james loves the outdoor activities like hunting, fishing, and off roading.

[00:03:53] So one day, during a tour stop, he decides he's going to take a little detour and ride his ATV in the middle of nowhere. Of course, this wasn't just any casual ride, because it was James Hetfield riding it, obviously. So he was going full throttle through mud, over rocks, and up hills. At one point, the dude gets stuck.

[00:04:12] Picture this, James Hetfield, the legendary frontman of Metallica, up to his knees in mud, trying to drag his ATV out. But instead of calling for help like any normal person, he starts yelling and cursing at the ATV like it's Dave Mustaine stealing his riffs. Eventually Some locals show up, probably just out hiking, and they see this guy right here, covered in mud, sweating and shouting obscenities at this vehicle.

[00:04:38] They offer to help, but apparently they don't recognize him at first. One of them even jokes, You look like you belong in a heavy metal band or something. Headfield, of course, just smirks and says, Yeah, something like that. They help him, pull him out, and after some awkward small talk, one of them finally puts two and two together and says, Wait.

[00:04:57] Aren't you Metallica? And of course, James, being the humble James as he is, just laughs and he says, Yeah, but don't tell anyone you found me stuck like this. So the moral of the story? Even rock gods like James Hetfield have some not so metal moments. What's up, music lovers? Today I've got a doozy of a story for you in regards to this man right here, Elton John, the legend himself.

[00:05:26] Not only is he a rocking man, but he's also proven to be an outrageously fun guy. So picture this. It's in the mid 1970s And Elton John is at the height of his fame. We're talking feather boas, platform boots, enough sparkle to light up a Vegas strip, okay? So one night, Elton decides he needs a break from the glam and fame.

[00:05:46] But instead of, you know, chillin with a cup of tea, what does he do? Elton being Elton, he says, Let's spice things up. And so he does. Yes, you heard that right. A tennis court. Elton decides to organize a midnight tennis match. But of course, it's not your average game. He shows up in a full on Donald Duck costume.

[00:06:07] Yep, you got it. Bright yellow beak, webbed feet, the whole thing. Why? Because he's Elton John and he's going to do something. And when he decides to do something, he does it. And it's going to be fabulously weird. So there's Elton, waddling onto the court, holding a tennis racket with feathers flying everywhere.

[00:06:24] His opponent, you ask? Good question. His good friend and tennis enthusiast, Billie Jean King. Now, Billie is one of the greatest tennis players of all time, but even she can't keep a straight face seeing Elton quack his way to the net. They start playing and of course Elton isn't taking this seriously at all.

[00:06:43] He's slipping and sliding in those oversized duck feet, cracking jokes. Here's the kicker. Halfway through the match, Elton decides they need refreshments. So what does he do? He orders champagne to the tennis court. A butler, yeah I said that right, a butler walks out holding a silver tray with glasses of bubbly.

[00:07:01] They pause the game, toast each other, and then go right back to their ridiculous match. I'm cho it's so funny I'm choking up. So this is like, completely messed up. So by the end, nobody cared who won. Uh, the winners were honestly the few, I don't know how many people saw this. Spectacle or one could say debacle either way.

[00:07:21] What an amazing story If you want like and subscribe and I'll bring you these crazy stories and real stories about real rock stars Legends.

[00:07:35] Okay, I hope that was just as entertaining for you as it was for me. Please connect with me on YouTube and on Instagram at Rock with PJ Pact. And remember, never forget rock won louder, always.