Patti LaBelle Has Fans Howling After Calling Out Elton John for Taking Her Stuff and Taking Years to Fix It
Patti LaBelle received a nice surprise from Elton John after the legendary British singer forgot to return LaBelle’s beloved item.
The legendary vocalist and chef, known for sharing recipes and kitchen encounters with fellow stars, recalled the wild story of how Elton John once ran off with her Tupperware—and tried to smooth it over with a gift.
Labelle was a special guest on the Oct. 30th episode of the “Tamron Hall” show, where she talked about joining her other iconic singing peers, Chaka Khan, Stephanie Mills, and Gladys Knight for The Queens: 4 Legends, 1 Stage tour.
During a cooking segment, she opened up about her gift from Elton as she and host Tamron Hall prepared to cook her famous fried chicken. “I had to take it off to cook,” LaBelle said.
Hall asked LaBelle, “Elton John gave you this ring?” as the camera person zoomed in on the sizable piece of jewelry that Hall put on to adorn her hand.
Responding to Hall and the loud reaction from the audience, LaBelle shot back with a grin, “After I gave him food.”
The 81-year-old went on to explain that John was her piano player in London for about three months. This was in the 1960s and a time before LaBelle or John had made it big. John was performing with the band Bluesology using his birth name, Reginald Dwight.
On this date in 1989 The Who perform “Tommy” at the Universal Amphitheater in Los Angeles as part of their 25th anniversary tour with help from Elton John, Steve Winwood, Patti LaBelle, Phil Collins and Billy Idol =) pic.twitter.com/Am0VlXcbyL
— Raylene – Undercover Indie ® (@UndercoverIndy) August 24, 2023
“They would come to my flat and then I would cook.” LaBelle continued, “After I cooked, I gave them all doggy bags and shopping bags and tupperware. And so, I’m a tupperware queen, so I wanted it back.”
Apparently, the “Rocket Man” singer didn’t get the memo that LaBelle wanted her Tupperware back. Instead of returning it, John decided to gift her the ring — though it didn’t happen until years later.
In 2005, while John was headlining his Red Piano residency in Las Vegas, LaBelle joined him onstage for a special performance. The two also teamed up to record a new version of his classic “Your Song” for her album “Classic Moments.”
She told Hall, “And so we did a song together in Vegas, him and I. We recorded and he put his rings on the piano and when we finished I said, ‘Elton, your ring.’ He said, ‘That’s your tupperware.’”
LaBelle smiled and did a little celebratory dance with her arms as the audience cheered.
Fans reacted in the comments of the talk show’s Instagram page, saying “What a sweet exchange.”
One person said, “Aunty still looks like she’d take her Tupperware back on top of accepting the rings.”
Another person wrote, “Nice, don’t play with her Tupperware.”
A few joked that John misplaced it or wanted to keep it and bought her the ring because “He got tired of hearing about that Tupperware.”
“Well, what kinda Tupperware Pattie got?” asked another person. “Gotta have gold trimmings or something.”
#EltonJohn set the bar high for gift giving! #PattiLaBelle shares the story behind the stunning ring he gave her. pic.twitter.com/rKRntwOqq1
— Tamron Hall Show (@TamronHallShow) October 30, 2025
Someone else jokingly asked, “So does he want it back? lol” referring to the ring. A fifth person joked, “Give that lady back her Tupperware.”
LaBelle actually told this same story earlier this year during an appearance on Sherri Shepherd’s talk show, “Sherri.” She explained that John’s band often came to her flat to play cards — and usually lost their money to her bandmates. With no cash left for food, LaBelle said she’d cook for them to make sure everyone ate.
As for what she does with the treasured ring, LaBelle told Julia Louis-Dreyfus on her “Wiser Than Me” podcast last year that she doesn’t get much wear out of it and shared the simple reason why.
“I have it upstairs in my box. I’m keeping that ring,” she said. “It’s so manly, so I never wear it.”
Showing her signature charm, LaBelle slipped off the ring Elton John gave her before cooking and let Tamron Hall try it on — even offering to let her borrow it anytime.
However, John has yet to comment on the incident.
