Elton John let Stevie Wonder drive his snowmobile

16 October 2019

Sir Elton John let Stevie Wonder drive his snowmobile in the Rocky Mountains.

Sir Elton John

The 'Rocket Man' hitmaker joked he let the 'Isn't She Lovely' legend - who has been blind since shortly after his birth - get behind the wheel of the vehicle to get rid of a music "rival" during a visit at the Caribou Ranch recording studio.

Recalling the story on 'Jimmy Kimmel Live' this week, Elton said: "I didn't own [the snowmobile]. I was at the Caribou Ranch in the Nederland [Colorado], I was recording, it was thick snow and Stevie wanted to go out on the snowmobile...

"[He went out] by himself. We thought, 'OK, that's another rival gone! That's him out the way.' Just needed to get Phil Collins and Rod Stewart up there."

The 72-year-old singer has also opened up on the hilarious moment in his new autobiography 'Me', and he admitted he still doesn't know how Stevie, now 69, was able to "successfully" drive the snowmobile through the treacherous terrain surrounding the remote studio without anyone getting hurt.

He wrote: "Musicians passing through Denver or Boulder would drop by to visit ... Stevie Wonder turned up one day and took out a snowmobile, insisting on driving it himself.

"To pre-empt your question: no, I have no idea how Stevie Wonder successfully piloted a snowmobile through the Rocky Mountains of Colorado without killing himself, or indeed anyone else, in the process, but he did."

Elton has been very candid in his memoir, and he claimed age has put things into perspective and influenced the tone for his new autobiography 'Me' as he didn't just want to be "horrible" about people in his life but simply "set the record straight".

He recently explained: "I wanted to settle a few scores and I did with Tina Turner. I have nothing but love for Tina, but when she roasted me on 'The Oprah Winfrey Show' - she roasted me uphill and down - it wasn't fair, although I never said anything at the time.

"I thought when all this has settled down, I would say exactly what happened and set the record straight.

"I didn't want to write a book where I was horrible about people. I wanted to write a joyful, honest, funny book. The older you get, you start to put things into perspective."