Billie Jean King once that if you want to be the best, you must never let anyone, anyone, know what you really feel. You see, she told me, they can't hurt you if they don't know. Concerning the qualities of a champion tennis player, King said, King's friend Elton John wrote the song “Philadelphia Freedom”, a nod to her World TeamTennis team, for King. Released New Year's Day 1975, became a number 1 hit. Charles M. Schulz, creator of the "Peanuts" comic strip, was an admirer and close friend. Schulz referred to King several times in "Peanuts" and used the comic strip to
Elton John the road again with Billy Joel again next year", referring to "Face to Face", a series of concerts featuring both musicians. The tour began in March. In 2009, John accepted Jerry Cantrell's invitation to collaborate with his band Alice in Chains. John played the piano in the song "Black Gives Way to Blue", a tribute to the band's late lead singer, Layne Staley, which was the title track and closing song in the album "Black Gives Way to Blue", released in September 2009. The first concert that Staley attended was Elton John's, and his mother revealed that he was blown