Elton John of Wales' eating disorder. John replied, "Yes, I did. We were both bulimic." A longtime tennis enthusiast, he wrote the song "Philadelphia Freedom" in tribute to friend Billie Jean King's World Team Tennis team, the Philadelphia Freedoms. King was a player-coach for the team at the time. John and King remain friends and co-host an annual pro-am event to benefit AIDS charities, most notably Elton John's own Elton John AIDS Foundation, for which King is a chairwoman. John, who maintains a part-time residence in Atlanta, Georgia, became a fan of the Atlanta Braves baseball team when he moved there in
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