“It was the day before the British Pop Awards, and I had a call saying that Madonna was flying in for a surprise appearance.
Elton John loved photography, so I came up with a really wacky idea for a photograph, and the next day I went out and bought a 1950s camera and a talking toy parrot.
That evening, I managed to get past the backstage security and into the dressing room area. I found Elton's room and introduced myself to his manager, saying I wanted to try to get an exclusive photograph of Elton with Madonna. He said, "You can have two minutes if you can get Madonna in here."
Madonna had just flown in from New York and was exhausted, but somehow I persuaded her to come to meet Elton.
As they came together, the manager reminded me, "Two minutes is all you've got!" I first took out the vintage camera from my bag and got Elton to photograph Madonna with it. I then took out the talking parrot, and they could not stop laughing as the parrot repeated what they said.
Elton was almost in tears and asked if there was anything else. I jokingly said, "Yeah, just take the tops off!" It was all worth the effort!”
-Duncan Raban