Woman who's kept Elton John's shoe for half a century attends Toronto concert
“I haven’t seen him since,” the New Zealand native told CTV News Toronto Wednesday.
It was Oct. 29, 1971 when Haas got tickets to see John at Western Springs Stadium on his first New Zealand tour. “We got free tickets from the promoter,” Haas, who worked in radio at the time, admitted.
“I got into the second row.”
Along with the memories from that show, Haas has also held on to something else.
“He took his boots off,” she said. “He had the Rocketman boots, and he threw them into the audience and I got one!”
The leather, gold and red, right-footed Mr. Freedom winged boot was an early signature style piece for the flashy musician. The fancy footwear is even referenced in the 2019 autobiographical film “Rocketman.”
Back then, a young Haas wasn’t looking at her new find as a collector’s item.
“I put them on,” she said. “I was so hyper. I had one black boot and one Elton John boot. I went with my boyfriend at the time, and I stuck my leg out the window and I was saying, ‘I got the boot! I got the boot.’”
Haas says after the show she wore the boot to a nightclub and went dancing.
Along with her record collection, the boot was one of the few possessions Haas brought with her when she moved to Canada 46 years ago. For decades, it has sat in a display case in her Toronto home, both as a decorative piece and conversation starter.
“People love it,” she said. “And they say, ‘You have to contact Elton.”
Haas says she has no idea what the boot is worth, nor does she have any interest in selling it.
“I went to the Bata Shoe Museum and I was chatting to them- and they said they would be interested for me to put it in there on show. But you know, I didn’t want to give it away.”
Half a century after getting it, both the boot and the musician it came from are still standing.
John is playing two shows in Toronto at Roger's Centre this week on Sept. 7 and 8.
Haas says she will wear the boot on Wednesday night when she attends.
“I’d love to meet him,” she said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Orca calf that was trapped in B.C. lagoon for weeks swims free
An orca whale calf that has been stranded in a B.C. lagoon for weeks after her pregnant mother died swam out on her own early Friday morning.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
'I was scared': Ontario man's car repossessed after missing two repair loan payments
An Ontario man who took out a loan to pay for auto repairs said his car was repossessed after he missed two payments.
Powerful tornado tears across Nebraska, weather service warns of 'catastrophic' damage
Devastating tornadoes tore across parts of eastern Nebraska and northeast Texas Friday as a multi-day severe thunderstorm event ramped up in the central United States, injuring at least three people.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Trump's lawyers try to discredit testimony of prosecution's first witness in hush money trial
Donald Trump's defence team attacked the credibility Friday of the prosecution's first witness in his hush money case, seeking to discredit testimony detailing a scheme between Trump and a tabloid to bury negative stories to protect the Republican's 2016 presidential campaign.