Elton John and Billie Jean King reflect on their careers, coming out and 40 years of friendship

Oh man, I loved watching this entire interview last night.

CNN’s Christiane Amanpour sat down with a pair of old friends – both icons – and had a wide-ranging chat about their remarkable lives.

They are Billie Jean King and Elton John who met at the height of their fame  and have been genuinely close for 40 years.

Here are some of the quotes if you don’t have time to watch now:

BJK on being outed: “In the beginning, it wasn’t a relief. I thought, well, if I’m really going to be true to myself, then I need to do this. But I was outed. I wasn’t ready. I think you know when you’re ready. That’s why I wouldn’t out somebody.”

Elton on realizing he is gay: “I didn’t know anyone who was gay. I didn’t really do anything about it until 23 when I first had sex.”

Elton on fame: “I hate the celebrity that is around now. The vacuous, talentless, horror show that they get paid millions of dollars for, when there are people who are teaching kids every day that are trying to scrape by and earn a living. It’s a joke.”

BJK on life today: “We’re out there every single day with our energy and we’re going to make this world a better place, no matter if it’s through tennis, through music, whatever, to try to help the LGBT community, just help humanity,”

BJK on the Bobby Riggs match: “For me, tennis was my platform, and what the King-Riggs match allowed was a platform for me to fight for equal rights and opportunities for boys and girls and women. So this match, I knew, was a seminal moment.”

Elton on Riggs match: “I honestly knew that all men I knew in my life wanted her to win, because Bobby was so cocky and so arrogant.”