Elton John smashed his iPad and told Brandi Carlile to “fuck off” during the making of their collaborative album ‘Who Believes In Angels?’.
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Announced on Wednesday (February 5), the record is set for release on April 4 via Island EMI and includes collaborations from Andrew Watt and John’s longtime songwriting partner Bernie Taupin. Visit here to pre-order it.
It comes as a follow-up to the legendary artist’s 2021 album, ‘The Lockdown Sessions’, and includes the new title track as well as the 2025 Oscar-nominated song ‘Never Too Late’, which was created especially for the Disney+ documentary of the same name.
Now, in a new interview, both John and Carlile have opened up about the making of the album, and revealed that the studio sessions led to some particularly tense moments.
“I’m 77. If I don’t push myself, what’s the point of carrying on? Just be ‘Elton John’ for the rest of my life? [That] would have filled me with absolute fucking horror,” the singer-songwriter and pianist told The Guardian. “I could do an ‘Elton John’ record easily. That’s what I didn’t want to do any more. I wanted a challenge.”
According to a description, work on the album started in Los Angeles in October 2023 and came together in less than three weeks. It also followed the musician’s massive headline set at Glastonbury that summer, and following his recovery from a second hip replacement and needing a new knee.
“I was very grumpy, I was tired, I didn’t feel well and I was extremely nervous. And that nervousness caused quite a few sparks to fly,” he told the outlet about how tensions rose during the writing and recording process.
Carlile continued, sharing an anecdote from their time working together. “He smashed his iPad. He smashed headphones. There were really amazing, classic Elton John outbursts,” she said. “My lyrics got torn up and thrown on the ground – he goes: ‘Fuck off, Brandi.’ He would yell: ‘Predictable! Cliche!’”
In the interview, the singer said that while she never told Sir Elton that he had crossed a line with his outbursts, “there were definitely points that I felt that”. She also added that he disliked being celebrated as one of her musical heroes, saying: “Elton doesn’t want to be put on a pedestal. He doesn’t like listening to stories of my childhood love for him. There was so much riding on my perception of Elton versus who Elton really is.”
According to Sir Elton, the frustrations came from anxiety around himself, and eventually subsided as the album took shape. “It wasn’t me being anxious about other people, it was me being anxious about me,” he explained. “Once we got through the first three songs, we knew we had something. And I was much more relaxed … but I was a bit of a nightmare.”
In the LP, the two are backed by iconic musicians including Red Hot Chili Peppers‘ drummer Chad Smith, Pino Palladino (Nine Inch Nails, Gary Numan and David Gilmour) and Josh Klinghoffer (Pearl Jam, Beck).
During the writing and recording sessions, Sir Elton allowed cameras in for the first time, documenting the entire creative process. That has been compiled into a new ‘Making Of’ film, for which a trailer is available to watch above.
Today (February 7), the two have also shared the brand new music video for latest single and title track. It is directed by visionary photographer and director David LaChapelle, who has been working with Sir Elton since 1998 and directed videos for past tracks ‘This Train Don’t Stop There Anymore’ and ‘Original Sin’.
The visuals for ‘Who Believes In Angels?’ come as a kaleidoscopic tribute to the rock & roll, and the late heroes who continue to inspire musicians.
“It’s been a wonderful continuation of this journey with Elton over the last 20+ years – projects, videos, stage productions, photo shoots,” LaChappelle said. “I love these creative challenges we’ve explored and working on this duet with Brandi was really good fun and hard work, but a joyful experience on set.
“We created a gigantic pinball machine and made a magical world that reminds us of where we’ve been as kids – that dreams do come true – and creating together with your heroes can be a sublime experience,” he added. Check out the video above.
On top of the new material, the two artists have announced a special, one-off show at The London Palladium. It will take place on March 26 and access to tickets will be available exclusively to those who pre-order the album.
The news of the new album arrived just hours after Sir Elton began teasing new material via personalised letters to fans. “When we met, I fell in love with her, and we connected straight away,” he wrote, recalling his time working with Carlile. “It was a connection, a true connection, emotionally, musically and it’s been one of the greatest friendships of my life.”
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