ELTON JOHN ‘THIS ALBUM WAS AN ACCIDENT’
LOCKDOWN INSPIRED THE SINGER’S LATEST RECORD
Elton John is back with a brand-new album titled, The Lockdown Sessions. It features collaborations with artists such as Dua Lipa, Lil Nas X and the late Glen Campbell – but chatting to New Idea, the music legend reveals he never actually planned to record it!
Elton, tell us about the new album?
It’s an album that I’d never ever thought I was going to make during [COVID-19] lockdown. I had no plans to make any music at all during lockdown. So this really came together as an accident. It started in March 2020 when I met [singersongwriter] Charlie Puth at a restaurant in Los Angeles. He said, “Look, I’ve got a studio if you feel like coming out while you’re here and writing something.” So I did.
Did the pandemic affect the recording process?
There was a lot done via Zoom. I mean, I’d never recorded via Zoom before – so that was a little different. But if the person you are working with, the producer or the artist, knows exactly what they want and tells you what they want, it really makes things so much easier.
Of all the artists you collaborated with, who was closest to you in spirit?
Goodness me! I think all of them, actually. I learnt something from each artist that I worked with that I wouldn’t normally have learnt – from Stevie Nicks, from Stevie Wonder, from Sam Lewis to Lil Nas X. I learnt something from each of them. And if you are my age – I’m 74 now – and you can still be learning from other musicians, that’s the greatest gift of all.
Is there any musician you haven’t collaborated with yet but would love to?
No! But I’m more interested now in singing with the younger people. And I think that’s because I get … a kick out of it. I’ve known all the great artists and I’ve been lucky enough to work with most of them. I’d love to do something with Billie Eilish one day, but not yet because she’s still forging her own path.