Elton John Opens up About Confronting Mortality on New Album: ‘I Just Broke Down for 45 Minutes’

Elton John is preparing to release his new collaborative album with Brandi Carlile next week, but a new interview has seen the prolific artist reveal the upcoming record left him confronting his mortality.

John and Carlile’s new record, Who Believes in Angels?, is set to release on April 4, with singles such as its title track and “Swing for the Fences” arriving in the lead-up. While announcing the record, John explained it hit hard on both sides of the spectrum, describeing it as equally “one of the toughest I’ve ever made” and “one of the greatest musical experiences of my life.”

In a new episode of the Smartless podcast which was released to subscribers on Tuesday, March 25 – John’s 78th birthday – the musician revealed that the album’s closing track hit closer to home than previous songs due to its rather pertinent themes.

“I wrote a song at the end of the album and I just get the lyrics, Bernie Taupin’s lyrics,” John explained “I’m writing the verse, like, ‘Oh, this is really pretty.’ And then I get to the chorus and of course it’s about my death.

“When you get to my age, which is near 100, you think, ‘How much time have I got left?’” he continued, before his thoughts turned to husband David Furnish and sons Zachary and Elijah. “You’ve got children, you’ve got a wonderful husband, you just think about mortality. And so when I got to the chorus, I just broke down for 45 minutes – and it’s all on film.”

The sessions were recorded as part of the film Elton John: Never Too Late, which was released in October to widespread acclaim. The titular “Never Too Late” will also be released on Who Believes in Angels? and was recently up for best original song at the Academy Awards.

“I want everybody to see it because it’s really human, like deeply flawed and embarrassing,” Carlile added. And the kind of shit that you do when you forget that there is a camera on is what’s really interesting.”

The forthcoming episode of the Smartless podcast, which officially releases to all listeners on March 31, also sees John reflecting on his earliest days as a solo musician. “I never imagined myself as a solo artist,” he explained. “When I was in my group, Bluesology, I took the big risk of going up to Liberty Records saying, ‘I want to write songs, I’m so fed up with playing in a band that doesn’t want to go anywhere, and I can sing too.’”