Sir Elton John “smashed his iPad” and told friend and collaborator Brandi Carlile to “f*** off” while making their new album.
The 77-year-old music legend and Americana star Brandi, 43, have joined forces to record ‘Who Believes In Angels?’, which will be released on April 4.
The pair hit the studio when the ‘Tiny Dancer’ hitmaker was recovering from hip replacement surgery and he was feeling “very grump” at the time, which resulted in a chaotic recording experience.
In an interview with The Guardian, Brandi recounted: “He smashed his iPad. He smashed headphones. There were really amazing, classic Elton John outbursts. My lyrics got torn up and thrown on the ground – he goes: ‘F*** off, Brandi.’ He would yell: ‘Predictable! Cliche!’”
Elton – who has been battling eyesight loss, making it harder for him to work on music – insists his erratic behaviour was down to feeling “anxious” in himself, but all that went away once he “relaxed” into the project.
He explained: “It wasn’t me being anxious about other people.
“it was me being anxious about me. 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.”
Elton would make up for his outbursts by treating Brandi to “whisky sours and steak at his favourite diner”.
The ‘I’m Still Standing’ hitmaker retired from touring in 2023 after his ‘Farewell Yellow Brick Road’ tour. That same year, he also headlined Glastonbury and later admitted that he thought his career was done and dusted after that.
Elton now insists he has simply “put the old Elton to bed”.
He said: “I think what Glastonbury did for me, and for my reputation in England, was something I’d yearned for all my life.
“I know what you mean about the cuddly … That’s why I wanted to put the old Elton to bed.”
The ‘Crocodile Rock’ singer has never seen himself as a “cool” rock star type, like David Bowie or Rolling Stone Sir Mick Jagger, but he no longer wants to be “cuddly Elton”.
He explained “When I was the gay chairman of a football club (Watford FC), we were very successful.
“That was pretty radical. But I’m not Bowie, and I’m not Mick [Jagger]. And I’ve never been ‘cool’ like Nick Cave – who I adore. I’m just me and I have to accept that, but that gives me the inspiration to change a little bit with this record and say: come on, you don’t want to be cuddly Elton for the rest of your life.”