Sir Elton John hated the thought of making another solo album.
The 78-year-old pop legend has released a total of 32 studio albums since beginning his career in the late 1960s, but this time around, he decided to team up with Brandi Carlile for ‘Who Believes In Angels?’ and insisted he could not have done it alone.
He told The Sun: “I knew that I didn’t want to make the same album again… I wanted the album to move forward because I’m always trying to look forward.
“If I had just made another Elton John record, I would’ve killed myself.
“I needed her, I needed her talent, her energy, her humour, and her brilliant lyrics. I’ve got two of the greatest lyric writers in the world: Bernie Taupin and Brandi Carlile.
“The lyrics in front of me, if you can’t write great songs for those then, that’s my great talent, to be able to interpret those beautiful lyrics quickly.”
“When we got going, it was like, whoosh, like an express train.”
The pair have also filmed an ITV1 special – which is set to air in May – but the ‘Crocodile Rock’ hitmaker is sure that he and Brandi will work together again at some point in the future.
Speaking to Zane Lowe on Apple Music 1, Elton said: “I think working with her would be a privilege to do again, and I think, but she needs to go off and do what she’s learned on this record and put it into her solo stuff.
“And then, when we do another album or if we do another, it’ll be even better. I really mean that, so there you go.
“Also, I have to say this, but my voice on this record is probably the best it’s ever been.”
In the joint interview, Brandi – who is known for hits like ‘The Story’ and ‘Right On Time’ – noted that she had “missed” Elton in recent times, so decided to call him to see what they could come up with together.
She said: “He was with me before and he’ll always be with me.
“His songwriting and his spirit is locked into my soul. I’ll always have Elton when I write.
“I recently did some songwriting without him and I missed him. I called him and I said, ‘Elton, I feel chordially anaemic.’
“It’s really hard when you’ve written with Elton John to go back to writing G-C-D chords over and over again.”