Elton John has called time on full-scale touring. That hasn’t changed, but he’s still standing, he’s done almost a dozen private shows this year, and he’s cracking on with new music.
The legendary British pop artist spoke with Variety for a dive into his philanthropy and fundraising efforts for HIV/AIDS, his love of Chappell Roan, his own health problems, and the road ahead.
Creating music, well, he’s not turning his back on it anytime soon.
“But I tell you what,” he insists, “I’m singing better than I’ve ever done before, and I’m playing really well, and I’m enjoying it, and that is helping me a lot.”
Elton’s farewell tour wrapped up in 2023, Almost five years after launching, the Farewell Yellow Brick Road jaunt grossed $939.1 million and sold 6 million tickets according to figures reported to Billboard Boxscore.
These days, Elton still puts his hand up for the occasional one-off show, including his recent headlining spot in Singapore for the F1 Grand Prix, and for TV specials, including An Evening With Elton John and Brandi Carlile, produced by Fulwell Entertainment and shot in March at the London Palladium to promote their joint album Who Believes in Angels.
Music has “been my whole life and has given me so much and takes me on journeys that I never thought I would ever go on — and it’s still doing that,” John explains. “I just like doing the odd thing. It pays the rent very well, and it keeps me musical. I just can’t wait to go into the studio now and write some new songs and go from there.”
Elton is battling with vision problems, but he has a workaround — a teleprompter — and his friends from the music community are never far away, with offerings of encouragement, love and support.
“Paul McCartney FaceTimes me to see how I’m doing. It’s really beautiful,” he enthuses. “The love I’ve received from him and from Pete Townshend and Mick Jagger and people like that have been amazing. Or you get an email from Keith Richards saying, ‘Hello, darling, how you doing? You know we love you,’ and that’s it, but it just makes my day.”
A followup to Who Believes in Angels, which went to No. 1 on the Official U.K. Albums Chart and cracked the top 10 on the Billboard 200, might not be far away.
Elton has “seven new lyrics” from longtime collaborator Bernie Taupin. And “they’re really, really good, so I can’t wait to go in the studio with Andrew [Watt, his recent favorite producer] and just write and see what happens.”
It was Elton who presented Taupin with the Musical Excellence Award at the 2023 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony. John was inducted in the Rock Hall class of 1994.
Who Believes in Angels? debuted at No. 9 on the Billboard 200 chart dated April 19, marking the 22nd top 10 for John and fourth for Carlile. In his homeland, Angels gave Elton a landmark 10th U.K. chart leader, and a first for Carlile.