Elton John has never been one to hold back, and when it came to making his latest album, Who Believes In Angels?, he was open about the challenges he faced.
According to PEOPLE, Elton admitted he wasn’t in the best shape physically when they started working on the album. He was exhausted, mentally drained, and filled with doubt.
He shared his experience during a conversation with Brandi Carlile, Andrew Watt, and Bernie Taupin, where he revealed that they entered the studio with no songs and no clear plan.
“I was tired. I was exhausted,” Elton explained. “More than anything I had so much doubt about my ability to come through in what we needed to come through. And that led to a lot of aggression and bad behaviour.”
It wasn’t an easy process, but Elton recognized that the frustration and tension were what sparked the creativity. His self-doubt, he says, led to the energy needed to push the album forward.
A breakthrough came when he wrote a song about one of his musical idols, Laura Nyro. That’s when the pieces started falling into place.
By the time he recorded “When This Old World Is Done with Me,” the emotion he had been holding inside came rushing out, and he ended up crying in the studio.
Brandi Carlile reflected on Elton’s unfiltered honesty throughout the process. “This man, his heart is right on his sleeve and what he thinks comes out of his mouth. No filter,” she said.
She also pointed out that Elton’s rawness in the studio is part of what makes his music so powerful and why his songs have stood the test of time.
The album’s making is captured in the film Who Believes In Angels? Stories from the Edge Of Creation, offering a behind-the-scenes look at both the good and bad moments that led to its creation.
Article updated 2 months ago. Content is written and modified by multiple authors.
