Sir Elton John: I'd rather die than do another tour

Telegraph

04-04-2025

Sir Elton John has said he would rather die than do another tour of his classic songs.
The 78-year-old singer recently performed at the London Palladium with Brandi Carlile, the American folk, rock and country star with whom he has released a new album.
But speaking about the live show, which was being filmed for a televised special of their album, called Who Believes in Angels?,the award-winning artist played down the idea of a solo Elton John 'classics' tour ever happening again.
'Last night was exciting,' he told The Times. 'But to go back and do an Elton John set on tour, I would just kill myself.'
He continued: 'We went to New Orleans recently to film Spinal Tap 2. We drove into the back of a big arena and I turned to David and said, 'You know, I've got hives.'
'I couldn't do a better show than Glastonbury 2023, so what would be the point? You have to know when to fold it.'
Sir Elton added that it would 'be lazy of me to sit in classic Elton John songs forever', but revealed that he was still far from retiring.
Elsewhere in the interview, Sir Elton discussed the fit of rage he had while recording in the studio with Carlile and Andrew Watt, the long-time record producer and musician.
The pop legend admitted 'they put up with my little foibles' after he was filmed slamming his headphones down and tearing up some sheet music before telling everyone else in the studio: 'I'm going home.'
Speaking about the incident, he said that they 'didn't all agree' during production, adding: 'They stood up to me and I got frustrated, but it's not good working with yes people.
'If I want to make a great album aged 76 or 77 I've got to be told and they put up with my little foibles, which were really about anxiety, self-doubt and not feeling very well at the time.'
He said, however, that he could have never abandoned the project, because he knew that 'if I walked away from it I would hate myself for the rest of my life'.
Discussing the new sound on the album, he explained: 'I can hear references to my old melodies because that's the essence of who I am.
'I can write Elton John songs until they're coming out of my arse, but this is a new tint on what I did in the Seventies.'
The veteran performer went on to discuss the commercial success of his collaboration with Dua Lipa, the 29-year-old pop artist, on the song Cold Heart in 2021.
'I liked the Dua Lipa thing,' he said. 'I've done a new, banging dance tune and I want to do an album of pop songs.'
Sir Elton credited pop artists Chappell Roan and Charli XCX as being 'so good at the moment'.
Both stars performed at the Grammys in February, where Roan won the best new artist award and Charli XCX took home the award for the best dance pop recording for her track Von Dutch.
While he expressed his interest in a pop album, Sir Elton also expressed caution over the genre's chart-sticking power, saying: 'At the same time, it's a fatberg in the singles chart right now because they just sit there.
'Pink Pony Club by Chappell Roan went to No. 1 recently and I played it in 2023. A Bar Song by Shaboozey spent 19 weeks at No. 1 in America. I don't like it at all, to be honest.'