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Elton John refuses to retire as he teams up with Brandi Carlile
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Apr 1, 2025
Elton John and Brandi Carlile reveal the strong emotional bond they built during their collaboration for "Who Believes in Angels?", the raw power of "You Without Me" and they talk candidly about parenthood with Mark Wright and Olly Murs. #EltonJohn #BrandiCarlile #WhoBelievesInAngles _ Subscribe for regular entertainment! http://bit.ly/1qyfc2T Watch videos in full + exclusives here: https://thisisheart.co/heartglobalplayer Honest Celebrity Interviews: https://thisisheart.co/honestinterviews Music Artists: https://thisisheart.co/3YVm8wN Film and TV Stars: https://thisisheart.co/filmandtv _ We're the UK's biggest commercial radio brand creating memorable moments with the most recognised names in entertainment!
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0:00
It was a little bit difficult at first because I was very nervous, I was very ordinary, I didn't feel very well and I was tense
0:06
I wanted this album to be different and energetic. It's mystical to get to sing with him. I've been singing with him since I was so young that for it to happen in real life has been just transformative
0:17
I grew up in fear of my mum and my dad and being hit and smacked and stuff like that
0:22
And I said to David when we were having Zachary, I said, I'd never want my kids to grow up in fear. I never want them to be afraid of us
0:30
Are you pregnant? I just had a baby. You just had a baby? Yes, it's literally about, well, I've had it a year
0:34
I had one two weeks ago. I know you did. Yeah. How's your baby doing
0:39
She's doing fantastic. Isn't it the best thing in the world? It's just amazing. It just, you can't even think about anything else, right
0:45
It's just heaven beyond belief. I'm the most tiring. Yeah. How many have you got now? One
0:50
My first, yeah. And your first? Yes. She's got two, I've got two
0:54
We've got two girls, he's got two boys. We both have an Elijah. And that wasn't, you didn't know about that before
0:59
You're still supporting Manchester United? Yeah, yeah. It's not been very good, I've got to say
1:09
I've been to many games, but I had my baby when I was on tour with Take That last year
1:14
So literally, I was on tour with Take That and my baby literally came during the tour. He's a big singer, isn't he
1:21
Not as big as he used to. Mark's a big heart for him. Guys, good to see you
1:24
Nice to see you. Good to see you guys. We can't start without saying happy birthday, Alton
1:28
Oh, thank you. Happy birthday. Another year older. Yeah. But not deeper in debt, thank God
1:34
But, yes, thank you very much. We had a great day yesterday. We had lunch with Brandy and Catherine, her wife, and the band
1:41
and it was fantastic. My wife's biggest claim to fame is not the fact that she's married to me
1:45
She actually shares the same birthday as you. Anna Wreath of Franklin's it used to be
1:49
Oh, wow. Sarah Jessica Parker. There's a lot on the 25th. It's the first day of the Roman calendar
1:55
the real, it was the first, 25th of March was the first day of the Roman calendar
2:01
And it's also Lady Day. Oh, nice. I've never seen more flowers in one place
2:09
than are in your home right now. Yeah, it looks like a funeral poem. So what did you get, Elton Brandy
2:15
I got an angel wing, like a medallion on a lavender chain
2:21
I'm going to wear it tonight. Wow. Wow. Brandy, you obviously have always been a massive fan of Elton, right
2:27
Massive yeah So when it comes to making this record and being here tonight working with him what does that feel like It incredibly surreal You know there are moments where I sort of snapped back into my 12 self and I can believe it happening
2:39
But most of the time it feels really natural and sanctioned in some way
2:44
Like it's mystical to get to sing with him. I've been singing with him since I was so young that for it to happen in real life has been just transformative
2:54
And you have the same taste in baby names because you've both got a baby called Elijah. did you find quite quickly you had the same taste in music as well we have really similar taste in
3:02
music he turns me on to stuff all the time he hips me to music he's been hipping me to music
3:06
for like 20 years and always trying to get me to not reach behind me toward what's been made but
3:13
reach ahead of me toward what's being made which has really been inspiring forward not back yeah
3:17
and how did this come about how did this collaboration because as artists you always
3:21
think i'd love to do an album with someone but actually to make this my idea i've never done a
3:27
collaboration album before as solo as with leon russell i did yes because he was my idol
3:31
she was my idol um but having heard her voice and heard her records the only person i would
3:40
ever want to do an album with was her she's phenomenal not very well known in britain yet
3:44
but she's very well known in america and that's how i found her and saw her and listened to her
3:49
records and her songs and believe me she's probably one of the greatest singers I've ever heard and
3:54
and and I just could not wait to record this album we finished Glastonbury and then we did we
4:00
in that was in July and then October we went to LA and recorded the album in three weeks without
4:06
anything being three weeks yeah three weeks without nothing being written it was a little
4:09
bit difficult at first because I was very nervous I was very ordinary I was I didn't feel very well
4:15
and I was tense. I wanted this album to be different and energetic and it turned out that way
4:20
and I think the tension that I brought to the studio eventually filtered through to the music
4:25
and once we got going, it was like an express train and she's amazing
4:30
I mean, you see her live. She came over last year and I'm hugging it
4:34
but she came over last year and she did High Park with Stevie Nicks and then she did Drury Lane
4:38
I've got five-star reviews. I've never seen reviews like it. She's amazing. Amazing
4:42
Brandy, that's got to be one of your biggest achievements ever even though you've achieved so much
4:47
but Elton John, your idol, saying that you're the best singer he's ever heard
4:51
I wish it on everyone. I wish everyone that ever had a dream could have their life and their art
4:58
affirmed the way that he has affirmed mine. It just it something you can never take for granted and I never forget it as long as I live But I mean I think that Elton is the greatest that ever been And it happens in the studio
5:12
You see these compositions coming out of him. It's from another place. It's otherworldly
5:17
And he says that he had a hard time and that he was experiencing doubt or that he was ornery. But
5:22
really, it was just so alive, like so vibrant and dangerous and right on the edge. And if music's
5:28
not being made like that way i don't want to hear it you know well it was just i mean i've listened
5:32
to the album this morning it was absolutely fantastic thank you and actually from elton
5:37
saying about your voice you without me is a very special song thank you it's a heartbreak it really
5:43
no it really did and i wanted to i was just intrigued to know what that song was about
5:47
oh you're gonna find out you two with your young ones oh my god it's about this moment that happens
5:54
and and it's gonna happen in like maybe 10 11 years and you're gonna think that you're kind of
5:58
like living with this mini me like this little person we try not to project ourselves onto our
6:03
kids but maybe we do a bit you know there will be this moment where they depart you like you'll
6:08
they'll do something that you wouldn't do or a voice will come out of their mouth that you've
6:13
never heard before and you start to see them as as they separate and become their own person
6:17
and you are like devastated you're so devastated but simultaneously so proud and you don't know
6:24
what to do with those two emotions and that's what i that's what i did with them i wrote that song
6:28
Yeah, well, when I was listening to it, that was how I connected with it
6:32
And actually, it then made me really like, God, there's going to be some point in my life, or Maddie's life
6:37
where I won't be here anymore, and she will be without me. And that made me really sad
6:43
But it's a beautiful song. You're getting me sad now. It was. It was really sad. I just lost it. I cried my eyes out
6:48
And David said, what's right? It's the last time I see my little boy. He's now a little man
6:53
I've lost the boy now. And I loved him as a boy. Yeah
6:57
And he's just growing. And that's what she was talking about. It's like, oh, I've lost a little part of him that's different now
7:03
We are seriously new dads. Like two, three weeks, ten months. What is both your biggest tip to us
7:09
I was born in a very strict household in the 50s after the war
7:12
And it was a different sort of situation there. I grew up in fear of my mum and my dad and being hit and smacked and stuff like that
7:20
And I said to David when we were having Zachary, I said, I'd never want my kids to grow up in fear
7:25
I never want them to be afraid of us. I was walking on eggshells the whole time in my childhood
7:31
And it wasn't a bad childhood, but it was just the fear of doing something wrong And so David and I said that it You mustn fill them with fear you must have discipline of course but no fear no smacking nothing um and it worked beautifully they
7:47
been fantastic oh i think i think that's a really amazing tip and on and even to that point another
7:53
thing i think you can do is don't talk baby talk to them like just talk to them like they're little
7:58
adults you know so they can feel that they can express themselves freely you better stop right
8:02
And now every video sends me... I've been Googling and Googling all the time
8:07
I need to change that. Starting at three, don't talk baby talking. You can get away with it for a few years and get them outdoors
8:12
Get them outdoors. Oh, I did that first when they were young. They couldn't talk
8:17
But once they started to talk... Talk like an adult. You took them everywhere. So they grew up with adults
8:22
But when they were born, of course you are. I can't help it. I can't help it
8:26
It's a little face. Obviously, you're both incredible musicians, great songwriters. Do you think your kids will follow in your footsteps
8:33
Mine won't, I don't think. They don't seem to be as interested in music as I am
8:39
I don't know if that's a shame or not. I haven't really got my head around it, but I think they've seen me work so hard
8:44
and they've seen it be a job for me that they don't really see it as a pastime
8:50
or an expression of self. They're really into sports. Yeah, mine are into sport
8:55
Zachary is not as much into music as my younger one is
8:59
but they both love rap music. They know the songs or lyrics to every rap song out there
9:03
Do they know the magnitude of both your kids? Do they know the magnitude of what you both do
9:08
or do they not really care? They know the magnitude of him. I honestly think they do, to be honest with you
9:14
I think they have an idea. Of course, Dodger Stadium and Glastonbury. Yeah
9:18
But it's water off a duck's bite. I don't bring that home. No
9:22
I'm dead at home. I'm not old. That's a good tip right there. Yeah
9:26
And obviously, it's a Saturday breakfast. Before we go, what do you guys do for breakfast
9:30
or the Saturday? If I'm with Elton, which I often am, I am drinking two cappuccinos
9:36
and eating a plate of hot cross buns covered in honey. This is really boring
9:41
Boiled egg whites and pomegranates. Oh, sounds nice. Pomegranates and egg, nice
9:45
And a coffee. Giving me dirty looks about my hot cross buns. Guys, thank you so much
9:51
The album is incredible. Tonight is going to be amazing. Thank you, you guys. It's lovely to see you
9:55
And thank you for Heart Radio for being so supportive. Always. Thank you
9:59
What a fun interview
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