It’s me paying tribute to two people who have given me so much pleasure all my life.” And it showed the brilliance of both of them creating music and lyrics that sum up being gay. It’s a tribute to the Pet Shop Boys, and how their music has influenced me, has given me so much pleasure. It’s a genius lyric by Neil Tennant and a genius record. The lyrics say everything about being gay. “Olly did a version of ‘It’s a sin’ acoustically. “It’s a sin” (global reach mix) with Years & Years To hear 6LACK rapping and Damon weaving me in and out of this dreamlike track was hypnotic and fascinating for me.” I haven’t really had anybody rapping on my records before. If I was going to have a Phantom, then it probably would have been pink. Damon used to think I had a pink Phantom, but I didn’t. And they might not be the biggest‐selling records in the world, but that doesn’t matter to them. They’re not in it for the glamorisation and the glory, they’re in it because they’re working with people they like. “I just love the fact that Damon works with so many different people, and he’s not afraid to take a chance. ‘Chosen Family’ is such a beautifully written track, and it’s so important now to bring people together in the divided world that we live in.” She was stuck in COVID and we became email friends, and I fell in love with her. The most frustrating thing for people like her is that they couldn’t tour, because she’s such a visual artist, and you can imagine what the song was going to be like. “Rina’s album was one of the most amazing records I heard that year. Charlie wrote some words, and I did a vocal, he did a vocal, and that came from that.” This and the Stevie Wonder song are very unusual for me because I wrote them all the way through without a lyric and the melody. I went up there, played electric piano and actually wrote the song all the way through. He’s got a little home studio with all his keyboards and his synths, his Pro Tools. “Charlie Puth and I were in the studio-just the two of us. I love decisive people, so it made it very easy.” I put the piano on, then I did the harmonies and the vocals. It’s not going to hurt my feelings.’ They were very, very forthright like that. When I go into those situations, I say, ‘Listen, I’m playing on your record. And so really that was the first Lockdown track I did. I went up to the studio, and I did my first ever Zoom recording. “They had a hit in America at that particular time and they wanted me to play and maybe do some vocals on their next single. She really captured the meaning of the song.” What he did on the track was amazing, and then we thought we're going to have to have a female to answer it. Thug?’ He said, ‘No, just call me Jeffery.’ He was very humble and very sweet and asked my advice: ‘What do you think I should do as I go on?’ I said, ‘Did you sing in the gospel choir?’ ‘Yes.’ I said, ‘Then sing a little bit more-use more melody as well as rapping, because you do that brilliantly.’ He came into the studio and he just freestyled it all the way. “He came over I went, ‘What do I call you? Thug? Young Thug? Mr. “Always Love You” with Young Thug and Nicki Minaj But it was her professionalism and her humility that really struck me.” She has a certain energy that kind of reflected and inspired me, too. Future Nostalgia is one of my favourite albums of the year. “She was the most professional, brilliant, well‐rehearsed, humble, fabulous, glamorous, beautiful person. “I think if that can happen in your life and you listen and learn something from these people, it’s a bonus.” As a further bonus, Sir Elton takes us track by track through each collaboration on the album. “They’ve all taught me something at 74 years of age,” he says. Lil Nas X, Young Thug and Nicki Minaj are here, as are the late Glen Campbell, Eddie Vedder and Stevies Wonder and Nicks. “And it was just like, ‘You know what, I love this.’ To play on other people’s records, to hear different music and be able to fit in with someone else’s thoughts is an incredibly inspiring and moving thing to do.” And because it’s Elton-the host of Apple Music Radio’s Rocket Hour, where timeless classics mingle with the latest hits from upcoming artists-there’s a mix of old and new. “I suddenly thought, ‘Oh my god, I’m a session musician again,’” he tells Apple Music, recalling his early days as a not-yet-famous piano player. After a few scattered tracks had come together, Elton had an epiphany. A chance meeting with Charlie Puth-“he lived three doors away from me”-was the first in a series of impromptu lockdown sessions launched via email and Zoom calls. Unlike most of us, his neighbours are also famous musicians, and these serendipitous encounters have led to some of the highest-profile collaborations of his career. Like many of us during the COVID pandemic, Elton John got to know a few of his neighbours very well.
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