Elton John and Brandi Carlile celebrated their new joint album at a star-studded London Palladium concert featuring rousing performances and a Q&A with Schitt’s Creek star Dan Levy.
The British pop legend, 78, was on top form on Wednesday evening (26 March), as he and Carlile – who have been friends for 20 years – regaled their audience with stories about the tumultuous recording process, which he allowed to be filmed in full for the first time in his extraordinary career.
Among the audience members was Rolling Stones rocker Ronnie Wood, who popped outside after the event to greet delighted fans.
Other guests included Mamma Mia! star Lily James, comedian David Walliams, musician, designer and producer Daphne Guinness, and singer-songwriter Sam Fender, who has praised the “Rocket Man” artist for helping him through a difficult time when his own career was taking off.
Wearing a resplendent sky-blue suit, John told Levy, 41, and the audience how the initial difficulties of the studio sessions were eventually overcome, after which the process was “plain sailing”.
The record, titled Who Believes in Angels? , was created with John’s close friends and frequent collaborators, including songwriting partner Bernie Taupin and Grammy-winning producer and songwriter Andrew Watt.
In a trailer for a documentary accompanying their album, John can be seen snapping at Watt and Carlile.
Speaking at the event, John explained that he was exhausted following his farewell tour, which culminated with a headline performance at Glastonbury Festival in 2023.
“I wasn’t feeling very well. I was shattered after the tour, but I couldn’t walk away from three other people,” he said.
“I’d committed to this… and so my main thing was me stepping up to the mark. And once I got the song down that I really thought was great, I settled down. After the first four or five days in the studio, it was fantastic.”
“I didn’t want this to sound like previous Elton John records,” he said, adding: “This has the energy of something I did in the Seventies.”
“We forgot the cameras were there,” Grammy-winning artist Carlile, 43, explained, “That’s why we behaved that way! So it’s really authentic.”
The Washington-born singer, whose 2021 album In These Silent Days won three Grammys and earned her an Album of the Year nomination, spoke warmly of how inspired by John she was as a child, and how incredible it was that she had been able to make a record with her childhood hero.
She also explained the inspiration behind “Swing for the Fences”, a new track on the album written with John and Taupin, while addressing the fraught time in the US amid Donald Trump’s attacks on LGBT+ rights.
“It occurred to me that I was writing a song about this beautiful thing that’s happened in my life where I’ve got to make music with my childhood hero, and I wanted other young LGBTQ people to know that,” she said.
“Swing for the Fences” was her “It Gets Better” campaign, she explained, referring to the project founded in 2010 to support LGBT+ youth in response to the suicides of teenagers who were bullied for their sexuality.
“We were making all these videos for young kids because there was all this tumult, and it’s here again, and I think ‘Swing for the Fences’ is my ‘It Gets Better’ campaign, and I hope young people can take something from it because… look where I’m sitting!” she said to applause.
“I think you have to be so authentically, unapologetically you… and you can take those words of advice really seriously by looking at the entire career and life of Elton John,” she continued. “There’s never been anyone more eccentric, and more willing to stand out in the crowd, than this man right here.”
Other artists, including 2024’s breakout star Chappell Roan and British pop stars Dua Lipa and Ed Sheeran, were among those to pay tribute to John and thank him for supporting countless new artists over the years.
Following the Q&A with Levy, the duo took a short break before returning for a dazzling and frequently tear-jerking performance of songs from the new album, along with their own music including John’s classics “Bennie and the Jets”, “Tiny Dancer”, and “I Guess That’s Why They Call It The Blues”.
Carlile moved some audience members to tears with a spellbinding rendition of a song from the album with John, “You Without Me”, inspired by her two daughters with her wife, British actor and writer Catherine Shepherd.
The duo were joined by an all-star band including Watt, Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith and Josh Klinghoffer on keys, The Hanseroth Twins on guitar and bass, Andrew Ross on saxophone and Graeme Flowers on the trumpet.
She and John also treated the audience to covers of songs such as “He’ll Have to Go” by Jim Reeves and “Crazy” by Patsy Cline.
Each song received a standing ovation from the crowd, while a raucous rendition of “I’m Still Standing”, from John’s 1983 album Too Low For Zero, had everyone on their feet and singing along at the end of the show.
An Evening with Elton John and Brandi Carlile will air on Saturday 19 April on ITV1 and ITVX, and on CBS in the US. Who Believes in Angels? is out on 4 April.
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