Elton John smashed iPad and told fellow musician Brandi Carlile to ‘f**k off’ in epic studio tantrum
Elton John and Brandi Carlile are releasing a new album together. (Getty)
Elton John and Brandi Carlile will be releasing their collaborative album Who Believes in Angels? in April 2025, however, the recording process was far from smooth.
Who Believes in Angels? was fully written and recorded in just one 20-day session at the Sunset Sound Studio in Los Angeles in 2023, which led to some difficult moments.
Prior to recording, John had hit his head, was recovering from a hip replacement, and had been told he needed a new knee, which didn’t leave him in the best of moods.
“I was very grumpy, I was tired, I didn’t feel well and I was extremely nervous. And that nervousness caused quite a few sparks to fly,” John told The Guardian in a recent interview.
Brandi Carlile told the publication later, when she was alone, that Elton John’s characterisation of what happened was an understatement.
“He smashed his iPad. He smashed headphones. There were really amazing, classic Elton John outbursts. My lyrics got torn up and thrown on the ground – he goes: ‘Fuck off, Brandi.’ He would yell: ‘Predictable! Cliche!’,” she explained.
“It wasn’t me being anxious about other people, it was me being anxious about me. Once we got through the first three songs, we knew we had something. And I was much more relaxed … but I was a bit of a nightmare,” John added.
Behind-the-scenes footage of one of these nightmare incidents was published by the Independent earlier this week, showing John slamming his headphones into a piano and also tearing up sheet music, as Carlile mentioned.
John told the Independent that “there was tension in the studio” and that he had “a lot of doubt” about the album.
“Elton is prone to moments of insecurity, especially where the stakes are high,” Carlile said in the video, with footage showing her saying she was having trouble “connecting” with John.
But, despite these setbacks, the recording session was successful and the ten-song album, which features the pair’s Oscar-nominated song ‘Never Too Late’, is finally going to see the light of day.
Who Believes in Angels? is available April 4.
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