Elton John: New artists should ‘play in a pub’ instead of on The X Factor
By Lauren Del Fabbro, PA Entertainment Reporter
Sir Elton John has warned emerging talent that instant television fame such as The X Factor is the “worst thing” and advised aspiring artists to “go and play in a pub” instead.
The 77-year old musician gave the advice in an interview with Rolling Stone UK ahead of the release of his joint album with 43-year-old US singer Brandi Carlile, which shares the same title as their hit single Who Believes In Angels?
Giving advice to young musicians, Sir Elton said: “Just keep trying to play live. That’s the way you improve as a musician and songwriter.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re playing to 40 people. The more experience you get playing to nobody, the better. Because when I played in Musicology, we played to hardly anybody sometimes.
“That experience stood me in great stead for when I became Elton John because I had backbone. And backbone is so important, because the worst thing that can happen to you in the industry are things like X Factor and instant fame on television where you have no experience of playing live.
“You get put on stage, you go, and you can’t do it. That’s the worst thing. American Idol — just the worst. Take risks. Go and play in a pub.”
Sir Elton is best known for hit songs such as Rocket Man, Tiny Dancer and I’m Still Standing.
The star, whose birth name is Reginald Dwight, rose to fame in the 1970s with his second album, the self-titled Elton John (1970), following a lack of commercial success with 1969’s Empty Sky.
He has since won five Grammys and five Brit awards, achieving 10 number one singles and nine number one albums in the UK charts.
Sir Elton has spoken publicly about his love of new music, championing emerging artists and recently performing with the US pop star, Chappell Roan, at his Oscars viewing party.
He said: “I can’t live without music. It nearly killed me, but it also kept me alive, and it keeps me alive today. But not the music of the past so much.
“It’s the music of the future that keeps me alive.”
Speaking about his album collaborator, Carlile, he said: “I love her so much and not just as a person, but I love what’s inside of her musically and creatively.
“It hasn’t really touched the surface. I think it’s beginning to, but it’s got so much further to go.
“She’s like an embryo at the moment, and she’s done a hell of a lot to be an embryo, but she’s going to just burst.”
Carlile is best known for her hit song, The Story, and has collaborated with artists including Hozier, Miley Cyrus and Alicia Keys.
The joint album will be released via Island EMI Records on April 4 and also includes Oscar-nominated song Never Too Late, inspired by Sir Elton’s documentary of the same name.
Sir Elton was inducted into the the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1992 and subsequently honoured in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994.
The star headlined Glastonbury in 2023 which was his last UK performance during his 330-date Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour.