Elton John Says He Never Listens or Watches His Classic Song…

Elton John doesn’t include his own songs in his playlist!

On Friday, Feb. 7, the “Rocket Man” singer, 77, appeared on The Scott Mills Breakfast Show which airs on BBC Radio 2 and BBC Sounds, alongside Brandi Carlile, who is working with him on the upcoming collaborative album, Who Believes in Angels?.

He revealed that he “never” listens to his classic songs unless he has to.

“I wouldn’t go and put my old music on,” John said. “ I’ve had to approve a live album that’s just coming out for Record Store Day that I did at The Rainbow in 1977 with Ray Cooper and it just astounded me how great it was.”

He continued, “It was amazing! So I had to listen to that, but actually I really enjoyed it and I was quite surprised how good it was – he said modestly, but I was!”

The songwriter had to revisit footage of past performances and his classic songs while working on the 2024 documentary Elton John: Never Too Late.

“Yeah, it just brought back so many memories for me,” he said. “What I was most surprised about is that the music we made from 1970 – 1975 was so good!”

He added, “I don’t listen to my stuff but we made a lot of great records. We made 13 albums in that time plus singles, plus B sides, and we toured, and we worked and the momentum was incredible.” 

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The music icon confessed that he couldn’t remember watching footage of himself singing his 1973 song “Candle in the Wind.”

“I never watch anything about me because I just don’t like to look at myself very often,” the “Your Song” singer said, adding, “I’m not one to bask in my success.”

John admitted he was “a bit tense” the first time he watched the documentary about his career.

“But the second time I saw it, I really loved it and I thought it really nailed what I thought my career had been and how it’s turned out to be and that was the whole point of it, you know, it’s never too late,” he said.

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John credited music for saving him after being in “a really bad place for a long time” before getting sober in 1990.

“It nearly killed me, but it saved me because I didn’t just hide away, I just kept producing records, however good or bad they were, I just kept doing it,” he said. “And when I did get sober, it was just, my whole life turned around, I found David, we had the boys, and as you can see in the documentary I’m the happiest man in the world and the luckiest.”

John shares sons Zachary Jackson, 14, and Elijah Joseph, 12, with husband David Furnish, whom he’s been with for over three decades.