Elton John has unveiled his new duet with pop singer/songwriter Charlie Puth, “After All,” which will appear on Elton’s upcoming all-star album of collaborations, The Lockdown Sessions.
The two musicians met in March of 2020 at an L.A. restaurant and since Elton was already a fan of Charlie’s, they started chatting and discovered that they were neighbors. So Charlie invited Elton over and they wrote and recorded “After All,” which was the first track either of them completed during lockdown.
“Charlie is an amazing musician; we just hit it off. He’s become a friend and a friend of the family,” says Elton. “Our children love him and he loves them. Everyone we’ve worked with on The Lockdown Sessions I’ve really gotten closer to them, it’s quite amazing.”
He adds, “I played electric piano and actually wrote the song all the way through and then Charlie wrote the lyrics pretty quickly. He’s incredibly quick, Charlie. We just had an amazing chemistry in the studio.”
Puth, who says he’s been a fan of Elton his “entire life,” adds, “It is truly incredible how the melodies and chords seem to come to him instantly whenever he sits down at the piano…He is world class and the true definition of a musical genius. Being a part of his musical journey is a dream come true.”
This weekend, Elton and Charlie will both be performing in Paris during the Global Citizen Live event, which will span seven continents and feature more than 50 artists over 24 hours. You can watch it on ABC TV and ABC News Live.
On Sunday, John and Puth will go live on their TikTok pages to chat about the collaboration.
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