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Elton John has teamed up with Brandi Carlile on their brand new song "Never Too Late," from Elton's upcoming doc, Elton John: Never Too Late, which is set to hit Disney+ on December 13th.
"Never Too Late" is a beautiful reflective song as the music icon sings, "It’s never too late/ For a wide-open slate/ A kiss from a stranger/ A thousand first dates/ You’re an iron man baby/ To hell with Heaven’s Gate/ It’s not a moment too soon/ If it’s never too/ Never too late."
In a press release, Elton said of the new song, "When Brandi told me she was so inspired by the early cut of the documentary that she wanted us to to co-write a new song for it, I was thrilled. I’ve known for a long time how great she was but still, reading her lyrics and co-writing with her on the music was deeply moving. Especially given how personal it is to see, seeing my life on the screen, she just perfectly captured the essence of the documentary and why I stopped touring to spend more time with my family. I’m constantly astonished by her craft, she can channel my voice in a way only Bernie has managed to do before. I know Bernie helped guide Brandi on that. The standard of her musicianship, her songwriting, her passion for what she does are sensational. She truly is one of the greatest there is."
Carlile added, "I found the early cut of the documentary that went on to become ‘Elton John: Never Too Late’ so moving. It was really amazing to see historic footage of Elton and the trajectory of his life. But as fantastic and as beautiful as everything was that we were all witnessing as fans, his life was also pretty lonely and difficult at times. And I thought that the documentary illustrated a really important sentiment, because he might not have ever found his serenity and his peace, but he did find it, and he found it later in life. And it is never too late - too late to find the love of your life, or to start a family, or to change your mind about anything."
Fans can see Elton John: Never Too Late next month, and during a recent interview with iHeartRadio's Cubby & Carolina, Elton said of the doc, "It's a documentary that shows really my meteoric rise to fame in the first five years, culminating and playing Dodger Stadium for two nights when I was very successful, incredibly successful, but had no basis to my life, and it was just all music and fame. And then it goes 47 years later where I played three nights at Dodger Stadium and the last shows in America, where I had everything that I possibly wanted the first time around. I had a partner, a husband, I had a family, I had two boys, and I'd never been happier. So, it just shows you that the rise to fame is so quick and so wonderful for me. But at the end, underneath it, I was a bit of an empty shell. I was terribly lonely. I turned to drugs and it showed the pitfalls of being successful so quickly. If you don't have a ground, you don't have a basis to your life."
Elton also expressed how "relieved" he is to be officially retired from touring, and is enjoying spending time with his family. He said, "I'm feeling really great because I'm spending time with my family, even though the boys are at school. I wanted to go out on top and we did Dodger Stadium and that was incredible. Then we went and did Glastonbury in England, which was amazing. And when I finished the last show in Stockholm in Sweden, I got in the car and David said, how do you feel? And I went, I'm so relieved. I'm so happy because I'm 77, I'll be 78 next year. I just want to spend the rest of my time being with the people I love and are more important. I've done everything musically that I can on stage. There's plenty of other stuff to do, recording and whatever, but I've achieved everything and I wanted to go out on top, and I wanted to spend the rest of my days with the people that really need me. And that's my husband and the two boys."