The iconic musician is aware of his own mortality after finishing his final tour

Sir Elton John was on fine form at Glastonbury in 2023 – but he is aware his is in the twilight of his career(Image: Leon Neal/Getty Images)

Elton John broke down in tears for 45 minutes making his new album – as a fear of dying took hold of him.

Music legend Elton, 77, was performing new track When This Old World Is Done With Me and says the lyrics by Bernie Taupin really hit home and made him think of his own mortality. The song is the last track of his new album he has recorded with Brandi Carlile called Who Believes In Angels? Which is released on April 4.

Elton said: “I wrote a song at the end of the album and I just get the lyrics, Bernie Taupin’s lyrics called When This Old World Is Done With Me. And so I’m writing the verse, like, ‘Oh, this is really pretty.’ And then I get to the chorus and of course it’s about my death. And when you get to my age, which is near 100, you think, ‘How much time have I got left?’ And you’ve got children, you’ve got a wonderful husband, you just think about mortality. And so when I got to the chorus, I just broke down for 45 minutes and it’s all on film.”

Elton John and his partner David Furnish pose with their sons Zachary Jackson Furnish and Elijah Joseph Daniel Furnish ahead of their Oscars party this month(Image: AFP via Getty Images)

Elton made the album with Brandi Carlile and she says “he cried hard”. She added: “I want everybody to see it because it’s really human, like deeply flawed and embarrassing. And the kind of shit that you do when you forget that there is a camera on is what’s really interesting.

“He got to the end of that chorus and his voice started to shake and I thought, ‘Oh, he’s going, like he’s going to really go’. And he went into a real moment.”

In the new interview on the Smartless podcast, Elton also insists he never thought he would be a solo star and said the LP with Brandi is the “best in four decades”.

He said: “I never imagined myself as a solo artist. When I was in my group, Bluesology, I took the big risk of going up to Liberty Records saying, ‘I want to write songs, I’m so fed up with playing in a band that doesn’t want to go anywhere, and I can sing too.’

“And so the guy, as you know, because it’s an old story, gave me the envelope with Bernie (Taupin)’s lyrics in it.

“And then when we wrote songs, I had to go out and nothing was happening. I had to go out and play them live. So I had to form a band.

“And I really didn’t have any visions of being Elton John, superstar. It just happened very, very quickly.

“But it was like, I was a kid in a candy store. I never realised, never really visualised Elton John being a big star. It all happened by accident, really. It really happened by accident, which was lovely.”

In a career now spanning 6 decades, Elton has now amassed 10 UK Number 1 singles and 9 Number 1 albums and is a global star.

Elton’s Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour concluded in Stockholm in July 2023 after 330 concerts worldwide and he has vowed to never tour again, spending more time with his family.

Last October he was also seen in a new film Elton John: Never Too Late discussing his mortality. In the documentary, he said: “I wonder what is going to happen to all of this stuff when I finish? This is the latter time of my life. I don’t know how much time I have left.”