Elton John has revealed he cried for 45 minutes while reflecting on his own mortality, as he recorded an emotional song for his new album.

The music legend, who celebrates his 78th birthday on Tuesday (March 25) shared that he had a moment of realisation about his own mortality while working on the track, and began to fear he ‘doesn’t have much time left.’

Elton, who completed his farewell tour in 2023, has previously shared he’s suffered from sight loss, after an infection left him blind in his right eye, with ‘limited vision’ in his left.

Speaking on the Smartless podcast, Elton revealed his heart-wrenching reaction came when he was performing his new track When This Old World Is Done With Me.

He 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?’ 

Elton John has revealed he cried for 45 minutes while reflecting on his own mortality, as he recorded an emotional song for his new album

The music legend, who celebrates his 78th birthday on Tuesday, shared that he had a moment of realisation about his own mortality (pictured with husband David Furnish and their two sons)

‘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 said he ‘cried hard’ while working on the album with musician Brandi Carlile, and his reaction was recorded in his documentary Elton John: Never Too Late, which was released in October.

Brandi continued: ‘I want everybody to see it because it’s really human, like deeply flawed and embarrᴀssing. And the kind of s**t 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.’

During the interview Elton added that he never expected to find success as a solo artist, and described his album with Brandi as ‘the best in four decades.’

The album, тιтled Who Believes In Angels? Which is released on April 4. 

The hitmaker added: ‘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.

Speaking on the Smartless podcast, Elton revealed his heart-wrenching reaction came when he was performing his new track When This Old World Is Done With Me

During the interview Elton added that he never expected to find success as a solo artist, and described his album with Brandi as ‘the best in four decades’ (pictured in 1974)

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‘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.’

Elton previously revealed the real reason for his furious studio meltdown as he embarked on his latest record with collaborator and friend Brandi.

He admitted that despite a career spanning over 50 years, he had more doubt going into the recording studio this time around than ever before.

In breathtakingly awkward scenes from his documentary, the pop legend is seen slamming his headphones down and tearing up a piece of sheet music as he tells aghast onlookers: ‘I’m going home’ as he brands the session a ‘f***ing nightmare.’

Speaking to Scott Mills on BBC Radio 2, the star admitted he began the writing process in a ‘very dark place of doubt’ and wasn’t feeling his best. 

Chatting with Brandi he explained: ‘I was in a very very dark place of doubt, I was tired, I wasn’t feeling well and after I got through that weak period of feeling like that, it just flew and it was just amazing.’

His confession over his sight comes as he revealed the real reason for his furious studio meltdown as he embarked on his latest record with collaborator and friend Brandi Carlile 

Sir Elton confessed: ‘I had more doubt on this record than I had ever had in my life. 

‘I just wanted it to be special. And you can’t guarantee when you walk into a studio that you’re gonna come out with something special. 

‘But if I’d have been on my own without Brandi and Berni and Andrew, this record would never have got made. 

‘It was the combination of all the energy in the room, all the aggravation, all the anxiety, pushed us to make electric music.’