Elton John and Brandi Carlile headed toward the finish line of their epic promotional run for their new album Who Believes in Angels? on April 5, as they appeared as the musical guests on Saturday Night Live.
Elton, whose first appearance on SNL came in 1982, hadn’t been on SNL since 2011, when he was both the host and musical guest; it was his third appearance overall. It was also Brandi’s third appearance: She was the musical guest in 2021 and 2022. Backed by the same musicians who played on the new album, including Red Hot Chili Pepper Chad Smith on drums and producer Andrew Watt on guitar, Elton and Brandi performed “Little Richard’s Bible” and the title track.
A 30-minute film called Stories from the Edge of Creation, capturing the making of Who Believes in Angels?, had its premiere at New York City’s 92nd Street Y on April 4, followed by Elton, Brandi, Watt and lyricist Bernie Taupin taking the stage to discuss it. Both the film and conversation are now available now on YouTube — with some of the more profane exchanges edited out.
The film shows Elton, Brandi and Watt playing the album for their record label, and as they discuss each track, you see them in the studio creating it. All four artists got a lot of laughs during the Q&A talking about Elton’s many tantrums in the studio, which you get to see on camera: He rips up Brandi’s lyrics, tells people to f*** off and bursts into tears.
“I think I told everyone to f*** off 10 times!” Elton said on Friday. “I was frustrated with my inability to come up with something good.”
“I was tired,” he explained. “I had so much doubt about my ability to come through with what I needed to come through with, and that led to a lot of aggression and bad behavior.” He also revealed he “quit the album two or three times.”
However, Elton concluded, “I wanted energy, and my bad behavior and my angst brought the energy … and [when] I cried, I think it was all the pent-up emotion that I was carrying and the pressure that I was feeling to come up with a decent record, a different record from the ones that I’d been making. And it all worked out brilliantly.”
When Brandi praised Elton for his ability to laugh at himself, he smiled: “When you’re as ridiculous as I am, you have to giggle!”
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