Elton John apparently has a new album coming out early next year

4 August 2026, 11:49

Elton John has been songwriting in a whole new way.

Elton John has hung up his touring boots, the occasional intimate show or mega gig notwithstanding, but despite his recent health issues he's still keeping busy in the studio.

He released The Lockdown Sessions collaborations project in 2021 and joined forces with Brandi Carlile last year for Who Believes in Angels? and is now apparently poised to release his first solo album of new material since 2016's Wonderful Crazy Night.

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While he's not confirmed the plans himself, the source of the news is almost as good – Elton's career-long collaborator Bernie Taupin.

"He’s got a record coming out, I think, at the beginning of next year that I contributed to," lyricist Bernie Taupin told Rolling Stone.

"But I literally don’t know when that is. He did it with [producer] Andrew Watt again."

Elton John, Brandi Carlile - Who Believes In Angels? (Live At The London Palladium)

He added: "And he wrote it in a completely different way simply because of his eyesight problem.

"He can't read lyrics if they’re on the piano. So he basically came up with instrumental tracks and threw basically three or four of them at me and said, 'Can you do something with these?'. Which I contributed to.

"But he’s also worked with a couple of other people on there, which is great. So it's a whole different ballgame for him."

Last November, Elton told Variety: "I've got seven new lyrics from Bernie, and [my husband] David [Furnish] read them to me the other night and they’re really, really good.

"So I can't wait to go in the studio with Andrew and just write and see what happens."

Elton John and Bernie Taupin joined forces before he released his very first singles and albums, but he has very occasionally collaborated with other wordsmiths.

He worked with Gary Osborne on 1978's A Single Man, and with Tim Rice on the soundtracks to The Lion King and The Road to El Dorado

Elton John - Tiny Dancer (Live From Dodger Stadium, USA / 2022)

But a mix of John/Taupin originals alongside other new Elton songs written with other lyricists will be a whole new direction for the singer-songwriter.

During the same interview, Taupin was also asked about long-rumoured plans that Elton could one day play a "deep cuts residency" to give some of his less-well-known songs a public airing.

"That would be nice," Bernie said. "We haven't discussed it.

"I know he’s doing these couple of shows in Mexico to make up for the fact that he couldn’t do them during the pandemic, but I don’t know if there’s any talk of a residency thing. It hasn’t reached my airwaves yet."