"Elton John & Brandi Carlile"

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Speaker 1 Hi

Speaker 1 Sean. No, you're Scotty.
Oh, hi, Scotty.

Speaker 1 How are you today?

Speaker 1 I was wondering if you would stick around and listen to Smartless. Welcome to Smartless.
That was very good. Smart

Speaker 1 Less.

Speaker 1 Smart

Speaker 1 Less.

Speaker 1 Smart

Speaker 1 Less.

Speaker 3 Good morning.

Speaker 1 Good morning, everybody. Hi.
Hi. Hi.
Hi. Great.
Sean, you all packed. Sean, you all packed? I was just going to say, I just finished packing.

Speaker 3 I hate packing.

Speaker 3 Yes, you're going to England?

Speaker 1 I'm going to England. Yes, the United Kingdom.

Speaker 1 Yes.

Speaker 1 What else?

Speaker 3 To work on a fantastic new project. Do you want to talk about it?

Speaker 1 No. I mean, it's a little fun cameo in a movie called The Running Man.
With our friend Edgar Wright is directing. Edgar Wright is directing.
We should have him on the show, by the way.

Speaker 1 I know. We should.
I've wanted to for a while. And he's a fan.
He's a big fan of the show. I know.
He loves.

Speaker 1 We love him, too.

Speaker 3 Well, he's going to be busy for a little while now, right?

Speaker 1 Yeah, they've been shooting already for a while. For Tracy, Edgar Wright directed Sean of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, Baby Driver, tons of great movies.
Yeah. Tons.
Yeah.

Speaker 3 Really good filmmaker.

Speaker 1 He's a very good filmmaker. And a good guy.
And a good guy. Yeah, but I packed my sanitizer because I'm like Jason a little bit where

Speaker 1 I have the sanitizer wiped. So I wipe down the seats before I sit down, and I wipe down all the time.
Do you really? Yeah, absolutely. See,

Speaker 1 don't pass yourself.

Speaker 1 What are you talking about?

Speaker 3 I would feel embarrassed that I'm making such a big shot. Like, do you try to sneak that?

Speaker 1 I don't know. Now you're embarrassed.

Speaker 1 Well,

Speaker 1 this is the line. I don't put music on with arrows pointing at me.
Like, look as I, you know, I do it like that.

Speaker 3 What about theater seats when you're in a movie theater? Do you do that as well? Or do you, I wear a hoodie like this when I

Speaker 1 I do, too. I do, but I do bring sanitizer to a movie theater.

Speaker 3 And for the armrests?

Speaker 1 Yeah, but I don't wipe the seats and I just make sure

Speaker 1 you guys are what's wrong with this country. But, but here's

Speaker 1 truly, truly, I truly mean that. I do.
Sincerely.

Speaker 3 Oh, that's the problem in this country.

Speaker 1 But Will, don't you see?

Speaker 3 Because my brain goes immediately to so the backrests of theater seats or plane seats, you lean against it and then you go right to your pillow, right?

Speaker 3 So you lean back on your pillow at home in your bed. Yeah.
And then eventually you flip over onto your side or your face and your mouth's open and you're like, so what are you talking about?

Speaker 1 I don't go from that connection. I don't go from seeing a movie to laying down.

Speaker 3 Well, you do eventually at the end of the night, you go home from the theater,

Speaker 3 you put on your little PJs and then you climb into bed.

Speaker 1 And now it's time for the germs to get you.

Speaker 3 Well, I don't, but the germs don't die that quick. I think they last longer, don't they? I don't know.

Speaker 1 I rely on something called my immune system. And people have been doing this and living for a while.

Speaker 3 What if you're smelling somebody's hair gel?

Speaker 1 My grandparents lived well into their 90s. My great-grandmother over 100.
And they never owned a bottle of sanitizer. They didn't do any of this shit at all.

Speaker 1 They should have. Yeah, they should have.
You're right.

Speaker 3 You're right.

Speaker 1 You're right. Long, healthy lives, and they didn't obsess about it.

Speaker 3 I know. It's just a gross factor.
I wish I could not think about it because I don't think I'm getting sick. I just think I'm preoccupied with gross thoughts.

Speaker 1 Yeah. I know.
I know.

Speaker 3 Any other coffee chat, or should we get to our guests?

Speaker 1 We should get to our guests. I, I was, no, I could talk about the airplane travel thing, but no, let's go.

Speaker 3 Okay, and I don't know if you heard it, but I did have an S on the end of that. Yes, guys, today it's a special treat.

Speaker 1 It's two for Tuesday. Oh, wow.

Speaker 1 We didn't even have to do it.

Speaker 3 We're going to double the pleasure, double the fun, because we've got not just the one guest, we've got the two. And when I say two, it's kind of more like 10

Speaker 3 because of their combined accomplishments.

Speaker 1 Oh, okay.

Speaker 3 On one side, he has sold more than 300 million records worldwide. Okay.
That's 26 golds, 43 platinum, two diamond.

Speaker 1 I got to ask him what those are. Yeah, what's a diamond?

Speaker 3 He's also received six Grammys, two Oscars, a Tony, and yes, and Emmy to join the elite group of EGOT winners. He's a Kennedy Center honor.

Speaker 1 He's got

Speaker 1 an honoree.

Speaker 3 He's received the French Legion of Honor and a Knighthood from the Queen.

Speaker 3 For HIV/AIDS, he's raised more than $565 million.

Speaker 3 Not to be outdone, she is one of music's most respected voices, receiving 11 Grammy Awards, two Emmy Awards, an Oscar nomination, New York Times best-selling author.

Speaker 3 They've combined their superpowers to create a new album with a birthday of April 4th. They're here to talk about that and their incredible lives.

Speaker 3 I'm very excited and honored to introduce Brandy Carlisle and Sir Elton John.

Speaker 1 What terrific! Can you believe it? What is terrific? Absolutely terrific.

Speaker 1 Good morning to you, both.

Speaker 1 Hi, guys.

Speaker 1 Well, hello. Hello.

Speaker 3 Guys, can you believe this?

Speaker 1 This is pretty cool. This is really cool.
Sane. And it's dark, so you must be in London.
Well, Windsor, yeah. Yeah.
Outside of London. Windsor.
Yeah. Oh, okay.
Sorry. Yeah.

Speaker 1 I'm from Glenn Ellen, which is outside of Chicago. It means nothing to Sean Collins.
Nothing to Sean.

Speaker 3 And you're together, too.

Speaker 3 What are you both doing right now? This is in conjunction with promoting the album that you're together?

Speaker 2 It is in conjunction with promoting the album.

Speaker 2 So, yeah, that's why we're talking to you guys. We're promoting and flouting.

Speaker 1 This is so cool for us, you guys. This is really cool.
Thank you, huge fans of us.

Speaker 2 I'd like to say hello to Sean, who I haven't seen for years.

Speaker 1 I know. How are you, my friend? I know I haven't seen you in such a long time.

Speaker 3 Sean, you owe him money.

Speaker 1 I do owe him a little bit of money and a little bit of a good time.

Speaker 2 Yeah, he was a rent boy when I knew him.

Speaker 1 Oh,

Speaker 1 well, he's a lease boy now.

Speaker 1 By the way, it's still the same price. Yeah.

Speaker 1 Wow. Wow.

Speaker 1 Now, wait, I have a, I have a great, this is so kooky. So, Brandy, you know what? I'm going to tell this story when I first met you.
Okay. So this is embarrassing for me.

Speaker 1 So we were at a fundraiser and we got sat next to each other, me and Scotty and you and your wife. And I sat there and like an idiot, I go, and we were laughing and having a good time.

Speaker 1 I go, I'm so sorry. I'm an idiot.

Speaker 1 What do you do?

Speaker 1 And you

Speaker 1 and you said, I'm in the music business. I'm like, oh, okay, cool.
And then you were introducing your wife, who's also lovely. And we had a great night.

Speaker 1 And then the next day, I go to this meeting at like, I don't know, Warner Brothers or something. And it's in a high rise.

Speaker 1 And I look out the window and the size of a building is a billboard with your face on it. And I'm like, I just sat next to to her last night at dinner and had no idea.
I had no idea.

Speaker 1 Now, of course, I listen to all your stuff. I've like went bananas on you after that.

Speaker 4 I've done lots of things. I've been a roofing laborer, a barista, a grocery store worker.
I've done lots of things.

Speaker 1 Are those things true? Yeah, Brandy?

Speaker 3 Yeah. What kind of barista were you?

Speaker 3 Were you good at the barista in? I always think I would be awful at that.

Speaker 1 Well, it's all about tips.

Speaker 4 It's all about tips. So I was great.

Speaker 1 Yeah? Yeah. Yeah.

Speaker 3 Are you good working for the tips?

Speaker 3 I've always secretly had a fantasy to be a waiter just so I could work each table to figure out what they need me to be to get the best tip like separate audiences you know

Speaker 1 yeah we know

Speaker 4 you were great at that yeah we know how to do this in the music business in the entertainment industry we know how to chameleon

Speaker 1 I yeah I never understood why why because I worked at a restaurant why we all have to combine our tips like and then you split do you ever work in one of those places where you put all everybody pools their tips and then you split them I'm like is that really the way it works?

Speaker 1 Yeah, it worked when I was a waiter.

Speaker 1 My obsession is watching Jason when people describe real world jobs because, and God bless you, and I love you, Jason. But you've never, he grew up in the show business.

Speaker 1 He's been an actor since he was a kid, and he's never had a real world, right, Jason? You've never had a real job.

Speaker 3 Will, have you ever had a job where you get tips?

Speaker 1 Fuck no, but I'm saying the point is,

Speaker 1 I have had, I have had real world jobs, though.

Speaker 3 So I eat trenches. I know.

Speaker 1 I know.

Speaker 3 All right. You guys, you two, let's talk about who believes in angels.
This is your new album.

Speaker 3 What about the concept for the album?

Speaker 3 How did that come about? Whose great idea was this, to get together? Who called who?

Speaker 1 Well,

Speaker 2 I've been a fan of Brandy and a friend of Brandy's for over 20 years and her family. Wow.
And

Speaker 2 I've always wanted to record with her. And I had the idea of making the album when the final tour stopped in Europe.
I'd already booked the studio in Los Angeles for October 23.

Speaker 2 Yeah.

Speaker 2 And I wanted to desperately make a record with her.

Speaker 2 I've been a fan of hers for years. She's been a fan of mine.
We included Bernie Torpen in the process, who's been my longtime lyricist, and Andrew Watt, the producer.

Speaker 2 So there were four of us going into the studio with nothing but self-doubt and hesitation.

Speaker 1 And

Speaker 2 when I got to the studio, I was really tired. I was grumpy.
I was fairly lethargic.

Speaker 2 And for the first few days, it was a hard experience because I was not in a good place. I had so much self-doubt, wondering whether I could shift this album into the way I wanted it to be.

Speaker 2 And eventually, after they put, we filmed every song being written, every take being recorded.

Speaker 1 So my behavior is there for all to see. And after the first trailer,

Speaker 2 after the first five days, it suddenly clicked.

Speaker 2 And people were really supportive of me and my behavior. And they talked me around, and I felt in a good place.
And then we just roared. We wrote 14 songs in three weeks, and 10 which

Speaker 2 made the album. And we started with nothing.
So it was probably one of the greatest creative experiences I've ever had. And she is a machine.

Speaker 1 She is so incredibly

Speaker 2 inspiring. I mean, her vocals, she never does a bad vocal.
Her phrasing, which I had to harmonize to, was so difficult for me that I actually tore the lyric up and told her to fuck off.

Speaker 1 Daddy did.

Speaker 4 Nightmare. Yeah, nightmare.

Speaker 1 But really, you just were like, I'm not doing that? No. I'm not doing that.
Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2 And then after I tore it up, we had to get it stuck back together again because I was being such an idiot.

Speaker 3 By the way,

Speaker 3 is that typically the way that it works? You show up in a studio and you've got nothing and you start to come up with either melodies or lyrics or whatever

Speaker 1 strikes you first.

Speaker 2 No, you go there with some things written.

Speaker 2 Okay. Sometimes, Brandy does that.
She goes in. And I sometimes go in the studio with, I've had a couple of ideas, but mostly recently I've just write in the studio.

Speaker 1 And are all the songs duets, or

Speaker 1 are there some solos on the album?

Speaker 1 Is every song a duet?

Speaker 2 It's 10 tracks. So we did like an album.

Speaker 2 Side one, it finishes with Brandy's solo song. Side two finishes with my solo song.

Speaker 1 Let Brandy talk a bit. Oh, well.
Well, I mean,

Speaker 1 Brandy, I wanted to say, you know, hi, first of all, I haven't seen you in a long time. Hi, well.
Last time I

Speaker 1 are you? And last time I saw you, you were, you sang beautifully at Jimmy's

Speaker 1 memorial tribute concert at the bowl, which was just amazing. It was

Speaker 1 incredible. Yeah, Jimmy Buffett, the great Jimmy Buffett, who was a friend of ours and our mutual friend, Jane.

Speaker 1 And, Brandy,

Speaker 1 what is it like? I mean, you're such an accomplished singer-songwriter. You've done it all.
You're an incredible performer. But when you get a call, and I know

Speaker 1 you've been friends with Sir Elton John for, as he said, 20 years. But when you get a call from Sir Elton John saying,

Speaker 1 let's make a record,

Speaker 1 that must be at risk of embarrassing you, Sir Elton John.

Speaker 1 What is that like when you get that call, when that comes through, like, hey, we're going to make a record?

Speaker 4 It was,

Speaker 4 if he didn't always do what he says he's going to do, I wouldn't have believed it.

Speaker 4 But he does. And

Speaker 4 he was coming off of that massive tour. Dodger Stadium, Glastonbury, just like really highlight moments like in anyone's life.
And he was coming out of this all with all this adrenaline.

Speaker 4 And I thought, well, he's not going to do it. You know, he's saying it, but does he mean it?

Speaker 4 You know, and the thing you guys got to understand is I have loved Elton John and Bernie Toppin since I was 11 years old. They're the only reason I ever wrote a song or touched an instrument.

Speaker 4 Yeah, same.

Speaker 4 And so it feels really mystical and bizarrely beautiful that at this point in my life, that this is what's happened to me and Elton in our relationship. But also, it kind of makes sense.
And

Speaker 4 that's more than I can explain, but it's also more than I could have asked for.

Speaker 3 Was it a difficult thing to allow yourself,

Speaker 3 Brandy,

Speaker 3 to let all your creative instincts flow as freely as I imagine they flow when you're working by yourself,

Speaker 3 when you're collaborating with somebody that's such a hero to you?

Speaker 3 Were you able to sort of like let that barrier drop down and let all the instincts fly?

Speaker 4 Not for a long time. I mean, imagine that, you know, like think how that could have gone.
It was like an existential crisis for me. It could have gone really wrong.

Speaker 4 Like that first time I put a lyric down in front of Elton John, what if he hadn't been able to write a song to it?

Speaker 1 Right.

Speaker 2 She's so inspiring and she's so,

Speaker 2 you know, I was inspired by her.

Speaker 2 I've always been inspired by her voice and her writing, but her musicianship. And I think we both inspired each other.

Speaker 1 That was the whole point of doing the record,

Speaker 2 to have what we have as artists and then

Speaker 2 put it on the other person. And she's quick.
I mean, she's really quick. And she does a vocal in like one take.

Speaker 1 Well,

Speaker 3 you're both able to do so many different types of songs well, so many different sounds and genres and rhythms.

Speaker 3 Was there much communication about what type of sound and tone the film, or the not the film, sorry, the album would have, whether it would have a rock feel, a country feel, a ballad feel?

Speaker 3 Was there any discussion about that?

Speaker 4 It It was all down to Elton had this vision. It was like at first he was like, okay, he was trying to conceptualize what it would be.

Speaker 4 And he goes, okay, we're going to be like Robert Plant and Allison Krauss. And then he would call me a week later and go, no, no, no, it's the Eurythmics.

Speaker 4 And then he would call me a week later and go, no, it's Buddy Holly and Patsy Klein. And then one day he just called me and he said, no, it's going to be us.
Let's have it just be us.

Speaker 4 But we're not going to do anything anybody expects from us. And then the vision just came clear.

Speaker 2 And years ago, I bought her an electric guitar because I wanted to push her and nudge her to play electric and get out there and rock a little more.

Speaker 2 And there's a great side of her that I could see that wasn't coming out. And she, you know, she's great.
She loves all sorts of music. And she's broken.

Speaker 2 Listen, she sang Joni Mitchell's entire blue album at Disney Hall without a teleprompter, which takes balls of fucking steel, I tell you.

Speaker 1 And

Speaker 1 so she's got big, big balls, I tell you.

Speaker 1 The unfortunate thing is, is, she breaks wind a lot, but that's okay. Yeah, yeah, no,

Speaker 1 yeah, yeah.

Speaker 3 And we will be right back.

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Speaker 1 And now back to the show.

Speaker 3 How did you both first meet?

Speaker 1 She wrote me a letter,

Speaker 2 and I was aware of of her music. I was in Las Vegas doing one of my residences and she said, Would you ever consider playing on a song of mine?

Speaker 2 And I wrote back and said, or phoned her, I see, put a phone number and I said, Hey, yeah, if you can come to Vegas, because I'm stuck here, we can do something together.

Speaker 2 And she came, and before I even sat at the piano, I fell in love with her. It was like it was destined to be a friendship that you know, it's lasted for years and years and years and gotten better.

Speaker 1 And it was

Speaker 2 just a happenstance or whatever it was, serendipity.

Speaker 1 Yeah, you know what? I have to say, when I met you, Brandy, too, I just immediately fell in love with it.

Speaker 1 Like you are one of those personalities and people that just are so lovely and filled with light and love. And

Speaker 1 take a minute. Take a minute.
Yeah, I'm not sure. Take me a minute.
I'm not trying to warm up to her.

Speaker 1 I did. I really just did.

Speaker 1 And she's creative as hell.

Speaker 2 That's what I love.

Speaker 1 No kidding.

Speaker 4 It was wild, like going to see Elton in Vegas. I remember coming down that long hallway and I could hear his voice, speaking voice, before I saw him.

Speaker 4 And I had spent so much time as a kid growing up with Live in Melbourne and tantrums and tiaras and all of his interviews. And it was his voice.

Speaker 4 And I was like, oh my God, I'm going to come around the corner in a minute. And Elton John is going to be sitting there.

Speaker 1 And it was chilling. In a huge bull gown and a tiara and huge high heels.

Speaker 4 In a tracksuit, but there was a lot of pink. There was a lot of pink.

Speaker 1 About 25, maybe 30 years ago, I was in Los Angeles, young, unemployed, or barely employed actor, and I was at a restaurant in Beverly Hills. I don't know why.

Speaker 1 And Sir Elton, John, you came in and you sat at a table with a friend, and then you had like a security guy with you at a table next to you.

Speaker 1 And the phone rang and his phone, and he took the call, handed it to you. You spoke on the phone for like 30 seconds and handed it back to the guy.
And I thought, that's what I want.

Speaker 1 I want a guy sitting at a table behind me.

Speaker 1 He feels the call.

Speaker 1 But

Speaker 1 were there songs on the album? By the way, when you're doing that, when you're collaborating like that,

Speaker 1 isn't it difficult to come up with like a lyric or a melody or whatever? and through discussion, have to get rid of something that you love so much. Like, how do you

Speaker 4 there's no discussion. If Elton doesn't like it, he just yells, cut the line, and it's gone.

Speaker 1 Really?

Speaker 2 Yeah, but it was very easy. There wasn't anything I didn't like.
All the 10 songs that we chose were the obvious songs. And the rest,

Speaker 2 they're okay. The 10 that we had were fantastic.
So no, I mean, no, I would never say that. I mean, all the songs she gave to me were amazing.

Speaker 4 He makes decisions very, very quickly. It's not really even to be thought about.
So there's no time to really stew in your kind of artistic,

Speaker 4 you know, whatever. He just, it happens very quickly.
He's a quick, quick songwriter. Yeah.

Speaker 3 And there'll be no touring of this, right? There'll be, because there's no more touring for you, correct, Seralt?

Speaker 2 There's no more touring for me.

Speaker 1 And I'm very happy about that.

Speaker 3 Now, what about, well,

Speaker 3 you've done it. Thank you very much for all your shows.

Speaker 1 Oh, my God.

Speaker 3 I went to one of the shows on this last tour. It was incredible.

Speaker 3 What about videos? Do folks make videos still, right?

Speaker 1 Yeah,

Speaker 2 we've made a video for this, and it's really great. David LaChapelle did the video.

Speaker 1 He did the album, Steve.

Speaker 2 Yeah, of course, we'll do videos, and of course, we'll do some TVs, and we may even do, you know, play on a TV show.

Speaker 2 I love that.

Speaker 1 And Sean, how's your piano playing coming along? It's going okay. It's going okay.
Yeah, one of Matoni.

Speaker 1 Yeah, he won a Tony. Yeah.
He did. Yeah.
Yeah, yeah. He did.
He's amazing.

Speaker 3 Incredible.

Speaker 1 He played, he did Good Night Oscar at the Tabasco Theater, which won him a Tony last year. What a show.
Yeah, baby.

Speaker 3 Yeah, he plays

Speaker 3 a rhapsody in blue all by himself on a grand right there in the middle of the stage.

Speaker 1 We've told this story before uh uh uh so for forgive us and to our audience forgive us but but jason was sitting right in front directly in front of me we went uh opening night and is it was as soon as the that was over and sean had played rhapsody in blue and everybody is cheering and jason turned around we both had tears in our eyes and he said our show's over yeah we can't make fun of sean can't make fun of sean anymore we can't make fun of sean

Speaker 1 it was so good that is yeah

Speaker 1 and by the way and that was fleeting because we're right back where we started uh

Speaker 2 i used to go around to sean's house in Hancock Park and used to play the piano there. It was fantastic.

Speaker 1 This is the same house. It is.
It's still there.

Speaker 1 Still here. Yes.
And then I, and then you, the, the, I think the piano I had for a while was yours, and then I sold it for a bigger one. Wait, wait, wait.
Wait, wait. You had his piano?

Speaker 1 I think so, because Eric McCormick, who was on Will and Grace, he some like everybody was trading pianos or something. Somehow I ended up with Elton's.
And then, and then, uh,

Speaker 1 like a black market piano what's happening here amongst musicians and artists? What's going on? Or what? Yeah, but, but yeah, you came over and played the music to Interview with a Vampire.

Speaker 1 I was blown away. You just sat down at my piano and started playing half the musical.
And I was like, how can you do that? It's just, it was unbelievable to see that. It's amazing.

Speaker 2 What kind of piano do you have now?

Speaker 1 Right now, I have.

Speaker 1 Oh, my God, I'm so nervous. I can't remember.
Oh, yeah.

Speaker 1 No, Bosendorfer.

Speaker 2 Bosendorf. That's the best piano.
Yeah.

Speaker 1 Apart Apart from piano.

Speaker 2 Yeah, but because you've got the extra notes down the end of it.

Speaker 1 Yes, yes, yes, yes. It's depth.
Extra notes. Yeah.
Really?

Speaker 1 Secret notes.

Speaker 3 Secret notes.

Speaker 3 I'm dumber than I thought I was.

Speaker 1 Where is it made? Wait, what is the name of it? Bosendorfer. German.
Or you have a lovely Bosendorfer.

Speaker 1 If I had a double. This one.
This one has extra secret keys. This one has three extra keys.
It's longer. Of course we do.

Speaker 1 Of course we were. very large markets.
Of course, we had extra keys.

Speaker 1 Wouldn't you like to know where they came from?

Speaker 3 So, Brandy and Elton, you guys,

Speaker 3 you've been on stage together multiple times.

Speaker 3 Has there been a favorite performance you guys have had together

Speaker 1 that you can think of?

Speaker 4 We haven't performed many times. We did Dodger Stadium.

Speaker 2 Dodger Stadium has been my favorite when she sang Don't Let the Song Go Down at Me because

Speaker 2 Lady Gago had done it before and was incredible, and she wasn't available. So, I asked Brandy.

Speaker 1 She was cheaper. cheaper much cheaper

Speaker 1 cheaper and but she destroyed the song incredible um yeah

Speaker 4 the first time we actually sang together though and I don't know if you remember this exact the exact first time we actually ever sang together in real life was in Joni's living room Joni Bichard on that country song

Speaker 2 not many not many people can say that can they no

Speaker 4 what a sentence it was an old country song that I've loved since I was a little kid called um you can tell your friend they're with you he'll have to go Yes, You'll Have to Go, yeah.

Speaker 2 And Joni sang Love Potion Number Nine and Summertime.

Speaker 1 Yeah. And it was just one of the most

Speaker 2 music got Joni back together again, as long as

Speaker 2 her physio. But this girl here on my left used to instigate Joni Jams, where people used to come up, you had to play, you all had to sing in front of Joni Mitchell, which is terrifying.
That's a lot.

Speaker 2 But it was one of the greatest things. And you'd have Herbie Hancock up there, you'd have Chuck Akhan, you'd have Bonnie Rait, you'd have

Speaker 1 you. No, you,

Speaker 2 Paul McCartney would come, Paul McCartney, yeah,

Speaker 1 Jebby Gibson. That's amazing.

Speaker 1 And you sing the whole blue record, too.

Speaker 1 I mean, that's what an incredible record that is.

Speaker 2 Well, an incredible record, but she did it. I was sitting next to Joni at Disney Hall when she did it, and it was faultless.
And I just said, you know, balls of steel is ridiculous.

Speaker 2 And without a teleprompter, I would never have done that without a teleprompter. And it was the most incredibly brave and courageous thing to do.
And then she did it at Carnegie Hall as well.

Speaker 2 It was phenomenal. And Joni couldn't have been happier.
She resuscitated Joani Marshall.

Speaker 1 I love that. Wow.

Speaker 1 Wait, you know, you bring up an interesting point. I've wondered that about the teleprompters for lyrics and stuff.
How common is that on tour with musicians?

Speaker 4 It's getting more and more common. I started seeing it happen at all the tributes and stuff like

Speaker 4 But now it's, I think, now I think it's just kind of a part of it because they look like monitors on stage, so you can't tell, you know. But I'm sure that

Speaker 4 it's interesting because a lot of musicians haven't figured out how to not look at them when they're performing. So I hate seeing that.

Speaker 4 But at the same time, it provides some spontaneity because then a musician can take a request out of the audience and actually play a song. Right.

Speaker 1 Yeah. And they can just load it in.
Jason uses a prompter when he goes to therapy. Isn't that right, Jason?

Speaker 1 It's hard to keep all the lies together.

Speaker 1 Could you imagine?

Speaker 2 I get requests from the audience. Can you play Piano Man?

Speaker 1 And I say, wrong guy. No way.
Wrong guy. No way.
Yeah, wrong guy. No way you do not have to do that.

Speaker 2 Someone asked me to play Piano Man once. Yeah.

Speaker 1 No way.

Speaker 1 I have played Piano Man with Billy many, many, many, many. Security.
Security. I couldn't play it on my own.

Speaker 1 Security.

Speaker 1 Oh, my God. That is crazy.

Speaker 3 Now, what are you, you say you filmed the entire recording process. What's going to happen with that?

Speaker 4 But the crazy thing is, I never saw a camera. We don't know where they were.
They were fixed, little tiny things.

Speaker 4 So we fucking forgot about them constantly and just our behavior is reflected in that, you know? It was a very strange concept. And I don't know.
I think for that reason, it's like, it's a wild ride.

Speaker 2 There's a song at the end of the album, which is my solo song. Brandy has a solo song at the end of the side one about her daughter, her eldest daughter, growing up and leaving.

Speaker 2 Tell her about it. It's just a beautiful beautiful song.

Speaker 4 Oh, it's just, it's like about that moment, like when you have kids, like where it's like they depart you in some way.

Speaker 4 It can even happen when they're young and you're so devastated and you're so proud at the same time and you don't know which feeling to pick. It's about that.

Speaker 1 I love that.

Speaker 3 You mean empty nesting?

Speaker 4 Kind of, but it can happen early on too, like the first time that they choose something you don't believe in or pick a record you don't like or decide to stay home on a trip when you wanted to come.

Speaker 4 Yeah, those moments are so sad, but also so

Speaker 1 he's so proud. It's so true.
My four-year-old this morning, it was kind of heartbreaking.

Speaker 1 My four-year-old said to me, he was just waking up, and I was, he was kind of snuggled up against me, and I was kissing his head, kissing his hair, and I was like, hi, buddy, good morning, morning.

Speaker 1 And then he just, his eyes weren't even open, and he just goes, no more kissing.

Speaker 1 That's what I'm talking about. And I was like, I was like, wow, okay.
All right.

Speaker 1 God, that sounds like a long merit.

Speaker 2 I wrote a song at the end of the album.

Speaker 2 And I just get the lyrics. And I'm just two burners talking lyrics called When This Old World is Done With Me and so I'm writing the verse like, oh, this is really pretty.

Speaker 2 And then I get to the chorus and of course it's about my death. And

Speaker 2 when you get to my age, which is near 100, you think, I haven't,

Speaker 1 how much time have I got left? And

Speaker 2 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 all unfilmed.

Speaker 1 Cried affectionately. Oh, wow.
And we're just, Yeah. Yeah.

Speaker 1 I got it.

Speaker 1 Wait, wait, when do we, so what do we see then with this footage?

Speaker 4 I think I want everybody to see it because it's so, it's really human, like deeply flawed and embarrassing.

Speaker 4 And the kind of shit that you do when you forget that there is a camera on is what's really interesting.

Speaker 4 But that moment, I got to be in there and I witnessed that moment because when we were making the record, I would sit behind him when he was writing his melodies and try to like remember some of the ones that were really hitting me hard.

Speaker 4 And

Speaker 4 I was recording him on the melody of this song because I thought, okay, well, I want to remember this melody so that in case he moves on to another one, he can remember how good it was.

Speaker 4 And 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 of.

Speaker 2 And she came over and she said, don't worry, you've got at least another six months.

Speaker 1 That's great. That's great.
Hold on through promotion.

Speaker 1 Yeah, the worst part is she was looking at an app that was telling you real time when it was going to happen. That was scary.

Speaker 2 And I said, no, you're not in the will.

Speaker 1 Good, hilarious.

Speaker 3 Well, needless to say, not to be maudlin, and we can push past this afterwards.

Speaker 3 In the sort of the plan of using all your years as well as you possibly could,

Speaker 3 Sir Elton-John, my goodness, what an enormous list of accomplishments you've done thus far with plenty of time left.

Speaker 1 Yeah, plenty of time left.

Speaker 3 You've contributed for three lifetimes. So

Speaker 3 rest assured.

Speaker 2 And this is, by leaving, this is one of my biggest accomplishments with her.

Speaker 1 Accomplishments. Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah.

Speaker 3 Well, we cannot wait to listen to it.

Speaker 1 Do you have, Sir Ellen, can I just ask you quickly,

Speaker 1 if you don't mind, when you

Speaker 1 and Brandy alluded to it before, you being such a

Speaker 1 sort of a hero of hers, you know, musically and inspiration, and Sean, you too also is a musician.

Speaker 1 When you, and you have been such a, your music is such a big part of all of our lives for so long, and it, in ways that we don't even know, like you've just, you've really sort of weaved right into the fabric of all of our lives.

Speaker 1 Do you have moments when you're moving through the world? You're in a, you're, you're somewhere and your song comes on. You're in a car, you're in a restaurant, you're in a shop, you're somewhere.

Speaker 1 How does it strike you when you hear your music, especially stuff that was from a long time ago? What are those moments like hearing your music?

Speaker 2 It's great. I don't listen to my stuff very often.
I don't listen to the radio very often. But when you're in an elevator and you think, what the fuck is that? And it's Daniel, you feel very proud.

Speaker 2 Yeah. No, I do.

Speaker 2 You know, I don't listen to my stuff, but I'm very proud of what we've written. And I love to hear it as long as it's not being played by myself.

Speaker 2 But it's,

Speaker 2 yeah, I've done so much in my life. And yeah, there's so much more to do.

Speaker 2 And she's inspired me to go ahead with this record. And

Speaker 2 I think this is the best record I've made in 40 years.

Speaker 1 So there you go. Oh, wow.
I love that.

Speaker 1 By the way, I'm glad you mentioned Daniel. I think that probably a thousand times of my life I've made the stew.

Speaker 1 Anytime I've met somebody named Daniel, I always, they say, Daniel, say, Daniel, my brother, you are older than me.

Speaker 1 Every single time. Yeah, for sure.

Speaker 1 We'll be right back.

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Speaker 4 The family that vacations together stays together. At least, that was the plan.
Except now, the dastardly desk clerk is saying he can't confirm your connecting rooms. Wait, what? That's right, ma'am.

Speaker 4 You have rooms 201 and 709. No, we cannot be five floors away from our kids.
The doors have double locks, they'll be fine.

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Speaker 1 Welcome to Hilton.

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Speaker 1 And back to the show.

Speaker 3 So, you guys have, your friendship is, did you say it's 20 years you guys have been buddies?

Speaker 1 Over than that.

Speaker 4 Somewhere around that.

Speaker 1 No, over than that.

Speaker 4 More than that. Maybe more than that.
Yeah.

Speaker 3 My goodness.

Speaker 2 Because that was, I was in Vegas.

Speaker 4 Yeah, you were in Vegas. And we had kind of, yeah, so I have

Speaker 1 that.

Speaker 1 Do your kids know each other? Yeah. They must, yeah.

Speaker 3 You guys go on vacations all the time together?

Speaker 2 They come to, we have a house in Nice in the south of France. And Brandy Catherine and the girls come down every summer and we have the time of our lives.

Speaker 3 Oh my God. I love that.

Speaker 1 I love that.

Speaker 1 I stayed in a house right close to your house, Sir Elton John, a couple of years ago.

Speaker 1 I was working on a job for like six months, and this French caretaker of this house kept saying, that is Sir Elton John's house right there.

Speaker 1 I didn't ring the bell.

Speaker 3 What about, do either one of you need any parenting tips from the other person? How does that go? Do the kids get along?

Speaker 2 Kids love each other. Kids really love it.

Speaker 2 My boys are a little older than Brandy's girls, but my boys are really good with children. And Zachary's not here at the moment.
He's at school, but Elijah's here.

Speaker 2 And he just loves playing with the girls it's uh there's no problem with that there's they're gonna like a house on fire and Brandy's girls are so Brownie and Catherine's girls I should say are absolute angels.

Speaker 2 I mean they're just beautiful girls.

Speaker 4 The first time I went to go visit David and Elton in France with Catherine and my girls, we landed and we got we went downstairs at this table, this beautifully adorned table for breakfast.

Speaker 4 I mean everything is like decked out. There's like designer napkins and it's like unbelievable.
You wouldn't believe it.

Speaker 4 And I had a three-year-old at the time, and she was at that table for three seconds before, without any warning, she projectile vomited all over the entire thing.

Speaker 4 He didn't even pretend it was okay, he was just like,

Speaker 1 God damn it.

Speaker 4 But no, he and David were so sweet about it, and they calmed our anxiety. But I mean, I died a thousand deaths when that happened.

Speaker 1 Poor little thing.

Speaker 1 That's all sweet.

Speaker 1 Wait, you know,

Speaker 1 Elton, you know,

Speaker 1 I just, I go for walks a lot around my neighborhood because you can. And I just put on this album that I bought when I think I was a senior in high school called Red Strikes Back.
Oh, yeah.

Speaker 1 It's one of my favorite albums you ever did. Oh, thank you.

Speaker 1 One of my favorite songs. No, I never hear it anywhere.
It's so perfectly written as the heavy traffic song. Yeah, yeah, thank you.

Speaker 1 I mean, that's like a massive, massive hit song that was never, I don't know if it was ever even released as a single.

Speaker 2 No, there was lots of songs on that album, Japanese Hands and stuff like that.

Speaker 1 Yes, Japanese Hands is great too.

Speaker 2 There are lots of deep cuts. I mean, I've had a lot of hit singles, but probably the best songs

Speaker 2 are the deep cuts. Oh, yeah.
Yeah.

Speaker 1 Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. For sure, for sure.
And of course, Give Up the Ghost is one of my favorite albums. I watched it.
Yeah.

Speaker 4 Thank you.

Speaker 1 It's true. It's true.
One of my favorite albums.

Speaker 3 So, Brandy, growing up in Washington,

Speaker 3 did you think that you would be at this? Did you allow yourself to sort of dream about where you sit now in in the industry your the level of respect and accomplishment

Speaker 3 and and and and and how did that

Speaker 3 how how did well I guess just answer that that that one first you know did you allow yourself to dream of this high

Speaker 4 Yes, the nuanced things like respect or credibility or things I value so much now, I hadn't really fantasized about, but I would close my eyes and dream of myself on stage in Madison Square Garden.

Speaker 4 I would think of myself like I would visualize myself winning a Grammy and thanking Elton John before I ever met Elton.

Speaker 4 I was like, oh, yeah, I pictured, I would get up on stage and thank Elton John and the Indigo girls. And I was like maybe 13 years old, like visually.

Speaker 4 So I've visualized a lot of what has happened, oddly.

Speaker 4 And I don't understand or profess to know why that is. But yes, I did allow myself to dream really big from that single wide mobile home.
I love that.

Speaker 3 Yeah, I wonder if

Speaker 3 the visualization, if you feel, is a really important part of it and i'd ask you the same sir elton john is that is it did you allow yourself to dream as big as as well and and and for our listeners can you speak about what that kind of

Speaker 3 a big word nowadays is manifestation i don't know if you guys subscribe to that but um you know having those having those goals and the vision and belief in yourself how what how what size role did that play, do you think, in both of your successes?

Speaker 2 I never imagined myself as a solo artist.

Speaker 2 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.

Speaker 2 And so the guy, as you know, because old story, gave me the envelope with Bernie's lyrics in it.

Speaker 2 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.

Speaker 2 And I really didn't have any visions of being Elton John's superstar. It just happened very, very quickly.

Speaker 2 And so it was like, it was so exciting because I came to America and there was Neil Diamond introducing me. There was Brian Wilson, there was

Speaker 2 Linda Ronstadt, there was Leon Russell,

Speaker 2 all those kind of people that were my heroes. And suddenly...
I was there. I mean, it took me a couple of years to establish myself all over America.
But it was like, I was a kid in a candy store.

Speaker 2 I never realized, never really visualized Elton John being a big star. It all happened by accident.

Speaker 2 It really happened by accident, which was lovely.

Speaker 4 That's a good question. I was

Speaker 3 Yeah. And I would imagine

Speaker 3 the preservation of your smaller image, your more human image, your younger image, I would imagine

Speaker 3 has been, remains to be a very important part of

Speaker 3 not only your identity, but your ability to be creative and your ability to write and to constantly be connected to the person that the public does not know, the person who you started as.

Speaker 3 That's got to be a big important part for both of your careers, yeah?

Speaker 2 When I became successful very quickly, and this is in the documentary, Never Too Late,

Speaker 2 we did so much work in five years and

Speaker 2 went to the

Speaker 2 pinnacle of fame in five years. And I lost the person that I was originally.

Speaker 2 And that was very hard for me. And it took me loads of years to get that back.
And I got it back when I got sober, which is 35 years this year hopefully

Speaker 2 and so yeah it that I the little boy inside of me had vanished and but the little boy has come back and everybody needs that little child inside them to keep them going and unfortunately I lost him and it made me very unhappy and very depressed but I still kept working I still make kept making records and touring and so the music kept me alive until I finally came to my senses and now my life is incredible.

Speaker 2 I mean, I couldn't have a better life than I could. I wake up every morning with my children and David and my, you know, all the people that work for me.
They're the nicest people in the world.

Speaker 2 I am the luckiest person in the world. I am blessed.
So, yeah. And that little boy is very happy.

Speaker 1 Yeah. That's great.
I love that.

Speaker 3 And Brandy, I'm sure that little child in you stays vibrant and loud.

Speaker 4 She's hanging out right now.

Speaker 1 She is like riding a shotgun.

Speaker 4 Like, this is the, you know, I've always tried to kind of like

Speaker 4 keep

Speaker 4 the young child and me like at bay long enough to do my job and get through the things that are important to me, you know?

Speaker 4 And, but for this one, I've just let that girl come to the surface totally because I'm getting to hang out with Elton Sean.

Speaker 4 And

Speaker 4 that's an unbelievable realization of a dream. And it's really been like a life-affirming thing, you know.
And also that young version of yourself gets more, it gets clearer when you have kids too.

Speaker 4 You know, you're just like trying not to project onto them, but it's hard not to see a mini me sometimes

Speaker 1 well God, you know, there's so there's I'm just looking at you two going there's such an Very very very small group of people in the world that have gifts they leave behind that will last Yeah forever.

Speaker 1 I mean just for decades. Yeah.

Speaker 1 And and to have a part of you live on in music is so rare that people a lot of people try to achieve that level and they just don't and so it's just incredible incredible to to see you guys and now together it's great thank you yeah thank you

Speaker 1 yeah

Speaker 1 that's it and and now i'm gonna

Speaker 1 and i'm gonna try drugs for the first time

Speaker 1 i'm kidding i'm kidding

Speaker 1 you've never tried drugs right sean me no i got i would get stoned all the time smoke pot constantly and now i take gummies which is nice but i the only hard thing i tried

Speaker 1 right yeah they're legal. They're legal.
But I tried mushrooms once, and it was just insane. I felt like I weighed 250 pounds, and it was just awful.
Awful. It was terrible.

Speaker 1 250-pound mushroom, a film coming to you soon.

Speaker 1 Yeah, it was terrible. You wish.

Speaker 1 Yeah, that was awful.

Speaker 1 Yeah. That's it.
Wow. And then what, and so, and then what's that, what's that process like? So now you're done.

Speaker 1 You've, you've, you've completed the record and it's, it's going to come out, and you're not going going to tour. Maybe you'll do a few dates, a few live dates, and a show here or there.

Speaker 1 And then I guess it's not unlike, you know, for us, like working on a film. And then you kind of go and you move on.
And then it's like, it's hard to say goodbye, I'm sure, when you make a connection.

Speaker 1 I mean, you're still friends, obviously, but

Speaker 1 you do something that's so intensely creative.

Speaker 4 We talk every day

Speaker 4 and we see each other every chance we get. We'll always be making music together as long as we can.

Speaker 3 Wow. That's fantastic.

Speaker 1 Yeah, I love that. I let go.

Speaker 1 What's that?

Speaker 4 He said he ain't letting go.

Speaker 1 No. That's good.

Speaker 3 That's good. Well, we can't thank you both enough for joining us

Speaker 3 and talking to us about your album. We really

Speaker 1 appreciate it.

Speaker 3 Yeah, it's been a pleasure. It's been an honor.

Speaker 1 Thanks, Peller. Thanks to you both.

Speaker 3 Continued success to you both, and specifically with this album.

Speaker 1 We can't really think of something to do with that.

Speaker 3 Think of something to do with that footage.

Speaker 3 Please put it together so we can all get that privileged view into into into the process oh well i hope we meet each other soon so we can give each other a big hug and sean i do miss you i love you very much okay i miss you too honey i love you too thanks good to see you thanks you guys so much enjoy the rest of your day

Speaker 1 bye guys bye

Speaker 3 jay jason how how in the world i mean did you how did you quote land them that's uh i i i'm reminded uh the same question i asked you after we had sir paul mccartney on the show how did you let?

Speaker 3 And you said it was an incoming. This is an incoming.

Speaker 1 Oh, wow.

Speaker 1 And

Speaker 3 yeah, they're promoting that album, and I guess they're doing a podcast and we were chosen, I suppose.

Speaker 3 I don't know.

Speaker 3 I didn't question it. I just said, you know, there was a question as to,

Speaker 3 how do we feel about doing,

Speaker 3 you know, a double guess, you know, which we've done a couple of times, but it's been rare.

Speaker 1 It's been musicians. It's been musicians.

Speaker 1 It was Billie Eilish and her brother Phidias. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
And the Smile guys, Radiohead guys. Radiohead.
And then

Speaker 1 John and Tom York. And then

Speaker 1 arcade fire. Arcade Fire as well.

Speaker 1 Yeah,

Speaker 3 it is odd that it has

Speaker 3 just been music. Yeah.

Speaker 3 But yeah, it was really kind of just

Speaker 3 no doubt about it. Double shotgun on the shit.

Speaker 1 That's just incredible. I mean,

Speaker 1 I know I said it already, but it's like, I mean,

Speaker 1 it's both of those those guys have, go ahead. Well, I was just, Sean, I was going to, I'm looking at your face.
And first of all, you know, that, that, uh, Elton John knows where you live. And

Speaker 1 that he's been to your house and he's played on your piano. But I just want, and you mentioned all the time Glennellen, Illinois, and, you know, to the point that we're all so sick of it.

Speaker 1 But did you, is there, is there,

Speaker 1 for you, the novelty,

Speaker 1 as a kid growing up in Glennellen, Illinois, who loved music, who's sitting there with, you know, four siblings, no dad.

Speaker 1 Is there part of you? Go back, go back, go back, go back, watch.

Speaker 1 I'm just trying to paint a picture.

Speaker 1 But it must be for you, Sean. It must be mind-blowing that he's always.
You're talking to Elton John. Yeah, it always is.
Your buddy.

Speaker 1 You're buddies. You kind of suppress it because you can't believe it.
So you kind of stuff it down.

Speaker 3 I believe the sign-off was buy honey.

Speaker 1 is what

Speaker 1 you call it. You said by honey.
Sir, Elton John. And you went with honey.

Speaker 1 You know where he gets that?

Speaker 1 You know where he developed that that from? It's from Jimmy Burrows.

Speaker 1 You know what Burroughs calls everybody honey?

Speaker 1 Honey, one more time. You're like, I'll do the scene again.
Stop calling me honey in front of the crew.

Speaker 1 Yeah, it's such a habit now.

Speaker 1 I know. Everybody from Will and Grace calls everybody honey.
But yeah, no, he, yes, exactly. Well, thank you for saying that.

Speaker 1 Yeah, but when people would come on Will and Grace, or I would like Elton John was on Will and Grace or whatever it was, or whoever I meet in this business, you just filled with, always filled with gratitude when you wake up.

Speaker 1 That's, that's where it all starts from. And if you're there, then everybody's on the same playing field, right?

Speaker 1 Everybody's like, you as much, that's me trying to suppress, like, oh my God, it's fucking hell, John, you know, but you're like, wow, it's, yeah, anyway, it's my long answer.

Speaker 1 Well, it's a thrill to play. I know JB is playing golf with Thomas Rhett today.
Like, I know his whole schedule. You know, like, just to be able to play, am I right?

Speaker 1 You are right. You are right.

Speaker 1 He texted me during the show.

Speaker 1 He's such a great guy. And he said, hey, man, I wish you were playing today because obviously you're not enough.

Speaker 1 And so, which is, which is but i mean honestly even jb you're not even a musician you don't even know what music is for you elton john and brandy must be a thrill

Speaker 3 i have to admit i think i was more nervous for that than i can remember i think i've probably been more nervous for some of these but i can't remember which one i don't remember it's been a while like i i've got tons and tons and tons of questions here and i couldn't bring myself to ask any of them of either one of them i just didn't know where to start

Speaker 1 what to help

Speaker 1 to say. Right, because you want to do the

Speaker 1 Chris Farley thing where he interviews famous people. He's like, like, you know, when he did Tom Cartney, remember when you were the beat.

Speaker 3 He was both of them too with Brandy. It's just like, I'm just not sure what to say to people like that.

Speaker 1 I wanted to ask him about every song. Like, how did you think of it? And where did it come from? And you just know he's so old.
Well, thank God you waited till he was gone again.

Speaker 1 Well, but I wanted to be respectful of Brandy. I didn't want to just make it all about him.
And I wanted to make it about the album.

Speaker 1 Brandy gets it too. I mean, she's such an accomplished singer-songwriter.
She's amazing. Honestly, that tribute for Jimmy Buffett last year,

Speaker 1 she brought the house down. She was unbelievable.

Speaker 3 Yeah, she was stunning.

Speaker 1 And Give Up the Ghost really is a great album. I love that.
Anyway.

Speaker 3 Yeah, she's got an incredible presence.

Speaker 3 I had no idea, though, that they were such close friends and that they vacationed together for 20 years. They've been buddies.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1 Yeah. You know what? Listen, I think there's the only one thing that I can say.

Speaker 1 Having them here today. Yeah.
Having them today. And I just want to say, you know, it's nice to say, it's nice to say hello to some new friends.
Oh, no.

Speaker 1 But it's also nice to say goodbye.

Speaker 1 Goodbye.

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Speaker 1 Try Claude for free at claude.ai/slash smartless and see why the world's best problem solvers choose Claude as their thinking partner.