Elton John and Brandi Carlile have shared a new song called ‘Never Too Late’, which has been written for an upcoming documentary about the Rocket Man. Check it out below.
The Disney+ film, titled Elton John: Never Too Late, follows the musician as he reflects on his life and 50-year career as he prepared for his final North American stadium show at Los Angeles’ Dodger Stadium in November 2022.
The film will “pull back the curtain” on Elton’s life, featuring “never-before-seen concert footage of him over the past 50 years, as well as hand-written journals and present-day footage of him and his family.” It also received its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September.
Now, in time for its limited theatrical release in the US and the UK today (November 15) – before its premiere on Disney+ on December 13 – both Sir Elton and Brandi Carlile have shared a new track, written specially for the project.
Called ‘Never Too Late’, the eponymous song was co-written by the two of them as the ‘Tiny Dancer’ singer wrapped up his record-breaking ‘Farewell Yellow Brick Road’ world tour in 2023.
“It’s never too late for a wide-open slate/ A kiss from a stranger/ A thousand first dates/ You’re an iron man, baby/ To hell with Heaven’s gate/ It’s not a moment too soon if it’s never too, never too late,” Sir Elton sings in the hopeful opening verse. Check out the song below.
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According to a new press release, filmmakers David Furnish and R.J. Cutler were so impacted by the lyrics and melody, that they adopted the lyric as the documentary’s title and the closing credits music.
“I found the early cut of the documentary that went on to become ‘Elton John: Never Too Late’ so moving. It was really amazing to see historic footage of Elton and the trajectory of his life. But as fantastic and as beautiful as everything was that we were all witnessing as fans, his life was also pretty lonely and difficult at times,” said Brandi Carlile.
“And I thought that the documentary illustrated a really important sentiment, because he might not have ever found his serenity and his peace, but he did find it, and he found it later in life. And it is never too late – too late to find the love of your life, or to start a family, or to change your mind about anything.”
Sir Elton added: “When Brandi told me she was so inspired by the early cut of the documentary that she wanted us to co-write a new song for it, I was thrilled. I’ve known for a long time how great she was but still, reading her lyrics and co-writing with her on the music was deeply moving.
“Especially given how personal it is to see, seeing my life on the screen, she just perfectly captured the essence of the documentary and why I stopped touring to spend more time with my family. I’m constantly astonished by her craft, she can channel my voice in a way only Bernie has managed to do before,” he added. “I know Bernie [Taupin, songwriter] helped guide Brandi on that. The standard of her musicianship, her songwriting, her passion for what she does are sensational. She truly is one of the greatest there is.”
Last month, the director of the forthcoming documentary spoke about how the early part of Sir Elton’s career came at a “dark time”.
“I shared with David that there was a great story to be told about the first five years of his career. Between 1970 and 1975, Elton released 13 albums in five years, seven of which went to Number One,” R.J. Cutler told IndieWire.
“It was a remarkable creative output at a time when rock and roll didn’t know what its future was. The Beatles had broken up, the [Rolling] Stones weren’t touring. Jimi [Hendrix] was dead. Janis [Joplin] was dead. It was a dark time.”
Meanwhile, John is not done releasing new music just yet. In May, his friend and co-writer Bernie Taupin revealed that John’s 32nd studio album is “all done and recorded”.
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