Elton John and Brandi Carlile appeared on The Tonight Show to recount how their joint LP, Who Believes in Angels?, came to be. John described getting a letter from Carlile while doing his residency in Las Vegas nearly 20 years ago, noting that he “already knew who she was.”
“She wrote me a letter and explained that she’d been a fan of mine ever since she was a kid,” John told Fallon. “And I was the reason she wanted to make music. And Bernie’s lyrics were the reason she wanted to write lyrics.”
The letter asked if John would ever consider playing on one of Carlile’s tracks and he called her to say yes and invited her to Las Vegas. “The minute she arrived in the studio I fell in love with her,” he admitted. “And I fell in love with her talent, her voice. But more than that, I fell in love with the person. And we’ve become firm friends. We’re like family.”
John added that he loves “cooperating with new people” so responding to Carlile was a “no-brainer.” “It was a serendipity moment,” he noted. “Since I’ve known her I’ve always wanted to record with her.”
The duo also described writing and recording Who Believes in Angels?, which is out now. John said they went into the studio with nothing prepared because that is how he approaches collaboration these days. “I knew how I wanted it to sound, but you can’t plan that,” he said. “So it was very anxious. And there was a lot of tension in the first three or four days of the album.”
Carlile added, “I had all this self-doubt, too, and it really manifests itself differently in me than it does Elton. I felt very quiet and internal in those first few days. But it didn’t take long before I realized it was working.”
John and Carlile recorded Who Believes in Angels? with Bernie Taupin and Andrew Watt. They began working on the album back in October 2023 and are backed by an all-star band that includes Chad Smith (Red Hot Chili Peppers), Pino Pallodino (Nine Inch Nails), and Josh Klinghoffer (Pearl Jam, Beck).
“This record was one of the toughest I’ve ever made, but it was also one of the greatest musical experiences of my life,” John said in a press release. “It has given me a place where I know I can move forward. Who Believes In Angels? feels like going into another era, and I’m pushing the door open to come into the future.”
Elsewhere on The Tonight Show, John and Carlile joined Fallon and Sinners actress Hailee Steinfeld for a game of “Password.”