Elton John and Brandi Carlile today unveil their new original song ‘Never Too Late (From The Film “Elton John: Never Too Late”)’. A collaboration between these long time friends and artistic kindred spirits, ‘Never Too Late’ is an original composition inspired by, and written specifically for, the forthcoming Disney+ documentary ‘Elton John: Never Too Late’. Listen here.
A beautiful, reflective and ultimately uplifting story of finding happiness and redemption in love and family, ‘Never Too Late’ is the truly fitting finale to the documentary that plays out over the credits of the documentary of the same name. Already receiving an avalanche of critical acclaim as it’s swept through the world film festival circuit including Toronto International, New York and London, ‘Elton John: Never Too Late’ receives a limited theatrical release today before arriving on Disney+ on 13th December. The documentary follows Elton as he looks back on his life and the astonishing early days of his 50-year career in an emotionally charged, intimate and inspiring full-circle journey. Directed by R.J. Cutler and David Furnish the documentary premieres on 13th December 2024, on Disney+. Watch the trailer here.
The eponymous song ‘Never Too Late (From The Film “Elton John: Never Too Late”)’ was co-written by Elton and eleven time GRAMMY winning US superstar Brandi Carlile in the summer of 2023, as Elton adjusted to life off the road after completing his record breaking ‘Farewell Yellow Brick Road’ tour. Over dinner the friends discussed life, family, future plans and fledgling projects to collaborate on. As the evening wore on Elton and documentary co-director David Furnish screened Brandi an unfinished and as-yet-untitled early cut of their forthcoming documentary. The emotional impact on Brandi was profound. It inspired her to start writing a new song in the third person, taking influence and guidance from Bernie Taupin in the way his deeply observational and personal lyrics have perfectly channelled Elton’s voice and journey over the years. Upon hearing the finished ‘Never Too Late’, filmmakers David Furnish and R.J. Cutler were so moved by the sentiment of the lyrics and melody they adopted the lyric as the documentary’s title and the closing credits music.
Brandi says, “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. 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.”
Elton says ‘When Brandi told me she was so inspired by the early cut of the documentary that she wanted us to 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. I know Bernie 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.’
‘Never Too Late’ is produced and co-written by multiple GRAMMY winner Andrew Watt. Like Brandi, Watt also has a long, storied history with Elton. He first encountered Elton after co-opting him to add piano and vocals to Ozzy Osbourne’s 2020 album Ordinary Man: he subsequently produced six tracks on Elton’s chart topping album “The Lockdown Sessions” and ’Hold Me Closer’, Elton’s collaborative global hit single with Britney Spears.
‘Never Too Late (From The Film “Elton John: Never Too Late”) is available to stream now here
The documentary ‘Elton John: Never Too Late’ arrives on Disney+ on 13th December
Brandi Carlile is an 11 times GRAMMY Award-winning singer, songwriter, performer and producer, 2x EMMY Award-winning composer, lyricist and writer, #1 New York Times Bestselling author and activist, who is known as one of music’s most respected voices. Throughout her acclaimed career, Carlile has released seven studio albums including her most recent, the 3x GRAMMY-winning In These Silent Days. Additionally, Carlile continues her work as a renowned producer with recent GRAMMY Award-winning projects from Joni Mitchell and Brandy Clark. She also produced and recorded a rendition of Indigo Girls’ “Closer To Fine” with her wife, Catherine, which was included
on Barbie The Album as well as a version of “Home,” which was featured in the final season of Ted Lasso.
Beloved by her peers, Carlile has collaborated with artists such as Elton John, The Highwomen, Soundgarden, Alicia Keys, Hozier, Noah Khan, Jacob Collier, P!nk and Dolly Parton. Carlile was named OUT Magazine’s 2023 “Icon of the Year,” awarded Billboard’s Women In Music “Trailblazer Award,” CMT’s Next Women of Country “Impact Award” and NMPA’s 2023 Songwriter Icon Award and received multiple recognitions from the Americana Music Association. On top of being a musician and writer, Carlile is a founder of the Looking Out Foundation, which has raised over $6 million for grassroots causes to date. Carlile lives in rural Washington state with her wife and two daughters, Evangeline and Elijah.
Elton’s career achievements to date are unsurpassed in their breadth and longevity. Elton is one of the top-selling solo artists of all time. In the UK and US charts alone he has 2 Diamond, 43 Platinum or Multi-Platinum, and 26 Gold albums as well as over 85 Top 40 hits. He has sold more than 300 million records worldwide.
Among the many awards and honours bestowed upon him are six GRAMMYs, including a GRAMMY Legend award, a Tony, two Oscars, a Best British Male Artist BRIT Award, induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame, the Kennedy Center Honor, Legend of Live Award, 13 Ivor Novello Awards and a knighthood from HM Queen Elizabeth II for “services to music and charitable services”. In January 2024, Elton John joined Hollywood’s elite group of EGOT winners after securing his first-ever EMMY Award for his historic Disney+ live, concert special Elton John Live: Farewell from Dodger Stadium.
He holds the record for the biggest-selling physical single of all time, “Candle in the Wind 1997,” which sold over 33 million copies. Released in 2017 ‘Diamonds’ the Ultimate Greatest Hits album, became Elton’s 43rd UK Top 40 album and has spent over 300 consecutive weeks in the top 75 of the UK album charts, over 200 of these in the top 20. This release celebrated 50 years of his songwriting partnership with Bernie Taupin. It reached a UK peak position of No. 2 in July 2023, achieving 4 times Platinum status in the process and is the longest charting album of Elton’s career 62-deep catalogue.
August 2018 saw Elton named as the most successful male solo artist in the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart history, having logged 71 entries, including nine No. 1s and 29 Top 10s. ‘The Lockdown Sessions’, an album of collaborations recorded during the COVID-19 Pandemic, was released in October 2021 and went straight to No. 1 in the UK album Charts, becoming Elton’s 8th UK No. 1 album in the process. Its lead single “Cold Heart (PNAU Remix) with Dua Lipa” became a bona fide global hit, reaching No. 1 in over 20 charts world-wide, including the UK and Australia. Its success meant that Elton became the first ever solo artist to score a UK Top 10 hit single in six consecutive decades. In America, he holds the record for longest span between Billboard top 40 hits among soloists at 51 years and currently has logged 57 entries. Elton also holds the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart record with 18 No. 1s and 76 total songs. Summer of 2022 saw another global smash single, as Elton and Britney Spears released ‘Hold Me Closer’, a Top 5 hit in the UK and a No. 1 hit in the Australian single charts.
Elton announced the ‘Farewell Yellow Brick Road’ tour at New York’s Gotham Hall in January 2018. The tour kicked off on 10th September 2018 in North America and subsequently saw Elton play 330 shows to over 6.25 million fans across the UK, Europe, North America, and Australia. The shows marked his retirement from touring after more than 50 years on the road. In 2019 it was named Billboard’s Top Rock Tour and Pollstar’s Major Tour Of The Year. The U.S. leg of the tour concluded with 3 sell out shows at Dodger Stadium. The concert was live streamed on Disney + in every single territory the channel broadcasts in, a global first. Elton headlined Glastonbury’s Pyramid Stage in June 2023, the final UK show before the Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour concluded. The Sunday night closer was widely heralded as one of the greatest performances in the festival’s rich history, attracting one of the largest crowds ever witnessed at the festival. It also received the biggest ever televised audience for a Glastonbury set, reaching 7.6m overnight on BBC1. Elton has delivered more than 4,600 performances in more than 80 countries since launching his first tour in 1970.
2019 also saw the release of ‘Rocketman’ and global bestselling autobiography, ‘ME’. An epic fantasy musical motion picture of Elton’s life, ‘Rocketman’ has been a commercial and critical hit, taking close to $200m at the box office. It has won an Oscar, two Golden Globe Awards and a Critics’ Choice Award and garnered four BAFTA nominations. The soundtrack was also nominated for a GRAMMY Award. ‘Elton John: Never Too Late’ follows Elton as he looks back on his life and the astonishing early days of his 50-year career in an emotionally charged, intimate and uplifting full-circle journey. Directed by R.J. Cutler and David Furnish the documentary premieres in December 2024, on Disney+.
In 1992, Elton established the Elton John AIDS Foundation, which today is a leader in the global fight against HIV/AIDS. So far the Foundation has raised more than $600 million for HIV/AIDS grants, funding more than 3,000 projects in over 90 countries. In June 2019 President Emmanuel Macron presented Elton the Légion d’honneur, France’s highest award, for his lifetime contribution to the arts and the fight against HIV/AIDS. Elton was awarded the Companion of Honour in the 2021 New Year Honours list in the UK. The highest acknowledgement in the list, Elton became one of only 64 people to hold the Honour. September 2022 saw President Biden awarding him the National Humanities Medal in recognition of his storied career and advocacy work to end AIDS.
Always a tireless champion of new artists, Elton has been a leading industry voice in lobbying the government for young artists visa-free touring rights in Europe post Brexit.
In 2024, Fragile Beauty opened at the V&A Museum to widespread critical acclaim. Running until 2025, the exhibition showcases an unparalleled selection of the world’s leading photography from Elton and David Furnish’s collection.
