Elton John announces new album featuring Lil Nas X, Stevie Nicks, Nicki Minaj and more

Yesterday (31 August) Elton John teased an announcement for today (1 September) and tagged artists including Lil Nas X, Stevie Nicks, Nicki Minaj, Dua Lipa, Rina Sawayama and many more.

This afternoon he's announced The Lockdown Sessions, which features 16 collaborations that were recorded remotely over the past 18 months.

Some of the tracks have already been released, including Dua Lipa collaboration "Cold Heart", his cover of "It's A Sin" with Years & Years, Rina Sawayama's updated version of "Chosen Family", his appearance on Miley Cyrus' cover of Metallica's "Nothing Else Matters", Surfaces collaboration "Learn To Fly", and his appearance on Gorillaz's "The Pink Phantom" with 6LACK.

John says of the album, "The last thing I expected to do during lockdown was make an album. But, as the pandemic went on, one‐off projects kept cropping up. Some of the recording sessions had to be done remotely, via Zoom, which I’d obviously never done before. Some of the sessions were recorded under very stringent safety regulations: working with another artist, but separated by glass screens. But all the tracks I worked on were really interesting and diverse, stuff that was completely different to anything I’m known for, stuff that took me out of my comfort zone into completely new territory. And I realised there was something weirdly familiar about working like this. At the start of my career, in the late 60s, I worked as a session musician. Working with different artists during lockdown reminded me of that. I’d come full circle: I was a session musician again. And it was still a blast."

Tracklist:

1. Elton John & Dua Lipa – Cold Heart (PNAU Remix)
2. Elton John, Young Thug & Nicki Minaj – Always Love You
3. Surfaces feat. Elton John – Learn To Fly
4. Elton John & Charlie Puth – After All
5. Rina Sawayama & Elton John – Chosen Family
6. Gorillaz feat. Elton John & 6LACK – The Pink Phantom
7. Elton John & Years & Years – It's a sin (global reach mix)
8. Miley Cyrus feat. WATT, Elton John, Yo-Yo Ma, Robert Trujillo & Chad Smith – Nothing Else Matters
9. Elton John & SG Lewis – Orbit
10. Elton John & Brandi Carlile – Simple Things
11. Jimmie Allen & Elton John – Beauty In The Bones
12. Lil Nas X feat. Elton John – One Of Me
13. Elton John & Eddie Vedder – E-Ticket
14. Elton John & Stevie Wonder – Finish Line
15. Elton John & Stevie Nicks – Stolen Car
16. Glen Campbell & Elton John – I’m Not Gonna Miss You