Since becoming a globally recognized icon, Elton John has had to overcome hardship despite having climbed nearly every peak in the music industry. Despite having millions of devoted fans and being a household brand, his record label once declined to release one of his studio albums.
Elton is a music industry veteran who is at ease living outside of the hit parade. He has already spent decades at the top of the charts, therefore he doesn’t think his new releases will be able to compete with today’s pop performers, who are more recognizable to younger fans. Even yet, his name still carries an invaluable aura of importance.
With the 2019 release of his biography, Rocketman, Elton has grown more relevant in the general public and may perhaps surpass his peak popularity. Furthermore, his farewell performance at the 2023 Glastonbury Festival turned out to be a historic occasion in the festival’s history, drawing nearly the whole Worthy Farm audience to the Pyramid Stage to see his last UK tour performance.
However, John was no longer in high standing with his record label less than ten years prior to his debut and last headline performance at Glastonbury. Even while this seems ridiculous right now given his current position, things in the music business can change quickly, and John is currently receiving the attention he deserves.
Plus, all the labels would be happy to release his new record.
John finished recording Wonderful Crazy Night in 2015, and Capitol Records was supposed to release the album. But even though they were signed to the label, they refused to be connected to the LP, which put John in danger.
John shared his thoughts about the experience and the reasons it turned out to be a blessing in disguise in an interview with Rolling Stone. “I have to say, I was gutted,” the singer acknowledged. “This is a really good record, and I don’t understand why they’re not releasing it,” I thought to myself. But they’ve been kind to me.
“I was so upset for about a week,” he went on. “But then David Massey and I showed up at Island, and they are so happy.” Their label features several up-and-coming musicians. I am by far the oldest of their artists. I have buddies that are in The Killers. At the age of 68, I have produced thirty-three studio albums. At this age, all I’m asking for is that they like it, be excited about it, and give it their all. All I can ask for is this.
John found the move to be straightforward because Universal Music Group owns both Island Records and Capitol Records. But if they hadn’t been open to the record either, the English musician may have been left with an album he couldn’t play for his audience. Fortunately, this proved not to be the case.
John acknowledged that he is no longer “going to sell a million albums,” but Wonderful Crazy Night was nevertheless a global hit, ranking in the top ten in a number of different countries.
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