Elton John and Brandi Carlile on Co-Writing and Recording Title Song for His ‘Never Too Late’ Documentary: ‘It Feels Like a New Beginning’

variety.com:

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic Elton John harbors a strong resistance to living in the past, so even though the new documentary “Elton John: Never Too Late” is filled with retrospective glories, it made sense that he would want the film to go out on a brand new song.

Or, as the case may be, a Brandi new song. Brandi Carlile saw the film and was moved to write the words that would give the doc not just a title song but a title — becoming his brown dirt cowgirl, as it were, for the simple task of encapsulating his entire state of being, at this mellowing but still-unretired stage of his life.

In taking on that mission, she went where other lyricists would fear to tread… with the exception, of course, of actual brown dirty cowboy Bernie Taupin, who is credited as a co-writer on the track along with producer Andrew Watt.

John looked over these verses and quickly came up with a typically elegant melody, which he and Carlile recorded as an uplifting duet.