Elton John says ‘The X Factor’ and ‘American Idol’ are “just the worst” for new artists: “Go and play in a pub”

nme.com:

Elton John has said talent shows like The X Factor and American Idol are “the worst” for aspiring artists, and has instead advised them to “go and play in a pub”.Ahead of the release of ‘Who Believes In Angels?’, the upcoming collaborative album he has made with Brandi Carlile, the two musicians sat down with Rolling Stone to discuss the record, and how best to nurture emerging talent.“Just keep trying to play live,” Elton advised. “That’s the way you improve as a musician and songwriter.

It doesn’t matter if you’re playing to 40 people. The more experience you get playing to nobody, the better. Because when I played in Musicology, we played to hardly anybody sometimes,” said Elton.“That experience stood me in great stead for when I became Elton John because I had backbone.

And backbone is so important, because the worst thing that can happen to you in the industry are things like X Factor and instant fame on television where you have no experience of playing live.“You get put on stage, you go, and you can’t do it.