Brandi Carlile on Writing Elton John Doc Song: “I Wanted People to Understand What I See in Elton” (Exclusive Video)

After watching an early cut of the documentary Elton John: Never Too Late, Brandi Carlile felt inspired to write a song about one of her musical heroes. 

“I wanted to write a song after I’d seen the documentary about his latter-day serenity and how he just will not accept the concept of aging. He’s just not going to grow old or he won’t do it,” Carlile says in an exclusive video as she discusses the track. “I wanted people to understand what I see in Elton, which is just that he’s really, really tough, but loving person.”

That’s how “Never Too Late,” the song, was born. It plays over the credits of the documentary and Carlile, who also sings on the track alongside John, co-wrote it with the EGOT winner, Bernie Taupin and Andrew Watt. The film’s directors — R.J. Cutler and David Furnish, John’s husband — were so moved by the sentiment of the lyrics and melody that they adopted the lyric as the documentary’s title.

Never Too Late, which streams on Disney+ on Dec. 13., follows John as he looks back on his life and the early days of his 50-year career.

“I’ve been such a fan of hers for over 20 years,” John says of Carlile. “I just thought it would be great to do a duet, because it’s not just my perspective, it’s someone else’s perspective. When I saw the words, ‘You’re an iron man, baby,’ what do you mean I’m an iron man, baby? She said, ‘Well, you survived everything. You’ve been through it.’ It was brilliant in the studio, and it was just a lovely feeling, all four of us being in the studio recording this. It feels like a new beginning.”

Watch the exclusive clip above.