Elton John: The Lockdown Sessions (2LP)

"The Lockdown Sessions" - the name of Elton John's new album says it all. All the recordings on the record have in common that they were recorded or released during the current global pandemic. "The last thing I wanted to do during the lockdown was make an album. But as the pandemic continued, one-off projects kept popping up," the singer said. For 18 months he worked on the record, together with some notable colleagues, including Eddie Vedder, Charlie Puth, Young Thug, Stevie Nicks, The Gorillaz, Stevie Wonder, Nicki Minaj and more But, special times called for special approaches, "Some of the recording sessions had to be done remotely, via Zoom, which of course I had never done before. Some of the sessions were recorded under very tight security: We were working with another artist, but separated by panes of glass," says Elton John What eventually came out were 16 songs, new and previously released collaborations, original songs and cover versions, for example of "It's A Sin" by the Pet Shop Boys or Metallica's "Nothing Else Matters". The complete track listing and all contributors on "The Lockdown Sessions" can be found below. On the song selection and sessions, John said, "But all the tracks I worked on were really interesting and diverse, very different from anything I'm known for, something that took me out of my comfort zone into a whole new area. And I realized that this way of working was strangely familiar to me. Early in my career, in the late '60s, I was working as a studio musician. Working with various artists during the lockdown reminded me of that time. I had come full circle: I was a session musician again. And it was still a lot of fun." The song "Cold Heart", along with British pop singer Dua Lipa and Australian electropop duo Pnau, is the first single from "The Lockdown Sessions" to be released. With numerous awards, six Grammys, an Oscar, a Golden Globe and a Tony Award, and 300 million records sold to boot, Elton John is one of the most successful artists in music history. In August 2018, he was named the most successful male solo artist in the history of the Billboard Hot 100 chart, with 67 entries, including nine No. 1 placements and 27 top 10s