Brandi Carlile on Writing Elton John's 'Never Too Late' Doc Theme: 'He Doesn't Like to Say Nice Stuff About Himself'

Mar. 15, 2025

Brandi Carlile in March 2024; Elton John in January 2020.Photo:Taylor Hill/WireImage; Steve Granitz/WireImage

Taylor Hill/WireImage; Steve Granitz/WireImage

Elton Johnknows there was only one person who could help him write the music for his upcoming documentary epic that tells the story of his meteoric rise — and that wasBrandi Carlile.

“The Story” singer Carlile, 43, is featured on the soundtrack for the upcoming Disney+ documentaryElton John: Never Too Latein the form of the film’s title track. According to a press release from Disney, the song “Never Too Late” is heard over the documentary’s credits, and it played a huge role in the direction of the project.

The pair collaborated extensively to come up with the track’s lyrics, per the press release, meeting for dinner many times during the summer of 2023 after John, 77, had finished hisFarewell Yellow Brick Roadtour. After Carlile saw a rough cut of the documentary for the first time, the song was born.

Elton John and Brandi Carlile in February 2023.Kevin Mazur/Getty

Kevin Mazur/Getty

Speaking withBillboardabout the song and accompanying documentary on Friday, Nov. 15, John revealed that he thought Carlile’s song “just summed up the whole of the documentary perfectly."

“What she saw she wrote down in a very concise way and summed up the whole of that hour and 40 minutes of time in a lyric, which was incredible,” the pop star added.

According to Carlile, the “I’m Still Standing” singer’s “forward thinking” and the inspirational messages in the film are what kept her feeling reassured about the project and so confident in her abilities to write the lyrics for “Never Too Late.”

The poster for ‘Elton John: Never Too Late.'.Disney+

Disney+

Carlile continued: “I think I took a page out of his book and just didn’t look back and I just gave them to him. But now, in retrospect, yeah, that should have been f—ing terrifying because he’s absolutely a cornerstone of everything that I am, not just musically, but he’s influenced me as an activist and as a mother and a gay person living in the world."

“Never Too Late” is available to streamnow. The filmElton John: Never Too Late’s U.S. and U.K. theatrical run begins Friday, Nov. 15 and will debut on Disney+ Dec. 13.

source: people.com