The record only exists because the 79-year-old music legend's eyesight troubles forced him to rebuild his entire creative process from scratch.
His longtime collaborator, Bernie Taupin, has a rough idea of when the LP is out, though nothing is concrete yet.
The songwriter told Rolling Stone: “Well, he’s got a record coming out, I think, at the beginning of next year that I contributed to. But I literally don’t know when that is. He did it with Andrew Watt again. And he wrote it in a completely different way simply because of his eyesight problem.”
Explaining Elton's new approach to his craft, he said: “So he basically came up with instrumental tracks and threw basically three or four of them at me and said, ‘Can you do something with these?’ Which I contributed to. But he’s also worked with a couple of other people on there, which is great. So it’s a whole different ballgame for him.”
New duet from George Michael and Elton John is on the way. The two started work on a song called ‘This Kind Of Love’ in the ‘90s, and the late singer’s manager is now seeing if he can get permission to release it over three decades later.
George Michael‘s former manager has expressed hopes to release a previously-unfinished duet that the late pop icon recorded with Elton John. (NME report)
The former WHAM! singer was a close friend of Sir Elton’s, and worked with him on a chart-topping remake of ‘Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me’ in the 1990s, following them singing it together at Live Aid in 1985. He died on Christmas Day in 2016 due to issues related to heart and liver disease.
That look he gives to the picture of his friend, the lovely George Michael, on what would have been his 60th birthday. 💔#eltonjohn #Glastonbury #glastonbury2023 pic.twitter.com/58C3Mih0Nq
— Eddie Burfi (@EddieBurfi) June 25, 2023
Now, his former manager Andros Georgiou has revealed that the ‘Careless Whisper’ singer once started work on a duet with Sir Elton – providing vocals for a song called ‘This Kind Of Love’.
The track has remained unfinished and unreleased for over three decades now, however Georgiou has expressed hopes to add the final touches and release it posthumously.
The manager spoke about the song in The Sun’s Bizarre column, promoting his new film Trojan Souls. The movie centres on Michael’s unreleased 1993 album of the same name, which was set to see him collaborate with big names including Stevie Wonder, Sade, Seal and Aretha Franklin, but ultimately got shelved due to disputes with the label.
“Elton came in to do a song called ‘This Kind Of Love’,” Georgiou told the outlet, adding that he has also got an “incredible interview with Elton that no one has seen” yet, which he is “saving for when the film gets snapped up by a streamer like Apple.”
In that interview, the manager said, Sir Elton shares his admiration for the ‘Freedom! ’90’ singer and adds that he would “literally do anything for George.”
Speaking to The Sun about the unreleased track, Georgiou said that he and Michael “focused on finishing that song first because we knew Elton was going to come in.” He also added that both vocal parts were recorded separately, and he is now seeking approval from Sir Elton to finish the song and release it.
“I’ve got George singing the track and Elton singing the track, so the dream is to make another track,” the manager said. “I would have to ask Elton’s permission to put the vocals together. I’m sure Elton would say yes because he was blown away by the song and was a huge supporter of George.”
