Elton John says there is only one music act on earth bigger than Taylor Swift..

Elton John says there is only one music act on earth bigger than Taylor Swift..

Elton John was full of praise for Taylor Swift and said he would be open to a duet with her, having performed with other stars in the past including George Michael and Dua Lipa

Elton John is open to doing a duet with Taylor Swift and has said she is the biggest thing in music “since the Beatles”.

The 77-year-old as enjoyed huge success for over 50 years himself, but asked about more recent global icon Taylor Swift, he compared her reach with the Fab Four – who he made clear he thinks are the most famous musicians on the face of the earth.

On a new duet, Elton said: “With Taylor Swift? I don’t have no problems with singing with Taylor Swift. She’s a great songwriter. She’s a great artist. And she’s a phenomenon. I’ve never seen a phenomenon like that since The Beatles. And she works her ass off. So good luck to her.

“Well Brandi Carlile collaborated with me on the song for the film, Never Too Late. And so that was someone I really wanted to sing with. I’ve known her for 20 years and I love her. She’s one of our best friends.”

He added: “There are plenty of young singers around. I mean, it’s been a summer and a year of the great female singers and songwriters with Chappell Roan, Billie Eilish, Taylor Swift, Olivia Rodrigo, Charlie XCX, Gracie Abrams. They’ve just ruled it. And they’ve made records that are really good songs. And they’ve brought a lot of joy to the people. And the songs are really good songs. So I’m happy to sing with any of those people.”

Elton was speaking at Toronto international film festival where he is promoting the world premiere of documentary film Elton John: Never Too Late from co-directors RJ Cutler and Furnish.

But an eye infection means he struggled to watch his own film. He said: “I couldn’t really see it because of my eye, but I sensed it, I’d seen it before. I don’t know, seeing it with an audience is far more emotional than just seeing it with a bunch of people. And I got more out of it than I did when I saw it the first time. And it hit harder. And I really, really enjoyed it.

The first time I squirmed a bit because I don’t like seeing myself on stage very much or on film. But I enjoyed it. I enjoyed everything about it.”

Elton went on: “And I forget certain things, but some of the old footage was quite remarkable because that was the lead vocal of Candle In The Wind.

“And I just found myself looking so wistful. And it wasn’t a pleasant time for me, as the film said at the time we were writing it. I tend to look forward so much that I don’t look back. And so when you look back at the footage of some of the playing and the juggling and the studio stuff, you think ‘Oh we weren’t bad’.”