Sir Elton John broke down in tears for 45 minutes while recording a deeply personal song about mortality.

Speaking on the SmartLess podcast, the music legend, who turns 78 on March 25, revealed that the emotional moment hit him while working on When This Old World Is Done With Me for his new album.

“I get to the chorus and, of course, it’s about my death,” he said. “And when you get to my age, which is near 100, you think, ‘How much time have I got left?’”

Elton, who retired from touring in 2023, admitted the realisation overwhelmed him. “You’ve got children, you’ve got a wonderful husband, you just think about mortality,” he shared.

His emotional reaction, captured in his documentary Elton John: Never Too Late, left him weeping in the studio.

Brandi Carlile, who worked on the album with him, recalled the raw moment. “He got to the end of that chorus, and his voice started to shake. I thought, ‘Oh, he’s going to really go.’ And he did,” she said.

Elton also admitted he struggled with self-doubt during the recording process.

In the documentary, he’s seen slamming his headphones down, calling a session a “f***ing nightmare,” and storming out. “I was in a very dark place of doubt,” he later told BBC Radio 2.

But after pushing through, he found his rhythm again. “It just flew, and it was amazing,” he said.