Elton John says what new musicians should do to succeed

One of the most successful songwriters of all time, with an estimated amount of more than 300 million records sold worldwide, Elton John is certainly someone you should listen to if you want advice about how to become a successful and influential musician.

The artist who recently released a new collaborative album talked about what new artists should do instead of chasing instant fame.

Elton John says what new musicians should do to succeed

To Elton John, the main thing new artists need to do is to take risks, go play in a pub and in different places because that’s the way a musician can gain experience and improve as a songwriter and performer. That’s what he told Rolling Stone UK recently.

“Just keep trying to play live. That’s the way you improve as a musician and songwriter. It doesn’t matter if you’re playing to 40 people. The more experience you get playing to nobody, the better. Because when I played in Musicology, we played to hardly anybody sometimes. That experience stood me in great stead for when I became Elton John because I had backbone.”

“And backbone is so important, because the worst thing that can happen to you in the industry are things like X Factor and instant fame on television where you have no experience of playing live. You get put on stage, you go, and you can’t do it. That’s the worst thing. American Idol — just the worst. Take risks. Go and play in a pub,” he said.

Elton recently released “Who Believes in Angels?”, a collaborative album with Brandi Carlile. The album mixes Elton-led songs and Brandi-led songs, with long term collaborator Bernie Taupin and Brandi both contributing lyrics, and producer and co-writer Andrew Watt acting as the producer, mediator and creative conduit.