Category Archives: elton john

Elton John Brands Labour Ministers ‘Absolute Losers’ Over AI Copyright Row

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Elton John on the BBC this morning.
Elton John on the BBC this morning.

Sir Elton John has branded Labour ministers “absolute losers” amid the row over artificial intelligence (AI) laws.

The world-famous pop star said science secretary Peter Kyle was “a bit of a moron” for considering allowing tech companies to use artists’ work to create content without paying for it.

The row centres around the government’s Data (Use and Access) Bill, which is currently going through parliament.

Ministers last week rejected proposals from the House of Lords to force AI companies to disclose what material they were using to develop their programmes.

Speaking to the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg, Sir Elton said the government’s current plans would allow AI firms to “commit theft, thievery on the highest scale”.

“Some people aren’t like me, they don’t earn as much as I do,” he said.

“When they’re creative, and it comes from the human soul and not from a machine – because a machine is not capable of writing anything with any soul in it – if you’re going to get rid of that and you’re going to rob young people of their legacy and their income, it’s a criminal offence, I think.

“I think the government are just being absolute losers. I’m very angry about it, as you can tell.”

Sir Elton said Keir Starmer needed to “wise up” about the threat to the creative industries and that Kyle – who has been accused of being too close to tech giants – was “a bit of a moron”.

Responding to Sir Elton’s comments, Cabinet Office minister Nick Thomas-Symonds said: “The government is trying to find a way forward that is dealing with the concerns that are being raised quite passionately by the cultural sector, but also making sure that we maintain that world-leading position in AI.

“Pursuing those two objectives is the balance we need to strike.”

The minister also said he “profoundly disagreed” with Elton John’s claim that Peter Kyle is “a moron”.

A government spokesperson said: “We want our creative industries and AI companies to flourish, which is why we’re consulting on a package of measures that we hope will work for both sectors.

“We’re clear that changes will be considered unless we are completely satisfied they work for creators.”

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Elton John Gets Candid About Studio ‘Outbursts’ Making New Album: ‘I Was A Nightmare’

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Sir Elton John has admitted he was a “nightmare” to deal with while putting together his latest album.

For his next release, the British music icon teamed up with fellow Grammy winner Brandi Carlile for a full-length collaborative album recorded in under three weeks.

On Thursday, a short film detailing the recording of the project was shared online, showing Sir Elton and Brandi in the studio together.

In the footage, Sir Elton was seen having a fair few of his infamous tantrums, slamming down his headphones, snapping at his collaborators, tearing up song lyrics and threatening to walk out of the session entirely.

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The following day, The Guardian published a joint interview with the musical pair, in which they spoke candidly about what went on in the studio.

“I was very grumpy, I was tired, I didn’t feel well and I was extremely nervous, and that nervousness caused quite a few sparks to fly,” the Candle In The Wind singer recalled.

Brandi later disclosed that during the recording process, Sir Elton smashed his iPad and a pair of headphones in what she described as “really amazing, classic Elton John outbursts”.

“My lyrics got torn up and thrown on the ground,” she recalled. “He goes: ‘Fuck off, Brandi.’ He would yell: ‘Predictable! Cliché!’”

Sir Elton added that while he eventually settled into the process once three songs were completed, he “was a bit of a nightmare” prior to that.

A short film about the making of Who Believes In Angels? shows Sir Elton John losing his temper on more than one occasion
A short film about the making of Who Believes In Angels? shows Sir Elton John losing his temper on more than one occasion

YouTube/Elton John

Elsewhere in the interview, Brandi said that while she never told her collaborator that he’d crossed a line, “there were definitely points that I felt that”.

In a voiceover for the short film released this week, Sir Elton could be heard saying: “The reality is, I was exhausted. I had a lot of doubt, and I was a nightmare. [I was] angry, I was tired, I was irritable. There was tension in the studio.

“And I thought, ‘I don’t want to do it’. And then I thought, ‘there’s other people involved, I can’t abandon it’. And once we got going, Jesus!”

In the archive footage, Brandi also admitted that she was “having a hard time connecting to Elton”, revealing in voiceover: “There were times I thought, ’why does he want to do this? Why is he going from Glastonbury to making an album with me?’.”

Sir Elton’s temper was previously a major theme in the 1997 documentary Tantrums And Tiaras, directed by his future husband David Furnish.

His and Brandi’s album Who Believes In Angels? is released on Friday 4 April. Watch the music video for the title song, directed by David LaChappelle, in the video below:

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