Who Believes in Angels? is a collaborative studio album by British musician Elton John and American musician Brandi Carlile. It was released on 4 April 2025,through Interscope Records.[3][4] The album is produced by Andrew Watt,and was recorded at Sunset Sound Recorders in Los Angeles.[4] The record was announced on 5 February 2025,alongside the release of its title track.[4] It is John's thirty-third studio album and Carlile's eighth.
John and Carlile have previously collaborated on the song "Simple Things",which appears on John's collaborative album The Lockdown Sessions (2021),as well as "Never Too Late",the theme to John's 2024 documentary of the same name;the latter appears on Who Believes in Angels?[1] In addition to Carlile,lyrics were also contributed by John's longtime songwriting partner Bernie Taupin;Watt also shares songwriting credits on the album.[3]
The album received positive reviews by music critics,being praised both for writing and production of the songs. Commercially it debuted at number one on the United Kingdom and Switzerland's charts,and reached the top-ten in Germany,Austria and New Zealand. In the United States,the album debuted at number nine on the Billboard 200.
Background
Recording for the album began in October 2023,a process in which John,Carlile and Watt "pushed each other out of their comfort zones to write and record an album completely from scratch in just 20 days",according to a press release.[1][5] Musicians contributing to the album include Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith,former Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist and multi-instrumentalist Josh Klinghoffer,and session bass guitarist Pino Palladino.[3][6]
John described the album as "one of the toughest I've made" and "one of the greatest musical experiences of my life."[4] Among the struggles relating to the album is John's vision loss in relation to an eye infection.[4][7] Carlile described the recording process as being in "an incredibly challenging and inspiring environment to work in,everybody throwing in ideas,everybody listening to everybody else's ideas."[1]
Promotion
The album's title track was released as the first single on 5 February 2025 alongside the announcement of the album. In addition to the single,a short film documenting the making of the song was released to YouTube on the same day.[8] On 7 February,a music video for the single was released. Directed by David LaChapelle,the video depicts John and Carlile performing the song in a Captain Fantasticpinball machine (the design of which references John's 1975 album Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy),supported by backup dancers impersonating Tina Turner and Little Richard.[8]
John and Carlile performed a concert at the London Palladium for the CBS special An Evening with Elton &Brandi. Its soundtrack is set to be released on vinyl as part of Record Store Day Black Friday 2025 in November.[9]
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According to the review aggregator Metacritic, Who Believes in Angels? received "generally favorable reviews" based on a weighted average score of 79 out of 100 from ten critic scores.[10]
The album debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart with 22,843 album-equivalent units,[22] becoming John’s tenth album to achieve it and Carlile’s first.[23] John also joined Kylie Minogue and Michael Jackson as the fifth artist with the most topper albums on the chart.[24]
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