The Lockdown Sessions is the upcoming thirty-second studio album by English singer, songwriter, pianist and composer Elton John. It is set to be released through EMI and Mercury Records (Interscope Records in the US) on 22 October 2021. The album was recorded during the last 18 months of the COVID-19 pandemic after John paused his Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour due to the pandemic.
The lead single, "Cold Heart (Pnau remix)" with Dua Lipa, combines elements of John's 1989 song "Sacrifice", his 1972 hit "Rocket Man", his 1976 album track "Where's the Shoorah?" and his 1983 single "Kiss the Bride" and was released on 13 August 2021. Among the previously released tracks is the Surfaces collaboration "Learn to Fly", released in June 2020; John's duet with Rina Sawayama on her Sawayama album track "Chosen Family"; Gorillaz' track "The Pink Phantom" from their 2020 album Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez that John appears as a guest on alongside 6lack; John's cover of the Pet Shop Boys' "It's a Sin" along with Years & Years, released in May 2021; Miley Cyrus' version of "Nothing Else Matters" featuring John alongside various other guests, released in June 2021 from Metallica's upcoming album The Metallica Blacklist; and John's upcoming collaboration with Lil Nas X titled "One of Me" from Lil Nas X's upcoming debut studio album Montero.
Besides these, the record will also feature collaborations with artists including Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder, Brandi Carlile, Charlie Puth, Lil Nas X, Nicki Minaj, Young Thug, and Stevie Nicks.
John explained the project in a statement: "Some of the recording sessions had to be done remotely, via Zoom, which I'd obviously never done before. Some of the sessions were recorded under very stringent safety regulations: working with another artist, but separated by glass screens. But all the tracks I worked on were really interesting and diverse, stuff that was completely different to anything I'm known for, stuff that took me out of my comfort zone into completely new territory. And I realised there was something weirdly familiar about working like this. At the start of my career, in the late 60s, I worked as a session musician. Working with different artists during lockdown reminded me of that. I'd come full circle: I was a session musician again. And it was still a blast."
