Elton John discussed using teleprompters at concerts in a new Apple Music Rocket Hour broadcast with Joni Mitchell, as transcribed by Britpopnews.
Elton: I remember going to a concert at Disney Hall where Brandi Carlile sang the whole album [‘Blue’], without a teleprompter, and I said she was crazy. God, I wouldn’t have had the courage to do that. How did that feel to you as someone singing that whole album, which is, from start to finish, it is one of the classic records of all time. And I was sitting next to you and the joy from your face was amazing.
Joni: Yeah, well she did such a good job. There have been a lot of covers of my songs but she’s very true to the original. So it was kind of like going to my own concert.
Elton: There’s only one person in the world that could have done that, and that’s Brandi. Because your songs are so hard to sing … ‘Blue’ is an astonishing album. And as I say, it has had its resurgence, which must have made you very, very happy.
Joni: Oh, God. Marcy came in and said to me, “Joni, you’re Number 1”. I said, “What do you mean I’m Number 1?” And she told, that’s how I learned that ‘Blue’, 50 years after its release had gone to Number 1. That’s just crazy. It was fun, though.
