Elton John Says He Hated the Idea of Releasing Another Solo Album: ‘I Would Have Killed Myself’

Elton John was not keen to release another solo album.

In an interview with Zane Lowe for Apple Music 1 on Friday, April 4, the legendary singer/songwriter opened up about how he really felt about doing another project on his own ahead of the release of his collaborative LP Who Believes in Angels? with Brandi Carlile.

According to John, 78, the pair “planned this album,” which they made with the rock icon’s long-time co-writer Bernie Taupin and producer Andrew Watt.

“I knew that I didn’t want to make the same album again,” he said. “I knew that if we did do this album with Bernie and Andrew, it would be a challenge. But I wanted the album to move forward because, I’m always trying to look forward.”

He added: “If I had just made another Elton John record, I would’ve killed myself.”

According to John, he “needed” “The Story” hitmaker, 43, to make this record.

“I needed her talent, her energy, her humor and her brilliant lyrics,” he said. “I’ve got two of the greatest lyric writers in the world. Bernie and Brandi. The lyrics in front of me, if you can’t write great songs for those then, that’s my great talent, to be able to interpret those beautiful lyrics quickly.”

John noted it was like an “express train” when they got to work.

The “Tiny Dancer” musician further explained how the spirit of friendship helped shape this album.

“It was a much different experience, not the fact of just writing the songs, but when you’ve got four people’s opinions and you want to make sure that you respect their opinions, and you want to make sure that you’ve got all this essence of lyrics right for the album,” said John.

Because it wasn’t just him making the project solo, he had “a responsibility” to everyone else involved.

“I had the chance to make a combined record with four incredibly talented people,” said John, adding: “My responsibility was to make sure that the record sounded like all four of us. And it does. I’m so proud of this record because it achieved everything that I wanted to.”

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

John and Carlile will appear as musical guests on Saturday Night Live on Saturday, April 5 and will host a one-hour concert special in honor of their new album called An Evening with Elton John and Brandi Carlile.

The special will air on CBS on Sunday, April 6 at 8 p.m. EST and will be available to stream on Paramount+.

Who Believes in Angels? is out now.