Devil Wears Prada: Elton John says one of his new songs reminds him ‘of an ABBA song’
"It's one of my favourite songs I've ever written"
Sir Elton John has teased his “up-tempo” new music for the upcoming musical The Devil Wears Prada.
Speaking at a launch event for the musical at Claridge’s in London yesterday, the pop icon said the production’s title track reminds him “of an ABBA song.”
“The penultimate song in Act One is called The Devil Wears Prada, and it reminds me of an ABBA song. It’s one of my favourite songs I’ve ever written,” the star said.
“I’m taking this to Broadway and I want Vanessa to win the Tony” – Elton John
Speaking to Attitude and other press, our current cover star said: “The film is a classic and it’s aged brilliantly and fashion and music go together so well, so there were so many scenes in the film that were crying out for music. It was a no brainer for me.”
“It’s fantastic to be able to write for this kind of musical because it’s not Shakespeare, it’s absolutely so much fun. It’s got fantastic costumes, an incredible cast, and brilliant choreography.”
The 75-year-old added: “It’s taken a long time – about 10 years – these things don’t come together quickly and we’ve had a few bumps in the road.
“But I’m so excited about seeing this musical and David’s [Furnish] been my eyes, as he was on Billy Elliot.”
“It’s uptempo” – Sir Elton John on the music for The Devil Wears Prada
“It’s so much fun. It’s dance,” said the ‘Rocket Man’ singer of the music. “It’s just so much fun, it’s dance. It’s a real fun up-tempo musical and I just think people are going to go crazy and dance the night away to this musical.”
The star also said: “I’m taking this to Broadway and I want Vanessa [Williams, who stars in the musical] to win the Tony.”
The Devil Wears Prada musical is based on the 2003 novel of the same name by Lauren Weisberger. The book was previously adapted into a film starring Meryl Streep.
The ‘Goodbye Yellow Brick Road’ singer continued: “It’s a great night out. People will want to come and see this musical. They’l love it. They’ll come three or four times. It’s hard [though] – I’ve never come three or four times in my life!”
Speaking about touring in his recent interview with Attitude, Elton said: “We went to Glastonbury, and we smashed it there, and when I did the last show in Stockholm, I got in the car and David said, ‘How do you feel?’ I went, ‘I’m so happy.’ I understand why Adele wants to stop because there’s more to life. I’ve done nearly over 5,000 shows in my life and I’ve done all there is to do, and so I just knew that my boys and David needed me, and I need them.”
Elsewhere in the interview, the star – known for songs like ‘I Guess That’s Why They Call It the Blues’ and ‘Your Song’ – added: “When David [Furnish] first started managing me and we were talking about a five or six-year plan, he said, ‘Well, you always said you were going to die on the stage because we didn’t have anything else.’ We were two affluent gay people going around the world with a nice philanthropic side to us, but there was no other purpose other than that. Having the children changed everything for the better because now it’s all about them.
“It’s all about their welfare and their future and it’s not about me and it’s not about him. We’re very comfortable in our relationship. We get better and better and better, but it’s the children that just really inspire us and it’s the most wonderful time of my life at the moment, and that’s pretty amazing.”
To read Elton’s full interview in the Attitude Awards issue 2024, order your copy now or check out the Attitude app.