Elton John wasn’t sure he remembered his own hits after being off the road for so long

Elton John has played his legendary hits countless times, but he admits that he’s gotten a bit rusty since the pandemic forced him off the road.

In a special 300th episode of his long-running Apple Radio show Elton John’s Rocket Hour, Elton interviews singer-songwriter Yola. While discussing the prospect of returning to live concerts, Elton admits, “Last Saturday I had to do a charity show on my own, just me and the piano. I hadn’t sung for over a year. In the afternoon, I was sitting at my piano at home, which I never play, and I was rehearsing songs.”

“I [was thinking], ‘Even though I[‘ve] played these songs thousands of times, if I go there tonight and I f**k this up, I will look so stupid,” he continues. “So I was quiet, we had house guests, and I was trying to be as quiet as a mouse and I was trying to rehearse stuff.”

“I’m thinking, “God, if they could hear me now,'” he laughs. “They’re thinking, ‘How many times has he sung that? Why is he rehearsing?’ [But] if you haven’t done it for a long time, you got to do it, right?”

Elton is set to resume actual live concerts September 1 in Berlin, Germany. The North American leg of his Farewell Tour arrives in the U.S. in January of 2022.