Elton John Teams Up With Alice In Chains | The Quietus

Elton John Teams Up With Alice In Chains

Singer makes appearance on new album

Legendary singer Elton John will make a guest appearance on the new Black Gives Way To Blue album by American rock titans Alice in Chains.

John contributes to the title track, which is a tribute to the Alice in Chains’ late lead singer Layne Staley.

"We were thinking about adding piano to the track and a friend suggested we call Elton," said guitarist and vocalist Jerry Cantrell. "I remember laughing and saying, ‘Yeah, I’ll get right on that.’ But I decided it was worth trying and wrote Elton an email explaining what that song means to us — that it’s a real, raw openhearted song for Layne.

"We sent him the track and got a call shortly after saying he thought it was beautiful and that he wanted to play on it. We were blown away. Elton John is a huge influence on me as a songwriter and having him on that song is an amazing honor for us."

John said: "I’ve long been an admirer of Jerry Cantrell and when he asked me to play on ‘Black Gives Way To Blue,’ I was very flattered and couldn’t resist.

"It was a great recording session with Alice In Chains for a beautiful song."

Black Gives Way To Blue is released on September 29.

The Quietus Digest

Sign up for our free Friday email newsletter.

Support The Quietus

Our journalism is funded by our readers. Become a subscriber today to help champion our writing, plus enjoy bonus essays, podcasts, playlists and music downloads.

Support & Subscribe Today