Charlie Puth says Elton John saying his music ‘sucked’ was a ‘wake-up call’: ‘I’d been thinking that as well’

Singer said John’s comments came as a ‘gut punch’

Charlie Puth has described Elton John telling him his music “sucked” as a “wake-up call”.

Appearing on The Ellen DeGeneres Show on Wednesday (13 April), the “We Don’t Talk Anymore” singer recalled his encounter with John in 2019, following the release of his 2018 album Voicenotes.

“When you write a song, it’s important to tell the truth,” he said. “I wasn’t really doing that in 2019 and the person who awoke my senses was none other than Elton John.”

The pair met at a restaurant in West Hollywood, where the “Rocketman” singer told Puth: “‘How are you, hi… You know, your music sucked in 2019. It wasn’t good.’”

Puth said that, while the comments came as a “gut punch”, he had already been “thinking that as well”.

“I was going through a messy breakup and I think that was also going alongside it,” he said. “It was kind of a wake-up call, a little bit. I was in denial a little bit… [I] decided I would never put out a song again if it weren’t the truth.”

John and Puth have since gone on to collaborate musically, performing together at the Global Citizen Live concert in Paris last year.

Elton John and Charlie Puth on stage together (Getty Images For Global Citizen)

Earlier this year, Puth was defended by Billie Eilish after producer Benny Blanco called him a “f***ing loser” for “sitting in a room all day and making TikToks”.

In her own clip, Eilish, who looked unimpressed, responded to the video, stating: “What do you do all day, Benny? The same thing. Literally, the same thing.”

Puth has more than 16 million followers on the video platform, where he documented the process of making his new song “Light Switch”.