Elton John criticises pop stars who don’t write their own music: ‘They’re not real songs’

John says that most modern music is ‘made by a computer’

Elton John has taken aim at modern pop musicians for not writing their own music.

The “Rocketman” singer appeared on BBC Radio 6 Music on Wednesday (26 August) where he shared his frustration with the music that dominates the charts, saying that they weren’t “real songs”.

John, 73, said that he was a fan of artists who write their own music, singling out singer-songwriter Father John Misty and 21-year-old musician and internet personality Conan Gray as two of his favourites.

“Conan’s from America and he’s the only person in the American Spotify Top 50 to actually write the song without anybody else,” the musician said.

“Everybody else there’s four or five writers [per track]. You look at most of the records in the charts – they’re not real songs. They’re bits and pieces and it’s nice to hear someone write a proper song.”

John on stage in February (Getty Images)

John suggested that while there were artists out there writing their own music, they weren’t being prioritised by radio stations or music streaming websites.

“I like people who write songs,” he said. “There’s plenty of people that do but a lot of them don’t get played on the radio because they’re too sophisticated and we get songs made by a computer all the time and I’m not interested in that.”