Charlie Puth: why is Elton John reliable for his songwriting revolution? 

Known as the musician with THE most perfect pitch, Charlie Puth is the guy who always takes his fans with him in the studio with vast behind-the-scenes content (see “Light switch”). But what we didn’t know until recently is the person who inspired him to let go of his emotional walls and be truthfully honest in his songwriting, elevating his style and act.  

It’s not a secret that musicians and songwriters are 100% exposed when writing songs, as they put out there all their emotions and thoughts. Imagine performing a song you’ve written about a certain someone in front of thousands of people… is that daunting? Well, we all know the answer but when it comes to music being fragile means being truthful and authentic to yourself. It’s more authentic to write about breakups, your mental state, etc., than to write songs that are not you just for the sake of writing something. And also don’t forget that fans and listeners are normal human beings just like songwriters; they relate to songs that are fragile and sing their hearts out with lyrics that make them feel heard. 

Back to Charlie, while he was a guest at the Ellen Show, the artist revealed that an awfully honest comment made by the “Your Song” singer, Elton John, made him realise that authenticity and honesty are the key to success…

“The most important thing you can do, for all the songwriters watching this, when you write a song, it’s important to tell the truth. I wasn’t really doing that in 2019,” he mentioned at The Ellen Show. “The person who awoken my sense was none other than Elton John.” As Charlie said, when he met Elton at a restaurant he said to him: “You know, your music sucked in 2019. It wasn’t good.” – which is not a really pleasant thing to hear as a musician, but for Charlie it was the wake up call he needed to take his craft to whole new levels. 

Charlie continued: “I was going through a messy breakup, and I think that was also going alongside it. It was kind of a wake-up call. I was in denial a little bit,” “Then, the whole world shut down and I was able to sit with my new way of making music and just decided I would never put out a song again if it weren’t the truth.”

And referring to his upcoming releases he said: “…in the spirit of telling the truth, it’s the most ‘me’ music ever.”

Watch Charlie Puth performing “Light Switch” on The Ellen Show here

Sources: Billboard