Brandi Carlile is ‘really sad’ about not being able to sing with Elton John at the Oscars

As things stands now, the producers of the Academy Awards telecast have decided not to feature performances of the best original song nominees, which means we won’t be able to see Elton John performing “Never Too Late,” his nominated song from his Disney+ documentary. And his co-writer on the song, Brandi Carlile, who’s dreamed of sharing Oscar glory with Elton for years, is “really sad” about that.

In a virtual roundtable for the Songwriters Hall of Fame, which is available to watch online now, Brandi says, “On one hand, I feel really sad because I don’t know if I’ll ever get a chance to perform on the Oscars again. I can’t fathom it, especially with Elton John.”

“When I first found Elton John, it was in the ’90s, and he was winning an Oscar for The Lion King, and I couldn’t believe it,” she continues. “I thought, ‘One day when I grow up, if I could get the right clothes, I could go to his Oscar party.’ So to have the opportunity to perform with Elton John on the Oscars is a hard thing to not have manifest.”

But on the other hand, Brandi shares, “I feel a lot of relief from getting to … come in on Elton’s arm and to get the lay of the land and not have a lot of pressure on me because it’s already just almost unimaginable to be nominated for one. So I could go either way … I just can’t believe I’m in the conversation.”

The roundtable also features discussions about songwriting inspiration and process with the other nominated writers, including Diane Warren, who wrote “The Journey” from the movie The Six Triple Eight, and the writers of the nominated songs from the films Sing Sing and Emilia Pérez.