High praise indeed.
Continuing his recent trend of lavishing praise on Irish acts, Elton John has called Kneecap ‘amazing’ and ‘brave’ in a new interview with the Irish language hip-hop group.
The ‘Rocketman’ icon spoke to Kneecap members Mo Chara, Móglaí Bap and DJ Próvaí as part of his Apple podcast ‘Rocket Hour’.
The episode will be released later today (Saturday, 28 September) at 5pm but a clip of their discussion has been posted online.
In it, Elton can be seen saying to Kneecap: “I find that your music tackles controversial subjects, and you said that unless we make a topic of it, or unless we make fun of it, it is never going to get any better.
“I think you are very brave to do that. You are very brave to speak out. You come from a humorous place. It just makes me happy.
“Now, you wouldn’t think an old softie like me would be interested in Kneecap, but I am because of the energy, the music, the power. Not many people have that power.
“I wish you so much luck on your touring. I will try and come and track you down, give you a big hug and we’ll have a great time. But I think you’re amazing.”
You can watch the clip below:
Well well a chairde Gael!
— KNEECAP (@KNEECAPCEOL) September 27, 2024
We're joining @eltonjohn on his #RocketHour 🚀 radio show tomorrow (Saturday) on AppleMusic 🍏 (5pm BST) https://t.co/xGB7bB3RoN pic.twitter.com/aJPA6LRgvz
This comes after Elton recently called Irish rockers Fontaines DC ‘the best band’ in the world right now.
With the recent release of their fourth, and arguably most mainstream album yet, Romance, the post-punk group have reached a new level of success – even catching the eye of the ‘Tiny Dancer’ singer.
@fontainesband Grian chatting to @Elton John on @Apple Music. #fontainesdc #eltonjohn ♬ original sound – Fontaines D.C.
Also speaking to Fontaines DC lead singer Grian Chatten as part of his Apple podcast ‘Rocket Hour’, Elton told the Skerries native: “For me, you’re the best band out there at the moment, having watched you at Glastonbury, having heard the new album.
“You’ve just grown every album and you’ve seemed to have found your feet with this album.
“I just think this is the album that breaks you through to the act that you always promised to be from a popularity standpoint and the music is just so great.”
He added that the record is “going to stay around for a long, long time”.
Elton also recently had Irish singer CMAT and Irish band Soft Launch on ‘Rocket Hour’.
Praising CMAT, he said he “absolutely” loved her second album Crazymad, For Me and called her a “vibrant, wonderful woman”.
Featuring ex-Strypes member Josh McClorey, Elton also said that Soft Launch make “really great interesting pop records”.
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