Sir Elton, 74 – who posted a rhinestone star graphic on Instagram listing other collaborators including Miley Cyrus and Nicki Minaj – said yesterday that he had not planned to use the time to make another record.

But he continued: “As the pandemic went on, one-off projects kept cropping up.

“Some of the recording sessions had to be done remotely, via Zoom, which I’d obviously never done before.”

He added: “But all the tracks I worked on were really interesting and diverse, stuff that was completely different to anything I’m known for, stuff that took me out of my comfort zone into completely new territory.”

Released on October 22, The Lockdown Sessions features newly recorded tracks as well as music that Sir Elton worked on during the restrictions caused by the pandemic.