Charlie Puth Says Elton John Told Him the Music He Released in 2019 'Sucked': 'I Agree'

Elton John knows a thing or two about crafting hit singles — so when he weighed in with some constructive criticism for Charlie Puth, the star was all ears.

The "Light Switch" singer, 30, opened up about his recent collaboration with John, 74, on The Kelly Clarkson Show, and revealed that the legendary musician did not mince words when it came to feedback on some of Puth's most recent work.

"He was brutally honest with me. He said my 2019 music sucked," Puth recalled. "And I agree with him. It was not good… He just basically said that I could make a lot better music and he said that I should just make it myself like I always do."

Puth was not deterred by John's criticism, and instead felt as though the famed piano man made a fair point.

"I was like, 'Wow, you're the first person that's ever said that to me. But I was thinking the exact same thing when he said that," Puth told Clarkson.

While it remains unclear which specific songs John wasn't a fan of, Puth released several singles in 2019 that failed to make a splash, including "I Warned Myself," "Mother" and "Cheating on You."

The singer told Zane Lowe on Apple Music 1 last month that he felt as though the tracks "didn't feel very authentic."

"I didn't really like any of the music I put out in 2019, and I didn't want to make an album of that," he said. "I felt like I was kind of pretending to be a cool guy."

Puth's conversations with John happened as the two prepared to work together on The Lockdown Sessions, an album of collaborations released by John in October.

They recorded the song "After All" together, while John also teamed up with other artists like Dua Lipa, Miley Cyrus and Lil Nas X.