#Rina Sawayama Taps Elton John for New “Chosen Family”: Listen

Rina Sawayama has released a new version of her song “Chosen Family,” featuring the one and only Elton John. The new track comes with a music video, showcasing Sawayama and Elton John performing together at the piano. Watch below.

“Chosen Family” was originally released on the London-based artist’s 2020 album SAWAYAMA. Discussing the new version in a statement, Sawayama said:

It was such a joy and honour to rework “Chosen Family” with the legendary Elton John. The song means so much to both of us, and recording it together was such a special experience I will never forget. I got shivers when I heard his voice through the monitor and became emotional when he added the piano parts. Elton has been such a huge supporter from before the album, and when we finally met to record this song we clicked from the get go. I hope people can hear the magic!

In his own statement, Elton John called Sawayama “an extraordinary talent,” adding, “Rina doesn’t just represent the cross-cultural mix of inspiration from which the best music always thrives, but a generation who have grown up with the internet and the entire history of music at their fingertips and mix together whatever they please with real love and understanding, unconstrained by old ideas of genre or boundary. To my mind, she’s the brightest embodiment of this: a brilliant, confidence-oozing, endlessly fascinating songwriter and performer.”

Read the Rising interview “Rina Sawayama on Her Wildly Eclectic and Disarmingly Personal Debut Album.”