Sir Elton John "played Ernie Wise" to Stevie Wonder's Eric Morecambe on their new collaboration

He explained: "I kind of played Ernie Wise to his Eric Morecambe.

"My vocal is pretty straight, but there he is singing like [he does on] 'Superstition'. I haven’t heard him sing like that for a long, long time, and that was magical, to hear him stretch out."

Elton has worked with a host of younger artists in recent months - including The Weeknd and Dua Lipa - but he admits to having an "old-fashioned" approach to songwriting by comparison.

He told the Guardian newspaper: "I went in the studio and wrote something with The Weeknd when I was [in Los Angeles].

"Whether he’ll release it or not, I don’t know, but it was fascinating to see the way he works. I write songs from start to finish, I’m old-fashioned; these people take bits of melodies and make a collage.

Songwriting doesn’t have to be the same old form of songwriting."

Last month, meanwhile, Elton postponed his 2021 UK and European tour after suffering an injury.

The music icon "fell awkwardly" over the summer and he therefore decided to postpone his tour dates until 2023.

He explained: "At the end of my summer break I fell awkwardly on a hard surface and have been in considerable pain and discomfort in my hip ever since.

"Despite intensive physio and specialist treatment, the pain has continued to get worse and is leading to increasing difficulties moving.

"I have been advised to have an operation as soon as possible to get me back to full fitness and make sure there are no long-term complications."