Elton John Believes The Lion King Remake Messed Up The Music

Speaking The Truth

Sir Elton John has always been pretty straightforward about his opinion on things. And for the 2019 remake of the classic film The Lion King, he didn’t mince words in expressing his disappointment especially when it came to the soundtrack. Beyoncé, Donald Glover, Billy Eichner and Seth Rogen took on the Elton John composition Can You Feel The Love Tonight.

He told British GQ, “The new version of The Lion King was a huge disappointment to me, because I believe they messed the music up. Music was so much a part of the original and the music in the current film didn’t have the same impact. The magic and joy were lost. The soundtrack hasn’t had nearly the same impact in the charts that it had 25 years ago, when it was the bestselling album of the year.”

The new Lion King soundtrack only peaked at #13 on the US Billboard 200 and while Beyoncé’s The Lion King: The Gift debuted at #2, it quickly dropped to #21.

Elton added, “The new soundtrack fell out of the charts so quickly, despite the massive box-office success. I wish I’d been invited to the party more, but the creative vision for the film and its music was different this time around and I wasn’t really welcomed or treated with the same level of respect. That makes me extremely sad. I’m so happy that the right spirit for the music lives on with the Lion King stage musical.”

The 1994 Lion King‘s soundtrack, meanwhile, became the biggest-selling soundtrack from an animated film. It topped the charts in several countries and went 10x platinum in 1995.