Charlie Puth is opening up about a major “wake-up call” after receiving criticism from Elton John, explaining that it helped him reflect on his music career and his process in the studio.

The two artists joined forces and collaborated in Elton’s latest album ‘The Lockdown Sessions’ for the track ‘After All’ however Charlie recalled the moment he received a harsh comment while at a restaurant in Los Angeles.

“When you write a song, it’s important to tell the truth, and I wasn’t kinda doing that in 2019. And the person who kind of awoken my senses was none other than Elton John,” Charlie continued, revealing that Elton said to him “You know, your music sucked in 2019. It wasn’t good.”

The 30-year-old singer was not expecting to receive Elton’s criticism, explaining that “it was like a gut punch, but I had been thinking that as well. It was kind of a wake-up call,” adding, ”I was in denial a little bit and then the whole world shut down and I was able to kinda sit with my new way of making music and just decided that I would never put out a song again if it weren’t the truth.”

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Charlie has definitely changed his process since, with fans sharing positive comments about his latest hit song ‘Light Switch,’ and with the singer admitting that his new album will be “the most me music ever.“