Elton John Teams with Singer Rina Sawayama for a New Version of Her Song ‘Chosen Family’ — Watch the Lyric Video

We don’t need to be related to relate. It’s the sentiment behind a new duet of “Chosen Family,” a song from London-based singer/songwriter Rina Sawayama and collaborator Sir Elton John.

The lyric video for the track was debuted on Wednesday, and features the legendary singer/pianist and Sawayama sharing an intimate performance space, trading off verses in the gentle ballad.

#ChosenFamily is out now! @rinasawayama ❤️🚀 xxx

Watch the video: https://t.co/Dl5Ol19G92#RINAELTON pic.twitter.com/xrExDX1kVz

— Elton John (@eltonofficial) April 14, 2021

More choice lyrics preaching unity and love:

We don’t need to be related to relate
We don’t need to share genes or a surname
You are
You are
My chosen
Chosen family
So what if we don’t look the same?
We been going through the same thing
You are
You are
My chosen
Chosen family

Hand me a pen and I’ll rewrite the pain
When you’re ready, we’ll turn the page together
Open a bottle, it’s time we celebrate
Who you were, who you are
We’re one and the same, yeah, yeah

Sawayama, 30, released her debut full-length album, Sawayama, in April 2020 via Dirty Hit. It was on that album that the original version of “Chosen Family” made its debut in its original form.

Said the singer in a statement about this collaboration:

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!

And Sir Elton — who also referred to Sawayama as “an extraordinary talent”:

“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.”