Lady Gaga teaming up with Elton John

Recording artist Sir Elton John and singer Lady Gaga. Photo / Getty Images

Lady Gaga is teaming up with Elton John even though he does not have good things to say about her most recent solo album.

Gaga is currently recording tracks for her next album, the follow-up to her 2013 release Artpop, and has already hit the studio with Mark Ronson to produce a collaboration.

It has now emerged she is also lining up her longtime friend for songwriting sessions, and they planned to work together this week.

The Rocket Man star let slip the news during an interview with DJ Zane Lowe on his Beats 1 show, explaining, "I'm writing with Gaga tomorrow."

John also revealed he is a big fan of Gaga's new music, adding, "I've heard two songs, which are killer. They're just great songs. It's like back to the early stuff of hers - like You and I and... Bad Romance ... They're not complex... They're not complex arrangements, but they are great songs. It's all about the song."

He admitted Gaga made "bad creative (decisions)" with Artpop, but he still thinks she is a good songwriter.

"Artpop was not a great idea," he added. "It was not a good album and I think she would admit that ... I think she's a great writer. To me, she is (real name) Stefani Germanotta and I love her and I care about her - she's godmother to my two children. And I want her to go and make a kind of simple, fabulous, great song record. Maybe like (Carole King album) Tapestry, but her version."

Gaga recently credited John with helping her deal with the fallout from Artpop, which received mixed reviews and suffered a large drop in sales after its first week of release, prompting some critics to deem the album a failure.

She also lavished praise on Tony Bennett, who helped her recover by recording a duets album, Cheek To Cheek, with her.

"There is nobody more bada** than Tony Bennett," she told Billboard magazine.

"That man is a part of the history of music in a way that is extremely powerful, and he taught me to stay true to who I am, to not let anybody exploit me.

"He is responsible in so many ways for making me happy, and I can say the same for Elton.

"When the whole industry turned their back on me during Artpop, they were the ones who said, 'Hey, this is a blip. It's going to go away'."

- WENN