They say honesty is the best policy, and that's just what Charlie Puth needed to take his music to the next level.

While appearing on The Ellen DeGeneres Show on Wednesday, the singer recalled receiving some harsh criticism from Elton John that made him reevaluate things.

"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 began.

After explaining that the two met at Craig's restaurant in Los Angeles, he shared that the English singer told him, "You know, your music sucked in 2019. It wasn't good."

Instead of getting bent out of shape about the unexpected feedback, Charlie turned it into an opportunity to get better.

"It was like a gut punch, but I had been thinking that as well. It was kind of a wake-up call," the "Light Switch" singer admitted. "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."

Speaking of "Light Switch," Charlie also performed the song on Ellen.  His forthcoming self-titled album, Charlie, is due out this year.

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