Elton John has said the internet is killing creativity and should be shut down.

He believes that the technology was stopping people going out and interacting with other artists, as well as making the general population too passive.

“Hopefully the next movement in music will tear down the internet," he told The Sun in an interview.

“Let’s get out in the streets and march and protest instead of sitting at home and blogging. I do think it would be an incredible experiment to shut down the whole internet for five years and see what sort of art is produced over that span."

He described himself as a luddite when it comes to technology and said he didn't own a mobile phone or an iPod.

In the past however he has been more than willing to use the internet, this year putting his entire back catalogue online for paid downloads. He also streamed his 60^th birthday concert at New York’s Madison Square Garden live online.

In the interview John also decried the state of modern music:

“In the early seventies there were at least ten albums released every week that were fantastic," he said.

“Now you’re lucky to find ten albums a year of that quality. And there are more albums released each week now than there were then.”