Bernie Taupin is an English singer, lyricist, and poet best known for his long-term collaboration with Elton John. Being not so good at studies he left his school to work as a trainee in a local newspaper. His luck shone on him in 1967 when a major music company posted an advertisement for the requirement of a lyrics writer.
Eventually, he came into the eyes of singer John Elton, who had just started his career. He was hired personally by John and for the next four decades, their partnership blossomed and made them both internationally famous artists. Their collaboration has been helmed as one of the best singer-lyricist duos of all time. Let’s know more about him and his career through this article.
What is Bernie Taupin famous for?
- An English lyricist, poet, and singer.
- His long-term collaboration with Elton John, having written the lyrics for most of John’s songs.
How old is Bernie Taupin?
Recalling his early life, Taupin was in Sleaford, Lincolnshire, England in the year 1950 as Bernard John Taupin. Currently, he aged 69 years. His father’s name is Robert Taupin and his mother’s name is Daphne. Whereas his father was a farmer and his mother used to work as a nanny. Similarly, He holds British citizenship and his ethnicity is mixed. Further, His birth sign is Gemini.
As he grew up, there was no electricity around his place till the time he turned 5 years old and the family also suffered financial troubles. He was brought up along with his other two brothers as the middle child to his parents. At the age of 15, he left his school and went on to work as a fresher with a local newspaper, The Lincolnshire Standard.
During his late teenage period, he reverted to an advertisement in the local newspaper for a job offer for new songwriters. Ray Williams was looking out for a lyricist for Elton John’s song that became the reason for the collaboration between Elton and Bernie.
How Bernie Taupin become a lyrics writer?
- Moving towards his career, Taupin’s lyrics writing career officially kick-started in the late 60s by chance. Elton John was one of the talents in a major record company and he wanted to hire a lyricist. He somehow came across Bernie’s poems and out of many others, he liked them best.
- Since then, He has penned down several of Elton’s songs for almost four decades working together on thirty albums. There was also a time when Bernie and John worked with separate artists but somehow, they ended up coming back together time and again.
- Both of them had worked occasionally during the 70s but the success of the above-mentioned albums formed a bond between the two.
- After the early 80s, He started working as John’s primary lyricist. Some of the best songs that Bernie wrote for John are Rocket Man, Crocodile Rock, The Bitch is Back, Daniel, Sad Songs, Nikita, Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me and Your Song.
- Through John’s international and national fan following, He slowly started to attain fame as well. Side by side, he kept writing personally and for other musicians as well.
- It explained that he wrote the lyrics separately and would hand it over to John. Without even consulting him and changing the lyrics to fit the music, John simply recorded music on them. This was a very unusual process of working together, far away from the typical international standards.
- However, in the later years of their collaborations, the working process had become much more co-operative. For some specific songs, He started visiting the recording studios with John. Bernie wrote the lyrics for all the 11 songs in the musical.
- In the same year, they celebrated 40 years of collaboration with the release of John’s album titled The Captain and the Kid.
- For the first time in his career, He appeared on the album cover for the same. He worked with bands such as Heart and Starship. From time to time, He has also produced solo albums.
- Further, in the 90s, He released a poetry collection titled The Devil at High Noon.
- They had their first Broadway musical open in March 2006 with Lestat: The Musical. He wrote lyrics for 10 songs for John’s 2006 album The Captain & The Kid and appeared on the cover with him for the first time marking their 40th anniversary of working together.
- On 25th March 2007, He made a surprise appearance at John’s 60th birthday celebration at Madison Square Garden, briefly discussing their 40-year songwriting partnership. They also composed several songs for The Union, a collaboration album between Elton and his longtime hero Leon Russell released in October 2010.
- They also collaborated on five original songs for the 2011 Miramax movie Gnomeo and Juliet, including the Golden Globe-nominated Hello Hello. Their most recent album collaboration is Wonderful Crazy Night, released in 2016.
- In 2018, He and John collaborated on two original songs for the animated film Sherlock Gnomes. In 2019, the movie Rocketman was released, containing an original song written by him and John for the film, (I’m Gonna) Love Me Again, which plays over the closing credits. The film depicts the personal friendship of him (played by Jamie Bell) and John during the 1970s and 1980s.
What are the achievements of Bernie Taupin?
Talking about his achievements, Taupin won servals awards in his life through his profession as a lyrics writer. They are the following:
- Best Original Song – Motion Picture for Brokeback Mountain (2005) at Golden Globe Awards in 2006.
- Top Box Office Films for Gnomeo & Juliet (2011) at ASCAP Award in 2012.
- Best Original Song – Animated Film for Sherlock Gnomes (2018) at Hollywood Music In Media Awards in 2018.
- Best Music, Adapted Song for Almost Famous (2000) at OFTA Film Award.
Who is Bernie Taupin married to?
Reflecting on her personal life, Taupin has never had a stable relationship in his past. He first got married in 1971 to Maxine Feibelman, but things didn’t work out between them and the couple parted ways in 1976.
Later, he fell in love with Toni Lynn Russo and they got married in 1979. This marriage too did not work for long and the two got divorced in 1991. Then, two years later in 1993, He got hitched for a third time to Stephanie Haymes Roven, but they separated in 1998.
After that in 2004, He married Heather Lynn Hodgins Kidd and the couple is together since then. This couple is blessed with two children and both are girl, Charley Indiana and Georgey Devon.
How much is Bernie Taupin’s worth?
Being a part of the music industry since 1967, Taupin might earn quite an impressive amount of money and fame through his profession as a lyrics writer. Based on some online reports, his estimated net worth said to be $150 million at present. However, his salary is yet to be disclosed.
How tall is Bernie Taupin?
Observing his body statistics, Taupin has a height of 5 feet 6 inches and his weight is currently unknown. Similarly, his hair color is brown and his eyes color is blue. Further, her other information is yet to be disclosed.
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