Bernie Taupin is an English vocalist, songwriter, and poet who is best known for his extensive collaboration with Elton John. Due to his poor academic performance, he quit school to become an intern at a local newspaper. In 1967, when a prominent music company posted a job advertisement for a lyrics writer, his good fortune shone brightly. Eventually, he came to the attention of singer John Elton, whose career was just beginning. John recruited him personally, and their partnership blossomed over the next four decades to make them both internationally renowned artists. Their partnership has been hailed as one of the greatest singer-lyricist partnerships of all time. With recordings like “Sad Songs,” “Nikita,” and “Levon,” the duo became legendary. In addition to his work as a successful lyricist for John and a number of other successful musicians, Bernie also authored collections of his poetry and lyrics. He has also been a part-time visual artist since 2010 when his original works were printed and sold.
Youth and Early Life
Bernie Taupin was born on May 22, 1950, in the Flatter’s homestead in rural Lincolnshire, England, between the towns of Anwick and Sleaford. His father was a farmer, and his mother was a babysitter. His brother was academically gifted and therefore enrolled in Grammar School, but Bernie was not. Since a young age, he possessed impeccable writing abilities, which he inherited from his mother, a student of French literature. He learned the majority of it from his grandfather, a graduate of Cambridge University.
As he grew older, there was no electricity in his neighborhood until he was five years old, and his family also experienced financial difficulties. His parents raised him alongside his two other siblings as their middle child. At the age of 15, he quit school and began working as an intern for The Lincolnshire Standard, a local newspaper.
During his late teenage years, he revisited a local newspaper advertisement for an employment opening for new songwriters. The fact that he was not selected forever altered his existence. Ray Williams’ search for a lyricist for Elton John’s composition was the impetus for the partnership between Elton and Bernie. Bernie’s formative years were profoundly influenced by his family’s rich artistic and literary heritage. Early in his career as a lyricist, the French literature that his mother had studied had the greatest impact.
A profession of Bernie
Bernie’s official vocation as a lyricist began by accident in the late 1960s. John Elton John, a prominent talent at a major record label, wished to employ a lyricist. He came across Bernie’s poems and found them to be his favorites among many others. Bernie was promptly contacted, and as a result, he entered the world of songwriting with a bang.
Since then, Bernie has penned several of Elton’s tunes over the course of nearly four decades and thirty albums. There was a period when Bernie and John collaborated with different artists, but they always ended up working together again. In the early 1980s, when Bernie wrote John Elton’s albums ‘The Fox,’ ’21 at 33,’ and ‘Jump Up!’, their partnership flourished. Both had worked intermittently during the 1970s, but the success of the aforementioned albums cemented their relationship. After the early 1980s, Bernie became John’s principal lyricist.
‘Rocket Man,’ ‘Crocodile Rock,’ ‘The Bitch Is Back,’ ‘Daniel,’ ‘Sad Compositions,’ ‘Nikita,’ ‘Don’t Let the Sun Set on Me,’ and ‘Your Song’ are among the best compositions that Bernie wrote for John. Bernie’s renown began to increase gradually as a result of John’s international and national fan base. He continued to write both for himself and for other musicians.
A 1991 documentary titled ‘Two Rooms’ explored the working methods of the two artists in great detail. It was explained that Bernie composed the lyrics independently and would give them to John. John merely recorded music on them without consulting Bernie or modifying the lyrics to match the music. This was an extremely uncommon method of collaboration, far outside the norm of international standards.
In later years of their collaboration, however, the working process had become considerably more collaborative. John and Bernie began visiting recording studios for particular tracks. In March of 2006, John and Bernie began collaborating on a Broadway musical titled ‘Lestat: The Musical’, which elevated their relationship to a higher level. Bernie wrote the lyrics for all eleven of the musical’s tracks. The release of John’s album ‘The Captain and the Kid’ in the same year marked the 40th anniversary of their collaboration. Bernie appeared for the first time in his career on the album’s cover.
Bernie’s Musical Career
Bernie’s musical career also includes numerous collaborations with other musicians. He collaborated with groups such as ‘Heart’ and ‘Starship’. In the early 1970s, he assisted musician David Ackles in producing his album ‘American Gothic’ and also contributed to the album’s lyrics. Although the album did not perform exceptionally well in terms of sales, it did receive widespread praise from international and domestic music critics.
Bernie has also produced solo albums on occasion. In 1971, he released his debut album titled ‘Taupin’, which was essentially a spoken word album of his poetry. He subsequently released two more successful poetry albums entitled ‘Tribe’ and ‘He Who Rides the Tiger’. Bernie formed the ensemble Farm Dogs in the mid-1990s and released two albums titled ‘Last Stand in Open Country’ and ‘Immigrant Sons.
Both albums received critical acclaim and commendation for their lyrics and vocals. In 1973, Bernie published a poetry collection titled ‘Bernie Taupin: The One Who Writes the Word for Elton John’. Additionally, in the 1990s, Bernie published a collection of poetry titled The Devil at High Noon.
Barnie’s Personal Facts
Bernie Taupin has never been in a committed relationship. In 1971, he wed Maxine Feibelman; however, their marriage did not last, and they divorced in 1976. In 1979, Bernie and Toni Russo tied the knot after falling in love. This marriage also did not last, and the couple divorced in 1991. Two years later, in 1993, Bernie married Stephanie Haymes Roven for the third time, but they divorced in 1998. Since their marriage in 2004, Bernie and Heather Lynn Hodgins Kidd have been together.
Estimated Net Worth
Bernie Taupin is a prolific vocalist, songwriter, poet, and lyricist from the United Kingdom. The net worth of Bernie Taupin is $200 million. A significant portion of this net worth is attributable to the worth of Bernie and Elton John’s song catalog. Bernie composed the preponderance of Elton’s most popular song lyrics.