Bernie Taupin

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Bernie Taupin
Taupin in the '70s
Born	May 22, 1950 (age 56) Lincolnshire, England

Bernie Taupin (born May 22, 1950) is an English lyricist most famous for his collaboration with Elton John.

1 Biography
2 Personal life
3 Discography
- 3.1 Solo albums
- 3.2 With Farm Dogs
4 See also

[edit] Biography

Taupin was born in Anwick, a village outside Sleaford, Lincolnshire, in England. His family moved while he was young, and he grew up in another Lincolnshire village, Owmby-by-Spital, where his father managed a farm. He went to school in nearby Market Rasen, where he used to go out drinking with his friends. He was rather wild in behavior when he was young and was not a diligent worker at school, though he showed an early flair for writing.

Many of his early lyrics look back to his rural upbringing, though from the beginning he showed an interest in the United States and American culture. He began to love it so much that he also lost his original British accent and sounds and appears more American.

In 1967, he answered an advertisement for a lyric writer placed in the New Musical Express by Liberty records A&R man Ray Williams. Thus began the famous and well-loved songwriting team of Elton John and Taupin. The pair have collaborated on more than 30 albums to date, though Elton worked with other lyrics writers between 1977 and 1983. Taupin's lyrics include such memorable tunes as "Rocketman", "Tiny Dancer", "Candle in the Wind", "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me", and 1970's "Your Song", his and Elton's first hit.

The 1991 film documentary Two Rooms described the Elton/Taupin writing style, which involves Taupin writing the lyrics on his own and Elton then putting them to music, with no further interaction between the two.

In addition to writing for Elton John, Taupin has also written lyrics for use by other composers, with notable successes including "We Built This City", which was recorded by Starship, and "These Dreams", recorded by Heart. He has recorded three solo albums and two albums with his band Farm Dogs.

In 1978, he co-wrote the album From the Inside with Alice Cooper.

Taupin has written a book The One Who Writes the Words for Elton John, a book of poems called The Devil at High Noon, and has recorded two works for the aural medium. He used to own a restaurant in downtown Los Angeles called "Cicada". These days he has taken to painting, although he is still actively involved in music.

In 2004, he co-wrote Courtney Love's song "Uncool", from her 2004 debut solo album America's Sweetheart.

In 2006, he won a Golden Globe Award for his lyrics to the song "A Love That Will Never Grow Old" from the film Brokeback Mountain.

Bernie & Elton John had their first Broadway musical open in March of 2006 with Lestat: The Musical.

Bernie has recently written lyrics for 10 new songs by Elton John on his new album "The Captain & The Kid" (sequel to "Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy") and appears on the cover with him for the first time marking their 40th anniversary of working together.

[edit] Personal life

Taupin has been married four times: Maxine Feibelman (1971 - 1975); Toni Lynn Russo (1979 - 1991); Stephanie Francis Haymes (21 August 1993 - 1998; and Heather Lynn Hodgins (27 March 2004 - present) with whom he has a daughter, Charley Indiana, born 18 May 2005.

Taupin co-owned a PBR bucking bull named Little Yellow Jacket, which was recently retired as an unprecedented three-time world champion. He lives in Santa Ynez, California.