Bernie Taupin is best known for being Elton John’s longstanding songwriting partner, but the Lincolnshire-born lyricist has also had an on/off solo career of his own, and is about to release his first album for 28 years.
That album, The Sea Has No Mercy, is out in October, and the 76-year-old songwriter has given an extensive interview to Rolling Stone about the record, in which he provides some intel on Elton’s new album.
The latter is apparently coming out “at the beginning of next year”, according to Taupin. “He did it with [producer] Andrew Watt again [Watt also produced 2025 LP Who Believes In Angels?, a collaboration with Brandi Carlile]. And he wrote it in a completely different way simply because of his eyesight problem. He can’t read lyrics if they’re on the piano. So he basically came up with instrumental tracks and threw basically three or four of them at me and said, ‘Can you do something with these?’ Which I contributed to. But he’s also worked with a couple of other people on there, which is great. So it’s a whole different ballgame for him.”
Taupin also insisted that he and Elton have no interest in selling their publishing as so many of their fellow A-listers have. “Not really interested. No point. Why would I?” he asked. “We don’t need the money. We both have offspring, and why don’t we leave it up to them?”
The songwriter added that he isn't precious about his and Elton’s songs being used by advertisers, but would prefer it if that was still their choice. “I still get reams of emails every day saying, ‘Will you OK this to be used in this? OK this song to be used in that?’ And it’s usually, ‘Yeah, fine, no problem.’ But yeah, it’s a moot point. I mean, if we were incredibly greedy and we just wanted to make billions of dollars, which we probably could if we sold it, what’s the point? We don’t need to. I’m comfortable, man.”
It’s a busy time for Taupin, with a new record, his ongoing work with Elton and a documentary about his career coming out soon. He also mentioned the possibility of doing some shows, which would be his first live performances this century: "I’ve already been asked to do several things, but we’re not ready to do that right now. I wouldn’t want to do it yet. Let’s see how the record goes, how it’s picked up, how people appreciate it. It’s certainly not off the cards by any means.”
He added: “I mean, if I could work with the foundation of guys that helped me make this record, I would definitely consider it. So that’s a big, ‘We’ll see.’”
