Handwritten drafts of Sir Elton hits set to fetch £1m
ORIGINAL handwritten lyrics for some of Sir Elton John’s most famous songs have emerged for sale for £1million.
They include first drafts of Your Song – the singer’s first No 1 – as well as classic hits Candle In The Wind and Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.
The former wife of British songwriter Bernie Taupin – who wrote lyrics for Sir Elton from the 1960s to the 1980s – put the drafts up for sale.
Maxine Taupin, the inspiration for Sir Elton’s 1971 hit Tiny Dancer, kept them after her divorce and is now cashing in the wake of the success of biopic Rocketman.
Also going under the hammer are original lyrics for Bennie And The Jets, Saturday Night’s Alright For Fighting and Border Song.
The first draft of Candle In The Wind shows how Bernie initially penned the opening line “Goodbye Marilyn Monroe”.
He then crossed it out and replaced it with the actress’s real name, Norma Jean, in the 1973 ballad paying tribute to the Hollywood star. It is valued at £200,000 alone.
Taupin once said of the song: “It was a metaphor for fame and dying young.”
The lyrics were later altered following Princess Diana’s death in 1997, with the opening line changed to “Goodbye England’s rose”.
Giles Moon at Bonhams auctioneers, said: “In terms of the value of each lot, it depends on how commercially successful the songs were.
“The more popular they were, the more collectable they have become.
“His 1973 album Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (on which four of these songs appeared) is seen as the peak of his popularity.”
The handwritten lyrics for the song Goodbye Yellow Brick Road are also expected to fetch £200,000, with the pre-sale estimate for Your Song (1970) given as £210,000. The sale is to be held in Los Angeles on December 9.