This one's for them
Elton John & Bernie Taupin:
The Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song April 8, PBS
While much of the world is fixated on whatever is happening with the royals, two British legends came to Washington to receive one of America's highest cultural honours. Elton John, 76, and Bernie Taupin, 73, were awarded the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song — a lifetime achievement award given annually to an artist whose music has left a lasting impact — during a nearly three-hour tribute concert Wednesday night at DAR Constitution Hall. The duo's songwriting launched John's six-decade career and spurred record sales of some 300 million and counting. The men are the third pair of writing partners to win the prize since it was established in 2007. (Burt Bacharach and Hal David received the Gershwin Prize in 2012; Gloria and Emilio Estefan received it in 2019.) John and Taupin are also the second and third Brits to receive the honour (after Paul Mccartney in 2010).
“When I grew up as a little boy in suburban London, the only good music that I heard was American. British music sucked,” John said, name-checking his inspirations such as Nat King Cole, Doris Day, Ella Fitzgerald, Little Richard, Ray Charles and Elvis Presley, whose Heartbreak Hotel made him want to play rock 'n' roll.
“Pretty much everything I've written emanates from this country, whether it's the heartland, whether it's the urban jungle. It's all been a palette for everything I've written,” said Taupin, who noted he's lived in the United States since 1970. “I have an American heart, an American soul . ... I have an American family, I have an American wife, I have American children. I am America, believe me.”
John and Taupin, who specialize in irresistible uptempo rock along with ballads that bring listeners to tears, have perfected a system since they started working together in 1967: Taupin writes lyrics and gives them to John, who composes and creates the song on his piano.
“Elton's music and Bernie's words are so embedded in our collective songbook it instantly takes you over,” Carla Hayden, the Librarian of Congress, told the crowd. “First, you hear Elton in the opening crescendo of the piano. Then you hear Bernie's writing in the opening lyrics: `I remember when rock was young.' And before you know it, you're on your feet singing the famous chorus of Crocodile Rock.”
The audience — which included members of Congress, British Ambassador to the United States Karen Pierce and Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson — was on its feet a lot; John and his husband, David Furnish, sat frontrow centre alongside Taupin and his wife, Heather, and beamed throughout the event. Recent Gershwin Prize winners Joni Mitchell and Garth Brooks were featured performers, as Brooks sang two ballads and Mitchell brought down the house with I'm Still Standing, accompanied by Annie Lennox and Brandi Carlile. Metallica kicked things off with a rollicking rendition of Funeral for a Friend/love Lies Bleeding, while Billy Porter (who also served as host) lit up the audience with The Bitch is Back. Jacob Lusk of the band Gabriels delivered an electrifying Bennie and the Jets.
An emotional segment highlighted the duo's charitable giving, particularly the Elton John AIDS Foundation that started in 1992 and has raised more than $600 million; Carlile returned to the stage to sing Skyline Pigeon. Charlie Puth took on Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me, and Maren Morris belted out a soaring version of I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues.
“I feel like this is certainly the longest partnership in songwriting history. It's amazing that they've been able to nurture it for many decades,” Morris said. “But when you find a partner that you have chemistry with lyrically, musically, and can grow through the years with one another — I mean, there is nothing more special.”
John concurred. “Bernie and I have been together for over 50-something years. We're closer than we've ever been, and I think that's pretty remarkable in this day and age for two people in the business to be closer than they were when they started. I'm thrilled to be here with him. Because if it wasn't for him, I wouldn't be here,” he said, adding, “Being able to share success with somebody is the greatest thing you could ever have.”
“I love what he's become, how happy he is. I love what I've become and how happy I am,” John continued. “We've both been through hell, and we've come through the other side, and it feels good.”
John wrapped up the night behind a red piano with Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters and Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting. Hayden, the Librarian of Congress, asked him to play just one more.
So John launched into Your Song, and as Taupin leaned against the piano right near him, John sang the lyrics that his friend wrote: “I know it's not much, but it's the best I can do / My gift is my song, and this one's for you.”