“I don’t think there’s anything right now that could make me say yes,” the famed lyricist said in a recent interview
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(jpeg)/Bernie-Taupin-Elton-John-2024-102226-c19716f20ea94e03b799278b1a44712f.jpg "Honorees Bernie Taupin and Elton John attend the Library Of Congress 2024 Gershwin Prize For Popular Song at DAR Constitution Hall on March 20, 2024 in Washington, DC.")
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NEED TO KNOW
- Longtime collaborators Bernie Taupin and Elton John have no interest in selling their catalog
- “I don’t think there’s anything right now that could make me say yes,” Taupin said in a recent interview
- The lyricist will release his solo album The Sea Has No Mercy on Oct. 23
Bernie Taupin and Elton John have no interest in selling their music catalog.
Lyricist Taupin, 76, and songwriter John, 79, have worked together since 1967, writing major hits such as “Your Song,” “Tiny Dancer” and “Bennie and the Jets.” While speaking with Billboard in an interview published on Thursday, Oct. 22, Taupin revealed why he doesn’t want to sell the rights to their music.
“I don’t think there’s anything right now that could make me say yes,” he said. “I got in trouble the other day for saying I don’t need the money — which doesn’t mean that I’ve got a lot of money, it just means I live very frugally. So, what am I going to do with it?”
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The English star — whose new solo album The Sea Has No Mercy is out Oct. 23 — added that some artists have regretted selling their catalogs.
“I know the fact that so many people who have sold their catalogs aren’t happy about it now,” he said.
Back in July, Taupin made similar comments to Rolling Stone. When asked if he and John have felt tempted to sell the publishing rights to their work, he said, “Nothing right now. Not really interested. No point. Why would I?”
The musician continued, “We don’t need the money. We both have offspring, and why don’t we leave it up to them?”
He said their opinion on the subject could always change, but noted, “I mean, it’s clichéd, but it is a bit like selling your children, isn’t it?”
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Taupin was also asked by Billboard to share a favorite lyric he has written.
“To give you one is impossible,” he said, before sharing a line from “I Feel Like a Bullet (In the Gun of Robert Ford),” featured on John’s 1975 album Rock of the Westies.
“I woke up this morning and there was a lyric in my head — and I’m not saying it’s my best — ‘I feel like a bullet in the gun of Robert Ford/ I’m low as a paid assassin is/ You know I’m cold as a hired sword.’ And I went, ‘You know what? That’s a pretty good lyric.’ Is it the best I ever wrote? No. I think some of the best lyrics I’ve ever written are on this album,” said the lyricist.
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Taupin’s upcoming album is his first in nearly 40 years, following 1987’s Tribe. It was inspired by his 2023 memoir Scattershot: Life, Music, Elton, and Me, and features Brandi Carlile and Lee Ann Womack.
To celebrate the release, the star will make his Grand Ole Opry debut on Nov. 7.
Last month, Taupin revealed the secret to his longtime collaboration with John in an exclusive interview with PEOPLE.
“We grew up loving all kinds of music, all forms of music, all genres. And so I think that’s what’s connected us, and also the fact that we don’t live in each other’s pockets,” he said. “You know, we live very different lives. We’re very different people, but we are connected through music and our love of it and love of working together.”
The Sea Has No Mercy comes out on Friday, Oct. 23.
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