UK Mega 2021: Lincolnshire
05 Lincolnshire Legends: Bernie Taupin
This a straightforward series which was published for the 2021 UK Mega, held at the nearby Lincolnshire Showground. The series celebrates the many famous people who were either born in, lived in or associated with the glorious county of Lincolnshire!
Bernie Taupin and Elton John
Bernard John Taupin (born 22 May 1950) is an English lyricist, poet, singer and artist. He is best known for his long-term collaboration with Elton John, having written the lyrics for most of John's songs.
In 1967, Taupin answered an advertisement placed in the NME by Liberty Records, a company that was seeking new songwriters. John responded to the same advertisement and they were brought together, collaborating on many projects since. Taupin and John were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1992. Their hits include Candle in the Wind, Rocket Man, Your Song, Daniel and Benny & the Jets, but Bernie also wrote for other artists, penning the huge Starship hit, 'We Built this City.'
Taupin was born at Flatters House, a farmhouse located between the Anwick and Sleaford.Taupin's father was employed as a stockman by a large farm estate near Market Rasen. The family later moved to Rowston Manor, a significant step up from Flatters farmhouse, which had no electricity.Taupin's father decided to try his hand at independent farming, and the family moved to the run-down Maltkiln Farm in the north-Lincolnshire village of Owmby-by-Spital.
At age 15, he left school and started work as a trainee in the print room of the local newspaper, The Lincolnshire Standard, with aspirations of becoming a journalist.Taupin soon left that job, and spent the rest of his teenage years hanging out with friends, hitchhiking the country roads to attend youth club dances in the surrounding villages, playing snooker in the Aston Arms in Market Rasen and drinking. Taupin had worked at several part-time jobs when, at age 17, he answered the advertisement that eventually led to his collaboration with Elton John. Elton John famously rode into Market Rasen in his white Rolls Royce when he attended Bernie's wedding at Holy Road RC Church in the town, where the writer had been an altar boy. The lyrics of their hit Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting describe his years growing up in the town and the clashes between youths of Rasen and Caistor!
