Without Bernie Taupin‘s lyrics, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, The Tumbleweed Connection, Madman Across the Water, Captain Fantastic & The Brown Dirt Cowboy, and virtually the entire rest of the Elton John catalog would not exist. That’s why Elton literally handed him his Rock & Roll Hall of Fame statue when he was inducted in 1994, and personally welcomed him into the institution in 2023.
But throughout much of this time, the lyricist has also maintained a solo career that’s flown so far under the radar that many Elton John fans are unaware that Taupin’s own work even exists. And it hasn’t, in any meaningful way, since he disbanded his group Farm Dogs in 1998. His last solo album was 1987’s Tribe. Over the last couple of decades, he’s focused largely on his family, and his work with Elton John.
That’ll finally change Oct. 23 when he releases the stunning new album The Sea Has No Mercy, which he recorded in Nashville with producer Frank Liddell, guitarist Adam Wright, bassist Glenn Worf, and keyboardist Michael Rojas. There are also guest appearances by Brandi Carlile, Lee Ann Womack, the Jeremy Jordan Ensemble, percussionist Jay Bellerose, violinist Scarlet Rivera, and Taupin’s daughter, Georgey.
