Elton John, Bernie Taupin Feted with All-Star Performances at Gershwin Prize Celebration

by Julian Spivey

Photo: PBS

Music legends Elton John and Bernie Taupin were honored with The Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song on March 20 in Washington D.C. for over 50 years of songwriting excellence.
The tribute, which featured an all-star performance of the duo’s biggest and best songs, aired on PBS on Monday, April 8.

Elton John and Bernie Taupin were the third songwriting duo honored with the Gershwin Prize, which began in 2007, behind 2012 recipients Burt Bacharach and Hal David and 2019 recipients Emilio and Gloria Estefan. Other recipients include Paul Simon (2007), Stevie Wonder (2009), Paul McCartney (2010), Carole King (2013), Willie Nelson (2015) and Joni Mitchell (2023).

Elton John and Bernie Taupin have been working together since the late ‘60s with Taupin supplying the lyrics and Elton John composing the music to go with them. The partnership has led to No. 1 classic hits such as “Crocodile Rock” and “Bennie and the Jets,” as well as other hits like “Your Song,” “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road,” “Rocket Man” and many more.

Surprisingly, some of the duo’s biggest hits like “Rocket Man,” “Tiny Dancer,” “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road,” “Crocodile Rock” and “Candle In the Wind” didn’t appear during the nearly two-hour Gershwin Prize tribute concert.

The concert featured 11 performances by a group of music superstars like Metallica, Brandi Carlile, Maren Morris and former Gershwin Prize recipients Garth Brooks and Mitchell.

Among my favorite performances of the evening were the two by Carlile, who began with 1971’s “Madman Across the Water” and later performed “Skyline Pigeon” in tribute to friend Ryan White, the American teenager who died of AIDS in 1990 after contracting it via blood transfusion. The friendship helped lead to Elton John’s charitable AIDS foundation. Elton John performed “Skyline Pigeon” at White’s funeral in 1990.

The liveliest performance of the evening came from Metallica’s rocking cover of “Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding,” which the telecast honestly needed for a little kick in the pants with many of the tributes being nice but not exactly up-tempo (except for Billy Porter’s “The Bitch is Back.”) Porter also hosted the ceremony.

Jacob Lusk, who was a contestant on the 10th season of “American Idol,” did a lively performance of “Bennie and the Jets,” but it started a bit too lounge-singer-y for my taste.

Garth Brooks was the only artist other than Carlile with two performances and they were very Garth-y selections with him doing “Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word” and “Daniel.” I preferred “Daniel” of the two, but I also prefer that song of the two in general.

Maren Morris did a nice performance of “I Guess That’s Why They Call It the Blues,” while Charlie Puth gushed about being included in such a tribute to his musical hero before performing “Don’t Let The Sun Go Down on Me.”

More highlights from the show were Annie Lennox’s soulful show opener of “Border Song” and Joni Mitchell’s take, with altered lyrics to fit her life, on “I’m Still Standing.” “I’m Still Standing” has never been one of my favorite Elton John songs and I quite enjoyed Mitchell’s jazzy take on it.

Before Elton John and Taupin received the Gershwin Prize and said a few words each, Elton John took the stage with his backing band, who had performed much of the evening with the guest stars, for terrific performances of “Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters,” a non-single deep cut that has always been one of my favorites of his, and a rocking performance of “Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting.”

After Elton and Taupin were awarded the prize, the show wrapped up with a beautiful performance of my all-time favorite Elton John song, “Your Song,” with Taupin leaning on the piano and watching the entire performance. It was a fitting performance and sight for the two legends who have provided so many great popular tunes for more than half a century.