Elton John and Bernie Taupin to receive the 2024 Gershwin Prize for pop music

NEW YORK – The songwriters who gave us “Your Song,” “Tiny Dancer” and “Rocket Man” will upload to their crammed awards shelf later this 12 months when Elton John and Bernie Taupin are awarded the Gershwin Prize.

The Library of Congress mentioned Tuesday that songwriter-performer John and lyricist Taupin will receive the library’s Gershwin Prize for Popular Song, known as by means of the establishment “one of the great songwriting duos of all time.”

They will probably be bestowed the prize at an all-star tribute live performance in Washington, D.C., on March 20. PBS will air parts of it on April 8.

“Elton John and Bernie Taupin have written some of the most memorable songs of our lives. Their careers stand out for the quality and broad appeal of their music and their influence on their fellow artists,” Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden mentioned in a remark.

Their hits come with “Your Song,” “Tiny Dancer,” “Rocket Man” “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me,” “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” “Bennie and The Jets” and “Crocodile Rock.” John has retired from traveling.

The prize, named after Jazz Age songwriters George and Ira Gershwin, is described as the “nation’s highest award for influence, impact and achievement in popular music.”

Taupin used to be in some ways the Ira to John’s George Gershwin, a lyricist who preferred to inform tales together with his phrases, whether or not giving “a mohair suit, electric boots” to “Bennie and the Jets” or calling Marilyn Monroe — and later Princess Diana — “A Candle in the Wind.” John used to be the showman, pounding his piano and well-known for spectacular melodic hooks and elaborate costumes.

Past recipients come with Stevie Wonder, Paul McCartney, Billy Joel, Willie Nelson, Smokey Robinson, Tony Bennett,Lionel Richie,Joni Mitchell, Emilio and Gloria Estefan and Garth Brooks.

“I’ve been writing songs with Bernie for 56 years, and we never thought that that one day this might be bestowed upon us,” John mentioned in a remark. “It’s an incredible honor for two British guys to be recognized like this. I’m so honored.”

“To be in a house along with the great American songwriters, to even be in the same avenue is humbling, and I am absolutely thrilled to accept,” Taupin mentioned in a remark.

Taupin and John have been inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1992. In 2023, John inducted Taupin into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. John this month achieved EGOT status after winning an Emmy for “Elton John Live: Farewell from Dodger Stadium.”