Bernie Taupin is slated to receive the Outstanding Career Achievement Award during the Hollywood Music in Media Awards (HMMA) to be held on Nov. 20 at The Avalon in Hollywood, Calif. The show, now in its 15th year, honors composers, songwriters and music supervisors for their contributions in music for film, TV, video games and more.
Submissions for all HMMA categories are open through Oct. 31. The complete list of final nominations will be announced on Nov. 4.
Taupin, of course, is best-known for his long, hit-studded and award-winning collaboration with Elton John. The pair were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1992 and received that organization’s top honor, the Johnny Mercer Award, in 2013. In 2020, they received both an Oscar and a Golden Globe for best original song for co-writing “(I’m Gonna) Love Me Again” from the hit biopic Rocketman. Earlier this year, they received the Library of Congress’s Gershwin Prize for Popular Song, as well as an Ivor Novello for Outstanding Contribution to British Music. Most recently, Taupin cowrote (with John, Brandi Carlile, and Andrew Watt) the original song “Never Too Late” for the Disney+ documentary Elton John: Never Too Late. The song is performed by John and Carlile.
Remarkably, their only songwriting collaboration to receive a Grammy nomination was the soundtrack to the 1971 teen romance film Friends (no relation to the later TV megahit), which won best original score written for a motion picture or a television special. Go figure.
Taupin has also had some notable successes independent of John. He co-wrote Heart’s “These Dreams” and Starship’s “We Built This City,” both of which topped the Billboard Hot 100. He received a Grammy nod for best country song for cowriting “Mendocino County Line,” which was recorded by Willie Nelson & Lee Ann Womack. His song “A Love That Will Never Grow Old,” sung by Emmylou Harris for the Brokeback Mountain soundtrack, won a Golden Globe for best original song. Taupin was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the musical excellence award category in 2023. Fittingly, John did the honors in inducing him.
Past HMMA Career Achievement Award recipients include Marc Shaiman, Kenny Loggins, Smokey Robinson, Diane Warren, Earth Wind & Fire, Glen Campbell, Dave Mason, John Debney, and Christopher Young.
Tickets are available now at: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/2024hmmawards/1419072. For more information, visit hmmawards.com.
