Bernie Taupin Announces First Solo Album Since 1987

Bernie Taupin’s words have been the backbone of Elton John’s music for over fifty years, from “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” to “Tiny Dancer.” On October 23, he will release The Sea Has No Mercy, his first solo album since 1987’s Tribe and his most focused statement outside that partnership.

Recorded in Nashville with producer Frank Liddell, the album features guitarist Adam Wright, bassist Glenn Worf, and keyboardist Michael Rojas, plus guests Brandi Carlile, Lee Ann Womack, violinist Scarlet Rivera, and Taupin’s daughter Georgey. The sessions, Taupin says, felt different from his earlier solo efforts: “This is the most satisfying record I’ve ever made. I’m talking about in my own canon, not with the Elton thing, because that’s a completely different ballpark… I wanted to be able to express my own feelings on my own level in my own writing.”

He describes those old records—Taupin (1971), He Who Rides the Tiger, Tribe, and the Farm Dogs project—as a younger artist “riding in the saddle” of more experienced players. The new work, he suggests, reflects age and clarity. The album arrives as Taupin continues to be recognized for his past; he was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame himself in 2023, nearly thirty years after Elton John handed him the statue onstage.