Without Bernie Taupin, the world wouldn’t have some of its most endearing contemporary pop songs. The longtime Elton John collaborator has penned a memoir called Scattershot: Life, Music, Elton and Me where he writes, among other things, about his love for country music.
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In a new interview with The A.V. Club, he clarified what that even means today, citing certain artists who get that label even though they operate more within the pop genre. “If you listen to an artist like — and they’re good, too! — somebody like a Maren Morris, she’s a pop artist,” Taupin said. “But for some reason, regarded as country.”
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He clarifies that this is all fine, of course. Taupin was responding to a question about the proliferation of country artists at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 this year, a streak only recently punctured by Doja Cat’s ascent.
“It’s like when Taylor Swift started, she was supposed to be country. And I think she just realized, ‘Well, I’m not really country, I’m officially going to be a pop artist,'” he continued. “But there’s so many of them: Kacey Musgraves. Great artist, but not really country.”
Taupin, of all people, would know. His work with John on Tumbleweed Connection from 1970 is at least country-adjacent and certainly inspired by country artists, and he mentions The Band and the burgeoning Americana and roots scene at the time as a heavy influence.
“It’s not always been straight pop,” Taupin said of his and John’s musical collaborations (in which John largely wrote the music and Taupin penned the lyrics). “If you listen to the albums, there are quite a few country influences. And then we did the Tumbleweed Connection album, which is hugely influenced by what became Americana.”
When it comes to contemporary country artists that exist in that same space, Taupin points to Zach Bryan. “Country is steel guitar and fiddles, and there are country artists who sound more country than pop,” he said. “One of the best artists out there right now I think is Zach Bryan. I think he’s great. Really, really talented. But again, he’s sort of leaning toward more of the Americana kind of thing.”
Taupin also clarified that he doesn’t like genres, and it’s clear his words aren’t meant as someone trying to be the arbiter of authenticity: “Bsically everything is pop, because pop means popular. Bruce Springsteen’s pop. Neil Young’s pop. Frank Sinatra was pop.”
Coming from one of the most successful pop songwriters in history, that means something. Taupin’s book Scattershot: Life, Music, Elton and Me is out now.
Photo by Michael Kovac/Getty Images for EJAF
