Bernard "Bernie" John Taupin was born in a Flatters Farmhouse with no electricity in southern Lincolnshire, England on May 22, 1950, to his mother and father Robert Taupin. Taupin's birthplace is located between the village of Anwick and the town of Sleaford and he is of French ancestry. His father Robert Taupin was educated in Dijon and worked as a stockman by a large farm estate near the town of Market Rasen. His mother was from Switzerland and worked as a nanny. The family eventually moved to Rowston Manor, a major upgrade from the Flatters Farmhouse that didn't even have power.

During his childhood, Taupin's father decided to try his hand at independent farming moving the family with him to a run-down Maltkiln Farm in the northern Lincolnshire village of Owmby-by-Spital. It is here that Taupin's 11-year younger brother Tony would be born and sometime later another brother named Christopher was born. Taupin was never a good student unlike his younger brother who attended grammar school but he did show a passion for writing. When he was just 15-years-old, Taupin dropped out of school and began an internship in the print room of a local newspaper "The Lincolnshire Standard". Before long he would develop the desire to become a journalist.

Taupin wasn't in the print room for long, he soon left and spent the rest of his teenage years hanging out with friends. He would hitchhike on country roads just to reach youth club dances in nearby villages where he would play snooker and drink in the Aston Arms Pub in Market Rasen. Taupin had gone through several on and off part-time jobs by the age of 17, it was then that he answered an advertisement that would eventually lead to his collaboration with Elton John. Taupin's mother was educated in French literature and his maternal grandfather Poppy was a graduate of the University of Cambridge where he taught classics. They taught him an appreciation for nature as well as literature and narrative poetry which would influence his lyrics early on.

Career:

Bernie Taupin is best known for his years-long collaboration with Elton John which began in 1967 when he answered an advertisement placed in the New Musical Express by Liberty records A&R man Ray Williams. Ironically, Elton John also answered the same advertisement for talent put out by Williams but John told the man behind the desk at the audition that he could not write lyrics. Neither Taupin nor John would pass the audition but on his way out, the man behind the desk handed John a sealed envelope from a submission pile of lyrics. John would open the envelope during the ride home on the London Underground. By a pure stroke of luck, the envelope handed to the future superstar contained Taupin's writings which were poetry and the rest is history.