Did Elton John Delay Bernie Taupin’s Rock Hall Induction?

Longtime Elton John collaborator Bernie Taupin will enter the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame next month nearly three decades after his musical partner — and he told cleveland.com that John’s advocacy might have delayed his own induction.

“I kind of feel [like I’m] cheating standing up here accepting this, because without Bernie, there wouldn’t have been any Elton John at all,” John said during his 1994 Rock Hall induction speech. He then invited Taupin onstage and gave him the trophy. “We’ve been together for a very long time. I love him dearly,” John added.

As Taupin sees it, this gesture caused the Rock Hall to overlook him for years. “That’s the big thorn in the paw because in a lot of people’s minds, that’s the reason I was not inducted before now, because certain elements of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame didn’t like the fact Elton brought me up onstage … and gave me his award,” he said. “So they just assumed that I already had the award so I didn’t need to be inducted myself — which is pretty puerile, if you think about it, and pretty childish and churlish at the same time.

“But, hey, that’s all in the past,” he continued. “What’s gone is gone and it’s all forgotten now and God’s in his heaven and all is good.”

Rock & Roll Hall of Fame 2023 Induction Details

The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame 2023 induction ceremony will take place on Nov. 3 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The organization will induct Kate Bush, Sheryl Crow, Missy Elliott, George Michael, Willie Nelson, Rage Against the Machine and the Spinners in the performer category.

Taupin will receive the Musical Excellence Award alongside Chaka Khan and Al Kooper. DJ Kool Herc and Link Wray will receive the Musical Influence Award, and Don Cornelius will posthumously receive the Ahmet Ertegun Award.

READ MORE: Listen to Elton John’s First Song With Bernie Taupin

“I don’t put a tremendous amount of thought into it,” said Taupin, who released his memoir, Scattershot: Life, Music, Elton & Me, last month. “I don’t really reflect much on what I’ve contributed. Do I feel I belong in there? Yeah, probably. I think I’ve contributed enough that it gives me credence to be in there, certainly.”

“I had a lot of people pushing for me and having my back,” he added. “I’m grateful to all of them.”