Sir Elton John And Bernie Taupin Honored With Johnny Mercer Award

Congratulations, world, we have finally come up with an answer to a time-worn conundrum: what DO you give the man who has everything? Well how about a little respect.
In Sir Elton John’s case, this means accepting – alongside his wordsmith partner Bernie Taupin – the prestigious Johnny Mercer award at the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame ceremony, on June 13. The award, named after the prodigiously talented lyricist and co-founder of the Hall of Fame, is given to outstanding writers who have already been inducted, in recognition of services to the art of popular song that are far above the norm.
Previous winners include Stevie Wonder, Stephen Sondheim, Smokey Robinson and Phil Collins.
The Hall of Fame’s chairman, Jimmy Webb, who won the award himself in 2003, offered this tribute to Elton and Bernie’s astounding achievements: ”Some catalogues are more ‘deep’ and significant than others not only because of their pertinence to the times in which they were written, but because their sheer mass is overpowering. It’s just not that easy to write 40 Top 10 records. It’s kind of like swimming the English Channel with your hands tied behind your back.
“Elton’s readily identifiable melodic piano style has proven to be a perfect accompaniment to Bernie’s razor sharp lyrics about relationships and living on the edge of life both in good and bad times.”

Blur - Blur song confused Elton John

Blur left Sir Elton John confused with a song about his penis.
The Britpop group - comprising singer Damon Albarn, bassist Alex James, guitarist Graham Coxon and drummer Dave Rowntree - included the ballad 'Sir Elton John's C**k' on their 'Blur 21' box set, which was released last year and Alex admits he was embarrassed when the 'Rocket Man' hitmaker asked him about the track.
He said: ''I bumped into Sir Elton and he said, 'What's all this I hear about you and my c**k?'
''I didn't know him well enough to tell him the proper answer.''
The 43-year-old musician claimed the track was given the name because it was ''too sentimental''.
He added to the Daily Star newspaper: ''We wrote this song but realised it was too sentimental. One of us muttered, 'That's Elton John's c**k.'''
Alex has been playing bass with Florence + The Machine, New Order's Bernard Sumner and Dexys as well as working with Blur, and he recently revealed that taking a break from his family life on a cheese farm has been a welcome change.
He said: ''Going on stage is such a rush. The travelling is exhausting but it's a huge fountain of energy up there.
''Besides, I've got five kids, so it was nice to just sit around in dressing rooms.''