Elton John, Bernie Taupin to receive 2024 Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for popular song

The prize will be bestowed on March 20 at an all-star tribute concert in Washington, D.C.’s Daughters of the American Revolution’s Constitution Hall.

As part of the co-produced Emmy Award-winning music series, Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) stations nationwide will premiere the concert — “Elton John and Bernie Taupin: The Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song” — at 8 p.m. ET on April 8,  available via broadcast and streaming on PBS.org and the PBS App.

“Elton John and Bernie Taupin have written some of the most memorable songs of our lives. Their careers stand out for the quality and broad appeal of their music and their influence on their fellow artists,” Hayden said in a statement.

The selection by Hayden was done after consulting leading members of the music and entertainment communities, as well as curators from the Library’s Music Division, American Folklife Center and National Audio-Visual Conservation Center.

“I’ve been writing songs with Bernie for 56 years, and we never thought that one day this might be bestowed upon us,” John said in a statement. “It’s an incredible honour for two British guys to be recognized like this. I’m so honoured.”

“To be in a house along with the great American songwriters, to even be in the same avenue is humbling, and I am absolutely thrilled to accept,” Taupin said in a statement.

Their hits include Your Song, Tiny Dancer, Rocket Man, Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, Bennie and The Jets and Crocodile Rock.

Taupin and John being inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1992 John inducted Taupin In 2023 into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

After winning an Emmy for Elton John Live: Farewell from Dodger Stadium, John achieved EGOT status this month.

Named after Jazz Age songwriters, George and Ira Gershwin, the prize is reportedly described as the “nation’s highest award for influence, impact and achievement in popular music.”

Past recipients include Stevie Wonder, Paul McCartney, Billy Joel, Willie Nelson, Smokey Robinson, Tony Bennett, Lionel Richie, Joni Mitchell, Emilio and Gloria Estefan and Garth Brooks.

Honoring artists whose creative works are collected and made accessible by the Library, the Gershwin Prize -named for another legendary songwriting team, George and Ira Gershwin, whose papers are held by the Library-was established in 2007 and acknowledges popular song’s vital role in society.

(Reporting by Asha Bajaj)