*THE SUNDAY TIMES TOP TEN BESTSELLER**A Times Best Music Book of 2023*'This is the most
glorious of books. I am besotted by the life I never knew he had.' -Elton John'Every page of
Scattershot is a delight a joy a name-dropper fan's delight. Divine. I couldn't put it down.'
-Pete Townshend'Hilarious and so emotionally true Scattershot is like a letter from a
cherished friend. You'll want to keep it close so you can read it again and again.' -Cameron
Crowe'Touching. Charming. Humble. Witty. And exquisitely written. Taupin's words need no
musical accompaniment. They sing with a poets voice.' -Gary Oldman'Eloquent and inspiring'
-Robert Hilburn author of Johnny Cash: The Life'A funny zippy narrative' -MOJO'An
entertaining ride that doesn't spare the horses' -RTE Guide'Sharply written' -The
Independent'Self deprecating and refreshingly honest' - Sunday TimesThis is the memoir music
fans have been waiting for. Half of one of the greatest creative partnerships in popular music
Bernie Taupin is the man who wrote the lyrics for Elton John who conceived the ideas that
spawned countless hits and sold millions and millions of records. Together they were a duo a
unit an immovable object. Their extraordinary half-century-and-counting creative relationship
has been chronicled in biopics (like 2019's Rocketman) and even John's own autobiography Me.
But Taupin a famously private person has kept his own account of their adventures close to
his chest until now.Written with honesty and candour Scatterhot allows the reader to witness
events unfolding from Taupin's singular perspective sometimes front and center sometimes from
the edge yet always described vibrantly with an infectious energy that only a vivid
songwriter's prose could offer. From his childhood in the East Midlands of England whose
imagination was sparked and forever informed by the distinctly American mythopoetics of country
music and cowboys to the glittering star-studded fishbowl of '70s and '80s Beverly Hills
Scattershot is simultaneously a Tom Jones-like picaresque journey across a landscape of
unforgettable characters as well as a striking first-hand account of a creative era like no
other and one man's experience at the core of it.An exciting multi-decade whirlwind
Scattershot whizzes around the world as we ride shotgun with Bernie on his extraordinary life.
We visit New York with him and Elton on the cusp of global fame. We spend time with him in
Australia almost in residency at an infamous rock 'n' roll hotel in an endless blizzard of
drugs. And we spend late late night hours with John Lennon with Bob Marley and hanging with
Frank Sinatra. And beyond the world of popular music we witness memorable encounters with
writers like Graham Greene painters like Andy Warhol and Salvador Dali and scores of notable
misfits miscreants eccentrics and geniuses known and unknown. Even if they're not famous in
their own right they are stars on the page and we discover how they inspired the indelible
lyrics to songs such as Tiny Dancer Candle in the Wind Bennie and The Jets and so many
more.Unique and utterly compelling Scattershot will transport the reader across the decades
and around the globe along the way meeting some of
