Growing up in rural Lincolnshire, England, Taupin has always had a thing for words. He left school at 15 to work in the print room of a local newspaper in the hopes of becoming a journalist. This career path didn’t stick, but his love of words did. When he was 17, he answered an advertisement in the newspaper from Liberty Records looking for new talent. Taupin was originally turned down by the record label before the artists and repertoire executive Ray Williams suggested he team up with Reg Dwight, who had also answered the advertisement. They began by sending music and lyrics back and forth because Taupin lived in northern England, while Dwight lived in London. Dwight would later change his name to Elton John and their songwriting partnership and friendship would become lifelong . Taupin wrote the lyrics and John set them to music. In a recent interview with Time, Taupin described their connection as a “non-sexual love affair.”