Bernie Taupin's ex-wife, Maxine, is auctioning off his handwritten lyrics to Elton John's “Candle in the Wind,” “Border Song,” “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road,” “Bennie and the Jets” and “Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting.”
Having split with Bernie in 1976, she says, “I thought after 40 years of having these fabulous treasures and enjoying them that it was time to have somebody else enjoy them... It's really the year of Elton John with the movie Rocketman and with his autobiography Me, so I figured this was a good time.”
The estimates for each song for the Bonhams auction in Los Angeles on December 9th are:
- "Candle in the Wind" - $150,000 to $250,000
- “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” - $150,000 to $250,000
- “Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting” - $100,000 to $200,000
- “Bennie and the Jets” - $80,000 to $120,000
- “Border Song” - $30,000 to $50,000
Maxine also owns the lyrics for "Your Song," but Bonhams auction house already has an “aggressive pre-sale offer,” which means it will probably be sold privately.
She was the inspiration for Bernie's lyrics for “Tiny Dancer,” "Harmony” and “Love Lies Bleeding.”