An album of “incredibly personal” new songs from Sir Elton John won’t be the singer’s last, according to his long-term songwriting partner Bernie Taupin.
“It’s a pretty amazing project, very cool…it tells a lot of stories and it’s incredibly personal, but it’s certainly not final.”
Few details are known about what fans can expect from Sir Elton‘s new music, but the legendary lyricist says he thinks it will be released before Christmas.
Image: Bernie Taupin speaking at an event earlier this week. Pic: Mark Allan
“It’s all done, it’s all in the can and ready to come out, I think, at the end of this year,” Taupin told Sky News.
While Sir Elton, 77, announced his retirement from touring last year, bowing out with a performance on the Pyramid stage at Glastonbury, Taupin says they have no plans to stop making music together.
“You always think ‘is the next album going to be the last?’ but, I think, both Elton and I, we just have this creative drive and we have this ultimate total love for music on every different level.”
Taupin, who’s lived in California since the 70s, has been back in England after being invited to speak at The Other Songs Live, an evening celebrating songwriters old and new.
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“Anything that nurtures talent, you know, gets my ear,” Taupin insists.
He remains one of the most successful lyricists in the world, having collaborated for more than half a century with Sir Elton, selling more than 300 million records globally, and together writing more than 30 albums.
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Image: Bernie Taupin receives the Musical Excellence Award from Sir Elton John at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony last November. Pic: Reuters
And while Taupin’s lyrics are firmly embedded in modern pop culture, he says he struggles to explain what his secret is.
“It’s very difficult for me because, in a nutshell, my answer is I don’t know, I just do it.”
Image: Bernie Taupin told Sky News Sir Elton’s next album won’t be his last. Pic: Reuters
But one thing he’s certain of is that it’s a skill a computer just can’t replicate.
“I loathe and detest the whole idea of AI… from a creative musical standpoint, it cannot write songs as well as the human heart can because it’s got no heart.
“I’ve seen the product of AI, you know, when they’ve said write a song in the style of so-and-so and it’s complete shit.”
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Sir Rod Stewart appeared to be booed as photos of Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy were shown at a concert in Germany.
The 79-year-old singer, who has spoken out against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, was playing at Leipzig’s Quarterback Immobilien Arena on Friday.
Before performing his 1991 hit Rhythm Of My Heart – which he calls a war song and has dedicated to Kyiv in recent shows – the Ukrainian flag was projected on screen behind Sir Rod.
Images of Mr Zelenskyy were then shown, prompting loud boos, shouts, and whistles from the crowd.
Videos from social media show the crowd appearing to jeer as Sir Rod salutes the Ukrainian president.
“Words couldn’t describe what we were watching,” he told the Daily Mirror at the time. “The bombing of innocent children, the bombing of hospitals and playgrounds.
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“Like everyone else, we were completely beside ourselves. I don’t wish that on anyone. This is evil, pure evil.”
It doesn’t get much more hotly anticipated than the first Game Of Thrones spin-off, but House Of The Dragon gave us a brand new story in a familiar world and was largely seen to have lived up to expectations.
The first series, which launched in 2022, was critically acclaimed and won awards – and also gave HBO its largest single-day viewership for a series debut in the service’s history.
But if there was criticism, it was that it was a little slow, too much set-up and not enough action, with decades being covered throughout the season as characters grew up and sides were taken.
Has the pace ramped up for series two?
The second season kicks off where the first left off, with battle lines drawn, blood spilt and two former best friends fighting for the crown – and Sky News has spoken to the cast about what to expect.
Be warned – spoilers for series one ahead.
Team Green v Team Black
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“I feel like I was like trying to throw my body over the crack between the Targaryen family,” says Olivia Cooke, who plays Alicent Hightower – a powerful member of the Greens and whose son Aegon was hastily crowned after she claims his father named him as his heir while on his deathbed.
This effectively usurped Rhaenyra (played by Emma D’Arcy) from the Blacks, who claimed she was the rightful Queen as the King’s first-born – and if that wasn’t enough to put them at odds, the series ended with Alicent’s other son killing Rhaenyra’s.
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Image: Cooke says ‘the chasm is well and truly opened’ this series
“The chasm is well and truly opened,” says Cooke. “And it’s about management of that and trying to make sure that we don’t descend into bloody, horrible, civil war.
“And the men around us are just so hellbent on having their names in the annals of history, and trying to mitigate that is a nightmare.”
Returning to and expanding Westeros
With the second series commissioned after the first proved to be a hit, D’Arcy says there was a different feel on set when they returned.
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“The first time around, we were trepidatious for so many reasons, not least because Westeros is a much beloved site and you need a very good reason to return there. We thought we had one, but even so, a prequel is a big ask of a fandom – you’re asking those people to sort of take a bit of a gamble with you and we knew that there was different ways that that might go.
“I think what was lovely, certainly I felt, it’s very helpful to watch the show and to have a much clearer sense of the job description, the job at hand, the context, the sorts of identity, the aesthetic of the show. But also, I felt certainly that I sort of finally got my Westerosi passport, that I was, you know, no longer a foreigner.”
Image: Emma D’Arcy stars as Rhaenyra Targaryen
Fans of the world of Westeros will see more of it this season, says Matt Smith who plays Rhaenyra’s husband – and uncle – Daemon Targaryen.
“The show is evolving and getting bigger and exploring different parts of Westeros, which I think is quite exciting as well. “Hopefully it ticks the boxes it’s meant to.”
Dragon-riding
Image: Mitchell: ‘It’s probably the closest we’ll ever get to dragon riding in real life’
While both sides of the Targaryen family have access to the ultimate weapon – dragons – wiser members are not in a hurry to use them, knowing the massive amounts of death and destruction that could be unleashed.
But it wouldn’t be much of a series of House Of The Dragon without us seeing plenty of the creatures, and we know that five new ones are being introduced.
For Ewan Mitchell, who plays Prince Aemond Targaryen – the rider of the largest dragon – it’s an opportunity like no other.
Image: Olivia Cooke as Alicent Hightower and Ewan Mitchell as Aemond Targaryen in series two of House Of The Dragon. All pictures: Sky UK/HBO
“A hundred per cent it’s probably the closest we’ll ever get to dragon riding in real life,” he says. “You are ultimately suspended, 15, 20 foot up in the air, you have a wind machine, you have a rain machine, we use something called the volume, which utilises this game engine which projects the environment around you.
“So it really gives you something to react off, you’re not just playing make-believe, and for an actor, that’s just super liberating – it’s escapism taken to another level.”
One of the show’s most out-and-out villainous characters returning with Team Green is the duplicitous Lord Larys Strong, played by Matthew Needham.
He admits drawing inspiration for the role from a surprising source – the reality show Couples Therapy.
“You know, the doctor – Dr Orna Guralnik, I think is her name,” he says.
“Her quality of listening… I know, I’m sorry, I don’t mean to insult her, but her quality of listening – she’s very focused and attentive, so it takes everything in – was something I thought a lot about. But, I feel like I’m really disparaging her.”
Image: Matthew Needham plays villain Larys Strong
Facts and figures
The first series was made during the pandemic, so an already challenging production was made even more so.
This time around there were fewer restrictions in terms of tests and masks, but the filming was no still no mean feat – with the show made across England, Wales and Spain at its peak, some 1,250 crew were working at one time, and 2,430 were involved in total during the almost six-month-long shoot.
Four hundred costumes were made for key characters, while another 5,000 were created for the supporting cast.
And we know there will be at least one epic battle scene – as it needed 250 extras for weeks at a time.
House Of The Dragon returns to Sky Atlantic on 17 June
Gordon Ramsay has said he is “lucky to be alive” after a “really bad accident” riding his bike in the US.
The TV chef, 57, warned his 7.6 million followers on X and 17 million on Instagram to “wear a helmet” after the incident in Connecticut this week.
He thanked the “incredible trauma surgeons, doctors, and nurses” at the state’s private Lawrence and Memorial Hospital, but said he is “most thankful for my helmet that saved my life”.
In a graphic video, he revealed a huge bruise covering much of his torso and said: “I’m lucky to be standing here.
“I am in pain, it’s been a brutal week, but I am sort of getting through it.”
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The couple, who have been married for almost 30 years, are also parents to Megan, Matilda, twins Jack and Holly, and Oscar.
Ramsay is a keen cyclist and has completed several endurance challenges, including triathlons and Iron Mans.
He came under fire during the coronavirus lockdown for travelling to his second home in Cornwall, where he would often film himself cycling long distances.