‘At my age, I can rant!’ Bernie Taupin on Elton John, hellraising vampires and competing in full-blown rodeos

He is the outstanding lyricist who propelled the Rocket Man to 300m sales. As Taupin releases a wistfully grouchy solo album, he talks about the joy of anonymity, his LA drinking gang – and owning a prize-winning bucking bull Bernie Taupin has an interesting take on the strange brand of fame he enjoys. “I am,” he says, “what I call the credit card guy. ” I’m sorry? You’re the what? “The credit card guy. I go somewhere, like a shop or a restaurant, and it’s fine. I can be me, no one notices. Then I pay with my credit card and they see the name and go” – he lets out a mock gasp – “‘You’re that guy!

’ And I’m the luckiest man in the world in regards to that. I absolutely, positively, 100% love my anonymity, the fact I can walk down the street. I mean, even my contemporaries, people I know – I find I have to introduce myself to them. I was at the Americanafest in Nashville recently and Robert Plant was playing. I hadn’t seen him in years and he said he wanted to meet up. So I walked towards him and there’s that look: ‘Oh God, who the hell’s this? ’ ‘Hey, Robert, it’s Bernie! ’ ‘Oh my gosh! ’ And the next night, we had dinner together. ” It’s a neat summation of the curious situation…