Elton John And Alice Cooper Re-Created A 50-Year-Old Photo To Celebrate Bernie Taupin’s Birthday

Elton John is a household name and musical legend, and to those who truly appreciate John’s iconic output, so too is Bernie Taupin. Since the ’60s, Taupin has been John’s songwriting partner, penning lyrics for hits like “Tiny Dancer,” “Rocket Man,” and pretty much every other song for which John is known. Over the weekend, Taupin celebrated his 71st birthday, which led to a delightful look back via a photo re-creation.

50 years ago, on Taupin’s 21st birthday, he celebrated with John, Alice Cooper (with whom Taupin has also collaborated), and actor and comedian Paul Lynde. There’s a photo of the four of them from that night, which they all re-created this year — except for Lynde, who died in 1982. Actor Eric McCormack took Lynde’s place this time around and he’s the one who shared the new photo online, writing in his post that compares both shots, “Bernie Taupin’s 21st birthday and, last night, his 71st. Fifty years later… and I got to be Paul Lynde! Fifteen-year-old me would be losing his freakin’ mind.”

John re-shared the photo, as well as a different snap of just himself and Taupin. He wrote alongside the picture, “Celebrating the milestone birthday of my musical soulmate @bernietaupinofficial. Happy Birthday Brother [rocket emoji] I love you [heart emoji].”