“Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me”

Here in Washington, D.C., we are lucky to have experienced approximately 87% of “lunar coverage” during the 2024 solar eclipse. You can keep the party going tonight. Trade out your eclipse glasses for a pair of rhinestone studded Elton John-style glasses for the broadcast premiere of “Elton John & Bernie Taupin: The Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song” on PBS (8 p.m. ET/check local listings).

Filmed at DAR Constitution Hall last month, the 2024 Gershwin Prize broadcast is an all-star tribute to the legendary songwriting duo that has given the world over 5 decades’-worth of hits, from “Your Song” to “Bennie and the Jets” and more. The concert lineup includes performances by 2023 Gershwin Prize honoree Joni Mitchell, 2020 Gershwin Prize honoree Garth Brooks, Brandi Carlile, Annie Lennox, Metallica, Maren Morris, Billy Porter, Charlie Puth and Jacob Lusk of Gabriels, along with appearances by John and Taupin. Porter hosts the television event. You can also stream the show on PBS.org and the PBS App, and it will also be available to U.S. Department of Defense locations around the world via the American Forces Network.

Gershwin Prize week brings a host of opportunities for the honorees and participating artists to engage with Library of Congress staff and curators. This was especially the case with this year’s honorees. Elton John, Bernie Taupin, and their guests spent time exploring several of the Library’s collections while they visited in March. They saw treasures from the American Folklife Center, Prints & Photographs Division, Rare Book and Special Collections Division, Manuscript Division, Music Division, National Audiovisual Conservation Center, and the U.S. Copyright Office. The Music Division was also able to share treasures with featured artists Billy Porter and SistaStrings.

The Music Division’s display for Elton John and Bernie Taupin included a range of collection items that directly relate to their career and the Great American Songbook. The selections included music sketches by Aaron Copland for “Appalachian Spring” and “Rodeo,” the holograph score for Leonard Bernstein’s Overture to “Candide,” works by Cole Porter, lyric sketches from “The Sound of Music” by Oscar Hammerstein II, John Philip Sousa manuscripts for “Star[s] and Stripes Forever” and “The Liberty Bell,” the manuscript of Billy Strayhorn’s “Take the A Train,” Copyright deposits of songs by Elton John and Bernie Taupin, songs by Merle Haggard, and a wide range of items from the George and Ira Gershwin Collection.

We hope tonight’s broadcast inspires you to engage with the Library’s collections. Click here to learn more about our holdings and click here to submit a reference inquiry to the Performing Arts Reading Room. Visit the Gershwin Prize webpage to learn more about this year’s and previous honorees.