Elton John lyricist, U2 drummer invited to join the Motion Picture Academy

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L-R: Elton John, Bernie Taupin, ABC/Rick Rowell

L-R: Elton John, Bernie Taupin, ABC/Rick RowellNext year, when stars stand onstage clutching their Oscars and say that they’d like to “thank the Academy,” among the people they’ll be thanking are Elton John lyricist Bernie Taupin and Larry Mullen Jr., the drummer of U2.

Bernie and Larry are among more than 800 members of the showbiz community who’ve been invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences — and that means they can now vote on who wins the Oscars.

Both men were invited to join the Academy by its Music branch.  Bernie is a new Oscar winner for “(I’m Gonna) Love Me Again,” the song from Rocketman which he co-wrote with Elton. 

As a member of U2, Larry has been Oscar-nominated twice: Once for the song “Ordinary Love,” from the movie Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, and once for “The Hands that Built America,” from Gangs of New York. He also acted in the 2011 movie Man on the Train and the 2013 film A Thousand Times Good Night.

45% of the new members are women, while 36% are members of ethnic or racial communities that have been underrepresented in the Academy.

Other new members include singer/songwriter Patrice Rushen, country star Tim McGraw, Eva Longoria, Natasha Lyonne, Niecy Nash, Florence Pugh, Constance Wu, Zazie Beetz, Beanie Feldstein, Cynthia Erivo, Olivia Wilde, Bobby Cannavale and many of the stars of the Oscar-winning Korean film Parasite.

By Andrea Dresdale
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