Elton John has become an EGOT—an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony award winner—by winning his first Emmy, making him only the 19th person to do so.
Elton John Live: Farewell From Dodger Stadium won best variety special live at the awards ceremony in Los Angeles on Monday night, but the 76-year-old British singer-songwriter was unable to accept the award due to knee surgery.
The producer Ben Winston, who took the stage with John’s husband, David Furnish, to accept the award, said: “I am not Elton John; unfortunately, he had a knee operation. He’s fine, but he wanted to express his love and gratitude to the Television Academy for this incredible award.
Becoming an Egot has been described as the “grand slam” of show business
“We knew this show would be historic because it was going to be Elton’s last ever show in North America on tour. We knew it would be historic because it was Disney’s first live global stream.
“We didn’t know it would be historic because it was going to win a man who has created the soundtrack to our lives; he’s done so much great for society; he is all of our heroes. We didn’t know it would win him an Egot.”
Becoming an Egot has been described as the “grand slam” of show business. John is the nineteenth person to do so, joining Audrey Hepburn, Mel Brooks, and Andrew Lloyd Webber. Before John, the most recent Egot was Viola Davis, who won a Grammy last year.
The Emmy Award joins John’s five Grammys, two Academy Award wins for Can You Feel the Love Tonight from The Lion King and (I’m Gonna) Love Me Again from Rocketman, and a Tony Award for Best Original Score for the musical Aida.
