Elton John just completed his EGOT!
“Elton John Live: Farewell From Dodger Stadium” won the Emmy for Variety Special (Live) Monday night at the 75th Emmy Awards, turning the acclaimed hitmaker into an EGOT (i.e., winner of an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony). The “Rocket Man” singer is the 19th artist to win all four major awards. At 76, he is the second oldest, behind John Gielgud, who completed the EGOT at age 87 in 1991.
Tina Fey and Amy Poehler presented the award, with Poehler hinting at the achievement before the winner was announced. “I can't speak for Elton now, but EGOT is excited,” she joked.
The iconic artist’s “Farewell From Dodger Stadium” received three nominations this year and won all three categories. The three-day stand at Dodger Stadium, John's final North American shows, took place in November 2022 and dates back to 1975, when John performed two career-defining sold-out concerts at the same venue.
Director and producer Ben Winston accepted the Emmy in John's absence. “I'm not Elton John,” he began. “I'm not. Unfortunately, he had a knee. [operation.] It's absolutely fine. But he wanted to send his love and gratitude to the Television Academy for this incredible award.”
“We knew this show would be historic, because it was going to be Elton's last show in North America during his tour,” he continued. “We knew it would be historic because it was Disney's first global live broadcast. We didn't know that this was going to be historic because a man who has created the soundtrack of all our lives was going to win; he has done so many good things for society, he is all our heroes; we didn't know. That he was going to give her an EGOT!
Backstage, the show's production team video called John to break the news. He was woken up in the middle of the night in the UK, while he was recovering from a knee replacement, and when they told him that he had completed the EGOT, he screamed.
Elton won his first of five Grammy Awards in 1987 for his role in Dionne & Friends' “That's What Friends Are For,” which he won for pop performance by a duo or group with vocals. He took home the first of two Oscars for original song in 1995 with the “Lion King” ballad “Can You Feel the Love Tonight.” And he got an original Tony score in 2000 for his work on “Aida.”
