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The legend that is Sir Elton John has finally won the coveted EGOT title after securing an Emmy win for his farewell tour.
Sir Elton won his first-ever Emmy at the 2024 Awards for Elton Live: Farewell From Dodger Stadium, which bagged the best variety special live prize at the ceremony in Los Angeles.
The 76-year-old icon, who is reported to have made an eye-watering £118,600 every day on the tour, was not there in person to pick up the honour himself after having a knee operation in the UK.
His husband David Furnish was there and revealed to Variety that they had FaceTimed the Candle in the Wind hitmaker and woke him up just to tell him he had won.
David shared: ‘He screamed out loud. He was like “YES!” He was really happy and said “I’m incredibly honoured to be in such talented and esteemed company.”‘
Sir Elton took to Instagram, unable to contain his excitement and wrote: ‘We won an Emmy and I am on cloud nine!!’
Sir Elton John just keeps getting more iconic (Picture: Harry Durrant/Getty Images)
His husband, David Furnish, said they had woken him up with the good news (Picture: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images)
While sharing a brilliant photo of himself jumping off a piano, he continued: ‘Receiving this recognition is a testament to the passion and dedication of everyone involved, and I am so deeply grateful.
‘Whilst I am gutted that I couldn’t be there to accept this award in person– I recently underwent a knee operation, a gentle reminder, perhaps, of a lifetime spent jumping off pianos.’
Sir Elton then thanked everyone involved with the making of the concert film and added: ‘Honoured to have joined the hallowed ranks of EGOT winners, here’s to the joy of music and the magic it brings to our lives!’
What is an EGOT?
The EGOT status means the artist has won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and a Tony – the top American awards in all four fields of performance.
The legend is now an EGOT winner (Picture: PA)
Only 19 performers have ever been named as an EGOT winner, including Audrey Hepburn and Viola Davies, as the achievement is notoriously difficult and can take years.
Sir Elton’s Emmy joins his five Grammy wins, two Academy Award wins for Can You Feel The Love Tonight from The Lion King and (I’m Gonna) Love Me Again from Rocketman.
Lesser known is the Glastonbury headliner’s Tony award for best original score for the musical Aida, which he achieved in 2000.
The icon made sure to thank everyone involved (Picture: Elton John/Instagram)
Sir Elton couldn’t be there after his knee operation in the UK (Picture: Dave Benett/Getty Images for Elton John AIDS Foundation)
Overall since his first Grammy in 1987, it has been a 37-year span for Sir Elton to become an EGOT winner – which is by no means the longest.
Actress Helen Haynes holds that title having won an Oscar in 1932 and completing with an Oscar in 1977, taking a total of 45 years.
Robert Lopez, a composer, has the shortest EGOT time as he won a Tony in 2004, an Emmy in 2008, a Grammy in 2012 then his Oscar in 2014.
‘HE GOT THE EGOT 👏🏾🔥,’ commented Flavour Flav, while Donatella Versace said: ‘Congratulations to you Elton!! You deserve every recognition possible 🤍 I love you.’
List of EGOT winners
Although the achievement existed before this, the term EGOT was coined in 1984 by actor Philip Michael Thomas.
Since then the EGOT status has become a thing of myth with its social relevance increased in the 2000s when it was mentioned in an episode of 30 Rock.
In history, only 19 performers have gone to win the coveted status, now including Sir Elton John.
The list of EGOT winners are:
Richard Rodgers
Helen Hayes
Rita Moreno
John Gielgud
Audrey Hepburn
Marvin Hamlisch
Jonathan Tunick
Mel Brooks
Mike Nichols
Whoopi Goldberg
Scott Rudin
Robert Lopez
John Legend
Andrew Lloyd Webber
Tim Rice
Alan Menken
Jennifer Hudson
Viola Davis
Elton John
There are six other performers who have honorary EGOTs, having received non-competitive awards.
Barbra Streisand – Special Tony Award
Liza Minnelli – Grammy Legend Award
James Earl Jones – Academy Honorary Award (Oscar)
Harry Belafonte – Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award (Oscar)
Quincy Jones – Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award (Oscar)
Frank Marshall – Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award (Oscar)
Viola won her EGOT last year at the Grammy Awards where she won for best audiobook narration for Finding Me.
During his speech collecting the award on Sir Elton’s behalf, producer Ben Winston said: ‘I am not Elton John, sadly he had a knee op. He’s absolutely fine but wanted to send his love and thanks to the Television Academy for this incredible award.
‘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, who is all of our heroes – we didn’t know it would win him an EGOT.’
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Only took him 37 years!