Elton John's Farewell Concert Tour Won An Emmy And Landed Him An EGOT
Elton John is the latest member of the EGOT club: the beloved singer-songwriter just won an award for Outstanding Live Variety Special at the 75th annual Emmys, rounding out an impressive collection of trophies celebrating his five-plus decade career.
John won the trophy for "Elton John Live: Farewell From Dodger Stadium," a concert movie set at the same stadium where he famously donned a glittery silver baseball uniform to play to a sold-out crowd in October 1975. In 2022, Disney+ live-streamed John's final North American show on his "Farewell Yellow Brick Road" tour, which went on to become the highest-grossing tour of all time, per Billboard.
The musician reached EGOT status 37 years after receiving his first Grammy win, for the song "That's What Friends Are For." Since 1987, the artist has won several additional Grammys (including for "Can You Feel The Love Tonight" and "Candle in the Wind 1997"), Oscars for the aforementioned "Lion King" tune and "(I'm Gonna) Love Me Again" from "Rocketman," and a Tony for the music from the 2000 opera adaptation "Aida." Surprisingly, John's Disney+ live show garnered him the first Emmy nomination of his career at age 76.
The musician joins an exclusive club
John wasn't in attendance at the ceremony held at Los Angeles' Peacock theater, but executive producer Ben Winston accepted the award (from Tina Fey and Amy Poehler in full "Weekend Update" costume, no less) on his behalf, opening by saying, "Thank you so much. I am not Elton John, I'm not." Winston seemed to begin to say that John had a knee operation, before quickly reassuring viewers, "He's absolutely fine." He went on to acknowledge the historic moment, saying:
"We knew this show would be historic because it was gonna be Elton's last ever show in North America on tour. We knew it would be historic because it was Disney's first ever live global stream. We didn't know it was gonna be historic because it was going to win a man who has created the soundtrack to our lives, who has done so much great for society, who is all of our heroes — we didn't know it was gonna win him an EGOT."
John shared his own statement per Town & Country, thanking everyone who had supported him and noting that "Tonight is a testament to the power of the arts and the joy that it brings to all our lives." The musician now joins a small club with just 19 other members, including fellow musicians Jennifer Hudson and John Legend.