Elton John just became the 19th person to accomplish this rare feat
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Elton John may have recently concluded his farewell tour — a massive undertaking of 300 shows across five continents — but he’s still very much in the spotlight.
On Monday night, amid a decadeslong, legendary career, John won his first Emmy Award and joined a rare club, becoming one of just 19 people who have won an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony, officially achieving EGOT status.
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John’s final North American show, held at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, aired live on Disney+ in the fall of 2022. It scored three Emmy nominations, including in the outstanding variety special (live) category, and marked the first Disney+ live special to earn a nomination, the Deseret News previously reported.
John earned the Emmy for best variety special but was not in attendance to receive it due to a recent knee surgery, Entertainment Weekly reported. The special also won the other two Emmys it was nominated for at the recently held Creative Arts Emmys.
“We knew this show was going to be historic because it was going to be Elton’s last ever show in North America on tour,” said Ben Winston, one of the special’s producers, per USA Today. “We didn’t know this was going to be historic because it was going to win a man who has created the soundtrack to all of our lives, who has done so much great for society, who is all of our heroes — we didn’t know it was going to win him an EGOT.”
That final North American show, filmed live on Disney+, was more elaborate than his tour’s other concerts, the Associated Press reported. The singer invited special guests for the show, including recent collaborators like Dua Lipa and Brandi Carlile; and Kiki Dee, who partnered with him for the 1976 hit “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart.”
“Elton John Live: Farewell From Dodger Stadium” is still available for streaming on Disney+.
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Elton John gets EGOT status
The Emmy win makes John the 19th person to achieve EGOT status. The singer has won five Grammys, two Oscars for best original song (“Can You Feel the Love Tonight?” from “The Lion King” in 1994; and I’m Gonna Love Me Again” from “Rocketman” in 2019) and a Tony Award for the original score of “Aida” in 2000, according to the entertainment site Gold Derby.
Per Gold Derby, other people who have achieved EGOT status include:
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.
Tim Rice.
Andrew Lloyd Webber.
Alan Menken.
Remembering Elton John’s farewell tour
John’s Emmy Award-winning concert was filmed roughly three years after his “Farewell Yellow Brick Road” traveled through Utah.
“It took only the first chord of ‘Bennie and the Jets’ for the bespectacled, bedazzled John to hook his crowd,” the Deseret News reported at the time. “And as the high-energy night went on, with John’s voice in great shape, there was undoubtedly one question on all fans’ minds: Was John, 72, really nearing the end of the yellow brick road?”
Fans got their answer near the end of the show, when John leveled with his audience and told them he was ready for a new chapter.
“The greatest thrill for me is to play to another human being and get a response. And I deem it fairly accurate to say that you have responded so brilliantly. And I will never, ever forget you. You’re in my soul, you’re embedded in me,” he told his fans, per the Deseret News.
“I have another life to live now. I never thought in my life I’d have a family of my own, but I do now. And that family needs me, so this is why I’m doing this final tour, to say goodbye and thank you. … Thank you, thank you from the bottom of my heart for everything you have given me.”
