Elton John completes EGOT with Emmys 2024 win

Musician is one of just a handful of people to have earned the honour

Sir Elton John has become the 19th person in history to achieve an “EGOT”.

The honour, an acronym which stands for “Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, [and] Tony”, is unofficially bestowed upon entertainers who have managed to win the biggest awards in the four fields.

John earned the title with a win at the 2024 Emmys in the early hours of Tuesday (16 January), for his Disney+ concert programme Elton John Live: Farewell From Dodger Stadium.

The special, which chronicled John’s final US performance at the end of his farewell tour, had been nominated in the Outstanding Variety Special (live) category.

It was the first Emmy nomination John had ever received, and he beat out competitors including the Oscars, the Tony Awards, The Apple Music Super Bowl LVII Halftime Show starring Rihanna and Chris Rock: Selective Outrage.

Due to a recent medical procedure on his knee, John was unable to attend the ceremony in person, with producer Ben Winston accepting the award on his behalf.

“He’s absolutely fine, but he wanted to send his love and thanks to the Television Academy for this incredible award,” Winston said. “We did 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. He’s done so much great for society, who is all of our heroes. We didn’t know that it was going to win him an EGOT.”

Elton John pictured in 2023 (Getty Images for The Rock and Ro)

John has previously won five Grammy awards between 1987 and 1999. His Oscar came in 1994, for the original song “Can You Feel the Love Tonight”, as featured in Disney’s The Lion King.

In 2000, it was his score to Aida that won John a Tony, the most prestigious American theatrical award.

Before John, the most recent celebrity to attain an EGOT was the actor Viola Davis, who completed the quartet with a Grammy win in 2023. Before that, Jennifer Hudson reached the milestone in 2022.

John brought his storied performing career to an end last year with the Goodbye Yellow Brick Road tour. His final UK gig came at Glastonbury Festival, where he delighted fans with a corruscating Sunday night set.

You can follow along with The Independent’s Emmys liveblog here.

Held at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles on Monday night, the ceremony had been delayed by four months due to the writers’ and actors’ strikes.

The event saw HBO drama Succession, Netflix miniseries Beef, and FX comedy The Bear scoop prizes in nearly all of of the major categories.