Elton John joins EGOT ‘club’ with Emmy Awards win

Legendary entertainer Elton John on Monday joined a select club of winners of the awards grand slam – the so-called EGOT – when he added an Emmy to his suite of career prizes.

The British singer-songwriter became only the 19th person ever to win an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony when his “Elton John Live: Farewell From Dodger Stadium” won Outstanding Variety Special (Live) at the Emmys in Los Angeles.

The 76-year-old John, who is recovering from a knee operation, was not at the ceremony, but producer Ben Winston took the stage in his place.

“We did know this was going to be historic because it was going to be Elton’s last ever show in North America,” Winston said.

“We didn’t know it 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 that it was going to win him an EGOT.”

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The concert at Dodger Stadium in the heart of Los Angeles was the final stop on the North American leg of John’s farewell tour, a multi-year venture that Billboard magazine said grossed nearly a billion dollars.

Elton John has two Oscars for best original song (“Can You Feel the Love Tonight?” from “The Lion King” and “I’m Gonna Love Me Again” from “Rocketman.”

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He has a Tony Award for his original score for “Aida,” and five Grammys, including for “Candle in the Wind”  in 1998.

Only 18 others have won the EGOT sweep, including Rita Moreno, John Gielgud, Audrey Hepburn, Mel Brooks, Whoopi Goldberg, John Legend, Tim Rice, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Viola Davis.

By Garrin Lambley © Agence France-Presse