Elton John wins first Emmy and is finally named EGOT - find out why he was not in attendance

Elton John has won his first ever Emmy award – and it has marked him as the 19th EGOT winner of all time. The British singer, who was not in attendance as he recently underwent a knee operation, won the Emmy for Outstanding Variety Special (Live) for Elton John: Farewell from Dodger Stadium, a live stream of his final North American show ever. 

His husband David Furnish was in attendance and joined executive producer Ben Winston as they accepted the award. David later told press that they FaceTimed Elton immediately after walking off the stage, waking him up as he was in the United Kingdom recovering from knee surgery.

© Kevin Mazur

"We FaceTimed him, and woke him up," David shared, joking: "He has had his left knee replaced which is not surprising when you think about the number of pianos he has jumped off!

"He screamed, 'Yes!,' he is very happy and incredibly honored, and said he is lucky to be in such estimated company."

EGOT is an acronym for the Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony Awards, and is the designation given to people who have won all four of the major American art awards, also known as the Entertainment Grand Slam.

© Ian Gavan

Farewell Yellow Brick Road was the forty-ninth concert tour and is intended to be the 76-year old's final tour after five decades in the industry. His husband David Furnish was in attendance and joined executive producer Ben Winston as they accepted the award. 

After wrapping up the worldwide tour, he then charmed a 180,000-strong crowd in June 2023 as he took to the Pyramid Stage to perform at Glastonbury Festival in the UK where he wowed the fans with hit tracks such as Rocket Man' and 'I'm Still Standing' – and as one of the best-selling artists of all time, it may come as no surprise to learn that Sir Elton has a reported net worth of $500 million. 

He currently ranks as the 309th richest person in the UK on The Sunday Times Rich List 2023, and it is believed he still nets around $25 million per year from royalties alone.

The 2024 Primetime Emmy Awards took place four months after they were postponed due to the SAG-AFTRA strike - and TV's biggest stars congregated at Los Angeles' Peacock Theater, in downtown. On the red carpet, red was also the color of the gowns , with Katherine Heigl, Suki Waterhoise and Camilla Marrone all rocking the passionate color; while Ayo Edebiri was gorgeous in a leather look, and Selena Gomez wowed in Oscar del Renta.