At the awards ceremony in Los Angeles on Monday, Elton John won the outstanding variety special (live) award for Elton John Live: Farewell from Dodger Stadium, a three-hour concert documentary that streamed on Disney+. He now joins a distinguished group of just 19 musicians, actors and producers who have achieved this feat, which includes the likes of Audrey Hepburn, Whoopi Goldberg and Andrew Lloyd Webber.
Elton John has previously won five Grammy awards, most recently for Elton John & Tim Rice’s Aida in 2001. He won Oscars for 'Can You Feel the Love Tonight' from The Lion King in 1994 and '(I’m Gonna) Love Me Again' from Rocketman, and was awarded a Tony Award in 2000 for his original score on Aida.
At the age of 11, Elton John was awarded a scholarship as a Junior Exhibitor at the Academy and attended Saturday morning classes for the next four years. In 2002, he was awarded an honorary doctorate from the Academy, and since then has supported the Academy’s students through the Elton John Scholarship Fund. He has been the Academy’s most generous alumni donor, in recognition of which he was made a member of the Regents’ Court of Benefactors, along with his husband David Furnish, at a ceremony in January 2022.
In September 2022, he contributed further to the development of the next generation of musicians through the launch of the Academy's Sir Elton John Global Exchange Programme. This scheme promotes global mobility and international collaboration between deserving and talented young musicians at the Academy and the world's top music conservatoires - find out more here.
Everyone at the Royal Academy of Music would like to congratulate Elton John on this momentous achievement.