Elton John has become an Egot – an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony award winner – after winning his first ever Emmy, becoming just the 19th person to do so.

Elton John Live: Farewell From Dodger Stadium won best variety special live at the awards ceremony in Los Angeles on Monday night, but the 76-year-old British singer-songwriter could not pick up the honour due to having a knee operation.

The producer Ben Winston, who took to the stage with John’s husband, David Furnish, to collect the award, said: “I am not Elton John, sadly he had a knee op. He’s absolutely fine but wanted to send his love and thanks to the Television Academy for this incredible award.

“We knew this show would be historic, because it was going to be Elton’s last ever show in North America on tour. We knew it would be historic because it was Disney’s first live global stream.

“We didn’t know it would be historic because it was going to win a man, who has created the soundtrack to our lives, he’s done so much great for society, who is all of our hero. We didn’t know it would win him an Egot.”

Becoming an Egot has been referred to as the “grand slam” of show business. John is the 19th person to do so, joining the likes of Audrey Hepburn, Mel Brooks and Andrew Lloyd Webber. Before John, Viola Davis was the most recent individual to become an Egot, after winning a Grammy last year.

The Emmy award is added to John’s five Grammy wins, two Academy Award wins for Can You Feel the Love Tonight from The Lion King and (I’m Gonna) Love Me Again from Rocketman, alongside his Tony award for best original score for musical Aida.

Press Association contributed to this report.