Sir Elton John has bid farewell to New Zealand in the middle of his Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour, nipping back to the United States for a quick performance at the Oscars - and to pick up an accolade himself.
After performing at Dunedin and Napier last week, Sir Elton is set to continue performing at Auckland this weekend.
The shows were pushed back a week due to "unforeseen scheduling conflicts", and now we know why.
Keen-eyed fans would have spotted him at the Oscars ceremony in Hollywood this afternoon - decidedly not Auckland.
He took to the piano for an energetic performance of his new song (I'm Gonna) Love Me Again.
The trip would have been well worth it as he also picked up an award himself, winning best original song for his collaboration with Bernie Taupin in musical biopic Rocketman, which is based on his life.
The superstar kicked off his six-date NZ tour in the south last night. (Source: Other)
Sir Elton isn't expected to immediately jet back to New Zealand after the awards, instead holding his own Oscars viewing party to benefit the Elton John AIDS Foundation.
He has four shows coming up in the country, at Mission Estate in Hawke's Bay on Saturday and Auckland's Mt Smart Stadium on Sunday, as well as Tuesday the 18th and Thursday the 20th.
The Academy Awards aired live on TVNZ2 today and will be repeated on the TVNZ Duke at 8.30pm.
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