Sir Elton John has mocked Tesla and X owner Elon Musk as he was honoured at the Attitude Awards.

The British music superstar made a rare appearance to receive the Legacy award at the ceremony, celebrating those within the LGBTQ+ community, presented by friend Ed Sheeran.

Sir Elton became the second person to be honoured with the award, after the Duke of Sussex collected the honour in 2017 on behalf of his mother, Diana, the Princess of Wales.

Appearing on stage, Sir Elton joked: “Is this it? Is this the award? What does A stand for?

“Arsehole comes to mind. But let’s not talk about Elon Musk tonight – let’s have a good time.”

Among the other winners was reigning Eurovision Song Contest winner Nemo, who scooped the Person of the Year award, while former Eurovision champion Lulu, who represented the UK in 1969, received the Honorary Gay award.

Baby Reindeer actress Jessica Gunning also picked up the Culture award, while Esther Ghey accepted the posthumous Inspiration award on behalf of her late daughter Brianna Ghey – a transgender teenager who was stabbed to death in Warrington last year.

During his speech, Sir Elton told the audience he is “so happy to be a gay man”, having married David Furnish in 2014 and shares sons Zachary and Elijah.

“I love my husband, my children – I have benefits as a gay man I never thought I’d be able to have,” he said.

“Thank you, David, I love you so, so, so very much. We’ve come a long way. And we’re very lucky to live in a country that gives us the rights we have.

“But there are still people who don’t have those rights, and I intend to fight for those rights until the day I die.”

Earlier this year, Sir Elton earned the coveted EGOT status – a winner of an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony award.

His next projects include the opening of the musical The Devil Wears Prada for which he wrote the music, and the debut of his new documentary Elton John: Never Too Late which premieres on Disney+ on December 13.

In an interview with Attitude magazine, Sir Elton also spoke about the end of his touring days.

“We went to Glastonbury, and we smashed it there, and when I did the last show in Stockholm, I got in the car and David said, ‘How do you feel?’ I went, ‘I’m so happy’.

“I understand why Adele wants to stop because there’s more to life.

“I’ve done nearly over 5,000 shows in my life and I’ve done all there is to do, and so I just knew that my boys and David needed me, and I need them.”