Oscars 2020: Eminem Poses With ‘Uncle’ Elton John Following Surprise Performance

Following Eminem‘s surprise performance at the Oscars Sunday night, the rapper took to Instagram to share a photo of himself with Elton John, calling the British legend his “Uncle Elton.” Posing arm-in-arm in a dressing room backstage, John smiled while Eminem mean mugged for the camera. “I got to see my Uncle Elton tonight at the Oscars. Congrats on your win too, Sir!” Eminem captioned the photo.

Fans reacted with glee to the photo, with many comparing John to a father figure for Eminem. One even said that John “was like a surrogate father to Em.”

“So glad Em has him in his life. You can tell they are close by how they are standing too,” the user wrote.

“If you think about it, Elton John is probably the closest thing to a father Marshall has [ever known],” another wrote. “He stood by Em when society tried to end him. When drugs almost killed him, Elton was the person Em turned to for help. 20 yrs later, they’re still Great Friends.”

“I love the respect you have for each other! legends,” someone else said.

The photo followed a jaw-dropping and somewhat head-scratching moment when Eminem, 47, shocked audience members and viewers at home when he emerged onstage to perform his 2002 hit “Lose Yourself.” The song took home an Oscar for Best Original Song in 2003 for the movie 8 Mile.

“Look, if you had another shot, another opportunity… Thanks for having me @TheAcademy,” Eminem tweeted shortly after the performance. “Sorry it took me 18 years to get here.” The tweet accompanied an old clip of Barbra Streisand presenting the award to Luis Resto at the 2003 ceremony, since Eminem was not in attendance.

Several reactions from celebrities in attendance have since gone viral, including Billie Eilish and her brother Finneas O’Connell’s looks of bewilderment, as well as Idina Menzel’s confused look.

Also during the evening, John and longtime collaborator Bernie Taupin took home the Oscar for Best Original Song for “(I’m Gonna) Love Me Again” from John’s Rocketman biopic. John, 72, performed the song while sitting at a red piano in a violet suit with his signature pink sunglasses.

“This is a dream for us, we’ve never been nominated for anything like this,” John told the crowd upon accepting his and Taupin’s Academy Award.

“Well, this didn’t suck,” Taupin noted during his own acceptance speech. “This is justification for 53 years of hammering it out and doing what we do.”

It was John’s fourth Oscar nomination, but first with Taupin. He previously received nods for Best Original Song for 1995’s The Lion King, for “The Circle of Life,” “Hakuna Matata” and “Can You Feel the Love Tonight,” the latter of which won the award.