September 10, 2018
John Legend made history during Sunday night's Creative Arts Emmy Awards when he became the youngest person, and the first black man, to ever reach EGOT status – the rare career achievement of having won at least one Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony award.
Thirty-nine-year-old Legend, who graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1999, joins a small club. A mere 15 people have achieved EGOT status, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice also joining the ranks Sunday night. The three men were awarded for their work producing "Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert," which won for best variety special winner. Legend also starred in the production.
Other EGOT achievers include Audrey Hepburn, Whoopi Goldberg, and Mel Brooks. Many EGOT recipients are music composers and producers, such as Richard Rodgers and Robert Lopez.
Legend won an Oscar in 2015 for best original song, winning alongside Common for "Glory," which appeared in "Selma." The artist has 10 Grammy's to his name, beginning with the awards for best new artist and best R&B album in 2006.
He received a Tony Award in 2017 as a co-producer of "Jitney," which won for best revival of a play. He also was nominated for best original score for "SpongeBob SquarePants" this year.
Legend and his wife Chrissy Teigen celebrated the milestone on social media.
Before tonight, only 12 people had won an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony in competitive categories. Sirs Andrew Lloyd Webber, Tim Rice and I joined that group when we won an Emmy for our… https://t.co/M0baCz0p5V
— John Legend (@johnlegend) September 10, 2018
EGOT GOATS pic.twitter.com/WDFKGRop6n
— christine teigen (@chrissyteigen) September 10, 2018
The accolades aren't necessarily over for Legend. He is nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for lead actor in a limited series or movie for his role in "Jesus Christ Superstar."
The 70th annual Primetime Emmys air Sunday, Sept. 17 on NBC.
Follow Marielle & PhillyVoice on Twitter: @mariellemondon | @thePhillyVoice
Like us on Facebook: PhillyVoice
Add Marielle's RSS feed to your feed reader
Have a news tip? Let us know.
