Singer John Legend achieved the coveted “EGOT” status on Sunday after scoring a win at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards.
Legend, along with Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, joined the elite group to have earned Hollywood’s most prestigious awards – an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony – after he won Outstanding Variety Special (Live) for “Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert.” The singer-songwriter played the role of Jesus Christ in the live television program that aired on NBC in April.
Legend, who has 10 Grammys, won a Tony award in 2017 for Best Revival of a Play as a co-producer for the August Wilson’s stage play “Jitney;” and nabbed an Oscar for his original song “Glory” in 2015.
At 39, he is the youngest person to achieve EGOT status. He’s also the first African-American man to win all four awards. On Sunday evening, Legend took to Instagram to acknowledge the historic career milestone.
“Before tonight, only 12 people had won an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony in competitive categories,” Legend wrote on Instagram.
“Sirs Andrew Lloyd Webber, Tim Rice and I joined that group when we won an Emmy for our production of their legendary show Jesus Christ Superstar.
So happy to be part of this team. So honoured they trusted me to play Jesus Christ. So amazed to be in such rarefied air.”
Legend had previously won 10 Grammys, one Oscar for original song Glory from the film Selma and one Tony, which he won last year for co-producing the play Jitney, Legend, Webber and Rice won their Emmy for producing Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert, which was awarded the best variety special winner at Sunday night’s Creative Arts Emmy Awards.
They join 12 other EGOT recipients including Audrey Hepburn, Scott Rudin, Mel Brooks, Whoopi Goldberg and Robert Lopez. This is the first time that more than two people have achieved an EGOT in a single year.
Benj Pasek and Justin Paul were also in the running for achieving EGOT status on Sunday, but lost their Emmy category for original song for the the TV version of “A Christmas Story.”
(FoxNews/BBC)