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He's Got a Big EGOT: With Emmy Win, John Legend Is 1st Black Man to Secure Prestigious Achievement

After accepting an Emmy Sunday night for his role as a producer on the live musical Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert, which won the Outstanding Variety Special (Live) award, John Legend became the first black man to collect an EGOT. Suggested Reading The Root 100 – 2024’s Most Influential African Americans Post #3 6-18-2025…

After accepting an Emmy Sunday night for his role as a producer on the live musical Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert, which won the Outstanding Variety Special (Live) award, John Legend became the first black man to collect an EGOT.

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Stefon Diggs and Cardi B Viral Boat Video Prompts Response from Patriots Coach
Stefon Diggs and Cardi B Viral Boat Video Prompts Response from Patriots Coach

The EGOTโ€”the entertainment industryโ€™s triple (er, quadruple) crownโ€”consists of an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony award. The first black entertainer to win an EGOT was Whoopi Goldberg, an honor she secured in 2002.

No Arthur fist here!

(Nerdy EGOT aside here: If youโ€™re wondering why James Earl Jones, Harry Belafonte and Quincy Jones arenโ€™t included in the the bevy of EGOT listings throughout the web, itโ€™s because honorary awards donโ€™t technically count toward the EGOT. This means Barbara Streisand and Liza Minelli are also shut out of EGOT status as well.)

Legend is only the 15th entertainer in history to collect all four statuesโ€”but what may be most impressive is the speed in which he won them. The singer, composer and producer won his first Grammy (three of them, actually) in 2005, including Best New Artist. Meaning it took him just 13 years to win an Oscar, a Tony and an Emmy, each of which are considered lifetime achievements in their own right.

According to Billboard, Legend has amassed 10 Grammys thus far in his career. He won an Oscar in 2015 for the song โ€œGlory,โ€ which appeared on the soundtrack of the movie Selma (his co-writer Common is himself just a Tony away from EGOT status). And in 2017, Legend took a home a Tony as a co-producer of Jitney, which won for Best Revival of a Play.

Oh, and John Legendโ€™s a whole 39 years old, to boot, also making him the youngest to accrue all that hardware (a distinction he shares with songwriter Robert Lopez).

Legendโ€™s biggest fan, TV host and cookbook author Chrissy Teigen, commemorated his win with a photo of him alongside two other new EGOT winnersโ€”and co-producers for Jesus Christ Superstarโ€”Andrew Lloyd Weber and Tim Rice.

https://twitter.com/chrissyteigen/status/1038962213900304385?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Oh, and this video of John Legend putting his Emmy on a shelf, next to all the other statuettes heโ€™s won. The moment when he looks back and assesses his work is really something.

Straight From The Root

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