Is John Legend the Youngest Person to Have an EGOT?
Musician John Legend has had a fantastic career spanning almost two decades. With several hit singles as well as numerous platinum-certified albums, the R&B artist is on his way to becoming a legendary voice of this era.
In 2018, John Legend also made headlines when he joined the ranks of EGOT superstars – those who have won all four of the coveted Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony awards. When he achieved this at the age of 39, Legend sparked a question among fans and celebrity enthusiasts alike: is he the youngest person to have an EGOT?
John Legend’s most famous works
In the mid 2000’s, Legend became known for his collaboration with popular artists such as Kanye West, Lauryn Hill, and Fergie.
When he released his own solo album, Get Lifted, in 2004, it went on to chart in the top 10 of the Billboard 200 list and was certified two times platinum. A song from the album “Ordinary People”, ranked high in the U.K. as well as on the U.S. R&B chart.
After many years of steady releases, in 2013, John Legend’s single “All of Me”, a song he wrote for his wife Chrissy Teigen, became a number one hit. It topped the chart in many countries and was certified eight times platinum, making it his most commercially successful song to date.
Legend is also known for using his talent to support social causes that are close to his heart. In 2014, he co-wrote the song “Glory” for the soundtrack of the movie Selma about the 1965 Selma to Montgomery Marches.
In 2017, he helped produce the Broadway play Jitney about the lives of African American taxi drivers in Pittsburgh in the 1970’s.
In 2018, he had a starring role in the NBC musical special Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert as Jesus Christ.
Additionally, John Legend recently secured a spot on the hit NBC show The Voice as a judge in 2019.
How did he win these EGOT awards?
The first of these EGOT awards that John Legend received was a Grammy in 2006. He was nominated for numerous categories that year and went home with three awards for “Best New Artist,” “Best R&B Album”, and “Best Male R&B Vocal Album.” Throughout the years, Legend would go on to win a total of ten Grammy’s.
In 2015, he received a recognition at the Oscars (formally known as the Academy Awards) for his Selma soundtrack “Glory” in the category of “Best Original Song.”
The next EGOT to be crossed off on John Legend’s checklist was the Tony Awards. He won a Tony in 2017 for his work in producing the Broadway show Jitney. The team received the award for “Best Revival of a Play.”
Finally, in 2018, John Legend became an EGOT celebrity when he earned the Primetime Emmy Award for “Outstanding Variety Special (Live)” for the musical Jesus Christ Superstar Live.
Is John Legend the youngest person to have an EGOT?
Only fifteen people have achieved this impressive feat of having an EGOT and the average age for accomplishing this is somewhere in the 60’s, so at 39 years old in 2018, John Legend was definitely on the young side.
However, he is actually not the youngest person win an EGOT. It should be noted that Legend’s exact age when he received his Emmy was 39.7. Meanwhile, that title of youngest EGOT winner belongs to musical songwriter Robert Lopez, who managed to win all four prestigious Hollywood awards in 2014 at the age of 39.0. It’s only a slight difference, but it does mean that John Legend is technically just the second youngest person on the EGOT list.
So he might not have broken any records in terms of age, but Legend actually accomplished something else just as remarkable. He was the first African American male to achieve the EGOT status, which no doubt will help break barriers for many other minorities in the industry.
