In the realm of the Western entertainment industry, particularly in North America, there is a quadfecta of award shows that reign above all others: the highly sought-after Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony Awards.
In terms of honor, there is nothing more impressive than winning all four as an artist, or in other words, achieving the mythical EGOT winner status.
Since the 77th Tony Awards is nigh among us this coming June, ClassicaLite is putting together a brief retrospective of notable EGOT winners of recent times, especially in light of a new addition despite a not-yet-finished awards show season this 2024.
Recent Notable EGOT Winners
This new member of the incredibly exclusive awards show club is none other than the "Rocket Man" himself: Sir Elton John, who won the title at the postponed 2023 Emmys held earlier this year.
Winning the Outstanding Variety Special (Live) award for his "Elton John: Farewell From Dodger Stadium," John takes after Viola Davis who won a spot on the mythical group in 2023 after bagging the Grammy win for Best Audio Book, Narration, and Storytelling Recording.
A year before Davis' placement in the group, new milestones were achieved even among the shining preeminence of other EGOT artists.
Particularly, in 2022, Jennifer Hudson became the second woman of African American descent to get EGOT status, alongside being the youngest female in the history of the award shows to do so. This is after winning a Tony for her role in "A Strange Loop."
Before that, however, there was a brief two-year hiatus in terms of new additions to the prestigious group, with 2020's EGOT winner Alan Menken being the last one before Hudson.
Menken won the honor after taking home that year's Day Time Emmy Award for Outstanding Original Song in a Children's, Young Adult, or Animated Program alongside lyricist Glenn Slater for "Waiting in the Wings," a track from Disney's "Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure."
Today, there are a total of 19 names that were bestowed the elusive competitive EGOT status, and with the upcoming Tony Awards a hop, skip, and a jump away, the group is bound to receive its newest member.
The question is: who's the most likely addition to the group? Well, it might be H.E.R., especially because she's one of the producers of "Here Lies Love," which has received four nominations in the upcoming show, one of which is for Best Original Score.
