EGOT winners: Meet the elite group of 19 celebrities who hold the prestigious title
Would v much like to have membership in this club
What’s the most elite club in Hollywood that literally none of us are getting into? Wherever EGOT winners hang out, I guess! Believe it or not, there are only 19 people in history who have achieved the covetable EGOT status (aka winning an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and a Tony)—and the newest person on the list is Elton John, who became an EGOT winner when he took home an Emmy in January 2024. Elton joins some of the most talented people in the world, including the likes of Audrey Hepburn, Viola Davis, Rita Moreno, and Alan Menken (the person responsible for literally all your favourite Disney songs).
Let’s get into exactly who gets to include “EGOT” in their email signature. BRB, going to take the next 15 minutes to pretend I’m also someone who can start a sentence with, “Like I said when I won my Oscar….”
Richard Rodgers
Meet the very first EGOT winner e-v-e-r. Composer Richard Rodgers kicked things off with a Best Song Oscar for State Fair, then won a slew of Tony Awards (six, to be exact), two Grammys, and an Emmy for Winston Churchill: The Valiant Years. Oh, and also, he won a Pulitzer Prize, no big deal.
Helen Hayes
Actor Helen Hayes was the first woman to become an EGOT winner and had an incredibly long career. She won an Oscar in 1932 for The Sin of Madelon Claudet, an Emmy more than two decades later for an episode of Schlitz Playhouse of Stars, and a Grammy two decades after that for Best Spoken Word Recording. She also took home not one but two Tony Awards (and another Oscar!). Helen’s other accomplishments, as if those weren’t enough? The National Medal of Arts and the Presidential Medal of Freedom, casual.
Rita Moreno
Rita is the first Latina EGOT winner and kicked off her numerous awards with a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for West Side Story before winning a Best Recording for Children Grammy, a Best Supporting Actress Tony, and then two back-to-back Emmy Awards! Like Helen Hayes, Rita has also been awarded the National Medal of Arts and Presidential Medal of Freedom, and she has a Peabody Award to her name.
Sir John Gielgud
Sir John Gielgud was the first person from the LGBTQ+ community to reach EGOT status, and he had an extremely long career—winning all his awards between 1948 and 1991. First, John got a Tony for The Importance of Being Earnest and took home another one in 1961 for Big Fish, Little Fish. He then won a Grammy in 1979 before winning the Best Actor in a Supporting Role Oscar for Arthur in 1981 and eventually a Best Actor Emmy for Summer’s Lease in 1991. Like, no wonder he was knighted!
Audrey Hepburn
Yep, Audrey was an EGOT winner. In 1953, she won the Best Actress Oscar for Roman Holiday, and the next year, she won the Best Actress Tony for Ondine. She then won posthumous Emmy and Grammy Awards in 1993 and 1994, for Gardens of the World With Audrey Hepburn and Audrey Hepburn’s Enchanted Tales, respectively.
Marvin Hamlisch
Marvin Hamlisch has won…literally so many awards. Fine, he might have “only” one Tony (Best Musical Score for A Chorus Line), but he has four Grammy Awards (all won in 1974), four Emmy Awards, and three Oscars (two for The Way We Were and one for The Sting). Oh, and he won a Pulitzer, so really he’s a PEGOT.
Jonathan Tunick
Jonathan Tunick has exactly one award in each of the four categories. He got his Emmy in Music Direction for Night of 100 Stars, his Grammy in Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocals for “No One Is Alone,” his Oscar in Best Original Score for A Little Night Music, and his Tony in Best Orchestrations for Titanic (that’s correct, there’s a Titanic musical out there for you to see).
Mel Brooks
Mel Brooks has won a tonne of awards over the years, including three Tonys for The Producers, multiple Grammys (Best Spoken Comedy Album included), a buncha Emmys for his guest-starring role in Mad About You, and a Best Original Screenplay Oscar for The Producers. He’s! Been! Busy!
Mike Nichols
Get this: Director Mike Nichols has won nine (9) Tony Awards. For what, you ask? Ahem: Death of a Salesman, Monty Python’s Spamalot, The Real Thing, Annie, The Prisoner of Second Avenue, Plaza Suite, Luv, The Odd Couple, and Barefoot in the Park. On top of alllll that, he won a Grammy for his comedy performance in An Evening With Mike Nichols and Elaine May, won a slew of Emmys for Angels in America and Wit, and took home an Oscar for directing The Graduate, one of the best films of all time.
Whoopi Goldberg
Whoopi Goldberg made history as the first Black woman to become an EGOT winner and as the first person to win two different awards in the same year. On top of taking home both a Tony Award (for Thoroughly Modern Millie) and an Emmy Award (for Beyond Tara: The Extraordinary Life of Hattie McDaniel) in 2002, she won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in Ghost and a Grammy for Best Comedy Album. Oh, and she also won another Emmy for her work on The View in 2009.
Scott Rudin
Remember when we were like, Wow, Mike Nichols has won a lot of Tonys? Welp, controversial and problematic producer Scott Rudin is out here with 18 of them. The list is literally too long to go through but includes Doubt, Fences, The Book of Mormon, and Death of a Salesman. Meanwhile, the Book of Mormon album also earned him a Grammy, while he got an Emmy in Outstanding Children’s Program back in 1984 and took home the Best Picture Oscar for No Country for Old Men in 2007.
Robert Lopez
Not only is songwriter Robert Lopez the first Filipino American to become an EGOT winner, he’s also the first person to win multiple awards in each of the categories. He’s also the man responsible for some of the biggest hits literally ever, including “Let It Go” from Frozen and “Remember Me” from Coco, each of which won him an Oscar. Meanwhile, Robert won Emmys for WandaVision and Wonder Pets! as well as Grammys for Frozen and The Book of Mormon, not to mention Tonys for The Book of Mormon and Avenue Q.
Andrew Lloyd Webber
I mean, obviously he’s on this list! Evita alone earned Andrew Lloyd Webber an Oscar, a Grammy, and a Tony, while he got an Emmy for Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert. (Note: He also earned Tonys for musicals like Sunset Boulevard, The Phantom of the Opera, and Cats.)
Tim Rice
Tim Rice is a longtime collaborator of Andrew Lloyd Webber, and they share some achievements. Tim also took home an Oscar, Tony, and Grammy thanks to Evita as well as an Emmy for Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert. His other notable awards? Winning the Oscar for “A Whole New World” from Aladdin and “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” from The Lion King!!
John Legend
John Legend has obviously won a gazillion Grammys, from Best New Artist to Best R&B Album (fun fact: he has actually won the most Grammys of any EGOT winner), but he took things to another level when he won Best Original Song for “Glory” from Selma. On top of that, he took home a Tony for Jitney and then an Emmy for Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert—becoming the second youngest EGOT winner ever and the first Black man to achieve the accomplishment.
Alan Menken
Composer Alan Menken became an EGOT winner in 2020, when he won the Outstanding Original Song Emmy for “Waiting in the Wings” from Rapunzel’s Tangled Adventure. Before that, he’d won eight Oscars for his work on Disney movies including Pocahontas, Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, and The Little Mermaid plus a tonne of Grammys for those same movies (and Tangled!) and a Tony for Newsies. Basically, he’s responsible for some of your fave childhood songs.
Jennifer Hudson
Jennifer Hudson became the 17th EGOT winner and the second Black woman to achieve this major accomplishment when she took home the Tony for A Strange Loop during the 2022 Awards. She previously won an Oscar for Dreamgirls, an Emmy for Baby Yaga, and two Grammy Awards for The Color Purple cast album as well as her self-titled debut.
Viola Davis
Viola Davis officially achieved EGOT status in February 2023, when she took home the Grammy Award for Best Audiobook, Narration, and Storytelling Recording for her memoir, Finding Me. The win made Viola the 18th EGOT winner of all time and the third Black woman to join the list, following Whoopi Goldberg, who became the first Black woman to EGOT in 2002, and Jennifer Hudson, who completed her own EGOT in 2022. In addition to her Grammy, Viola previously won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar in 2017 for her performance in Fences, an Emmy in 2015 for her lead role on ABC’s How to Get Away With Murder, and not one but two Tony Awards, first in 2001 for her performance in King Hedley II and again in 2010 for her work in the stage version of Fences.
Elton John
Elton won the Best Variety Special (Live) Emmy in January 2024 for Elton John Live: Farewell From Dodger Stadium—making him the 19th EGOT winner of all time!
Upon being nominated, Elton said, “It’s an honour for my Special to be recognised by the Academy. My final Dodger Stadium performance was bittersweet and an evening that I will never forget. My team at Rocket Entertainment, the talented Fulwell 73, and everyone at Disney+ went above and beyond to create a magical production, not only for me as I said goodbye to North America, but for my fans all over the world to enjoy for years to come.”
While Elton wasn't at the ceremony to pick up his award due to a knee operation (get well soon!), producer of the live special Ben Winston appeared on stage, along with Elton's husband David Furnish, to accept his award.
Winston said: "I am not Elton John, sadly he had a knee op. He’s absolutely fine but wanted to send his love and thanks to the Television Academy for this incredible award."
Elton has five Grammy awards, two Oscars (one for 'Can You Feel the Love Tonight' from The Lion King and another for '(I’m Gonna) Love Me Again' from Rocketman) and one Tony for the original musical score of Aida.
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