The 66th Annual Grammy Awards are this weekend! We’re hoping to see big wins from our favorites including SZA, Victoria Monét, Jon Batiste and many more. The 96th Academy Awards are about a month and some change away. The nominees were announced last week and they were refreshingly diverse. Some of the Black names that are up for awards this year include Colman Domingo, Sterling K. Brown, Danielle Brooks, Jeffrey Wright and Da’Vine Joy Randolph just to name a few. If their names are called as winners on March 10th, they will join a very rare group of people who can make that same claim. Only around 60 African-Americans have won Oscars in different categories, including special prizes also distributed at the ceremony, like those for lifetime achievement. There have only been 11 Black artists who have won Grammys since its inception.
As prestigious as the Oscar and Grammy clubs are, there is one that definitely tops them both. In Hollywood, EGOT status is referred to as the “grand slam” of American show business. It is achieved when an entertainer has won all four of the major American performing art awards (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony). These awards honor outstanding achievements in television, recording, film and Broadway theatre. There have only been 19 people to reach this legendary competitive milestone (25 if you count those who have done so with honorary or special awards). Out of that 19, only 4 have been Black (That number goes up to 7 when counting honorary and special award winners).
With that being the case, it’s super important to shine a light on these amazing talents and their unconquerable spirits. The individuals that are blessed enough to call themselves EGOT winners have exceeded expectations in ways unimaginable, opened doors for so many people who came after them and have left legacies that will never be forgotten. With us being knee deep in award season and it being the first day of Black History Month, we thought it would be a great idea to highlight the Black EGOT winners! Shout out to these masters or their artistry for showing Black people everywhere that there is no height that we can’t reach. Thanks to their brilliance, resilience and consistency, the entertainment business will never be the same for Black people!
(We included the 3 winners who have non-competitive EGOT status also)
They Made Black History: Highlighting The Legendary Black EGOT Winners was originally published on globalgrind.com
1. Whoopi Goldberg
Source:OscarsEmmys
- 2002: Outstanding Special Class Special – Beyond Tara: The Extraordinary Life of Hattie McDaniel
- 2009: Outstanding Talk Show Host – The View
Grammy
- 1986: Best Comedy Recording – Whoopi Goldberg (Original Broadway Show Recording)
Oscar
Tony
Special Awards
- 1997: Special Emmy Award, Governors Award, for the seven Comic Relief Benefit Specials
2. John Legend
Source:OscarsEmmys
- 2019: Outstanding Interactive Media for a Daytime Program – Crow: The Legend
- 2022: Outstanding Daytime Special – Shelter Me: Soul Awakened
- 2022: Outstanding Short Form Daytime Program – Cornerstones: Founding Voices of the Black Church
Grammys
- 2006: Best New Artist
- 2006: Best R&B Album – Get Lifted
- 2006: Best Male R&B Vocal Performance – “Ordinary People“
- 2007: Best Male R&B Vocal Performance – “Heaven“
- 2007: Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals – “Family Affair“
- 2009: Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals – “Stay with Me (By the Sea)”
- 2011: Best R&B Song – “Shine”
- 2011: Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance – “Hang on in There”
- 2011: Best R&B Album – Wake Up!
- 2016: Best Song Written for Visual Media – “Glory” (from Selma)
- 2020: Best Rap/Sung Performance – “Higher“
- 2021: Best R&B Album – Bigger Love
Oscar
- 2015: Best Original Song – “Glory” (from Selma)
Tony
3. Jennifer Hudson
Source:CBSEmmy
- 2021: Outstanding Interactive Media for a Daytime Program – Baba Yaga
Grammys
Oscar
Tony
4. Viola Davis
Source:OscarsEmmy
Grammy
- 2023: Best Audio Book, Narration & Storytelling Recording – Finding Me
Oscars
Tony
5. James Earl Jones
Source:The Tony AwardsEmmys
- 1991: Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series – Gabriel’s Fire
- 1991: Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Special – Heat Wave
Grammy
- 1977: Best Spoken Word Recording – Great American Documents
Oscar
- 2011: Academy Honorary Award (non-competitive)
Tony
- 1969: Best Leading Actor in a Play – The Great White Hope
- 1987: Best Leading Actor in a Play – Fences
- 2017: Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre (non-competitive)
6. Harry Belafonte
Source:OscarsEmmy
- 1960: Outstanding Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program – Tonight with Belafonte – The Revlon Revue
Grammys
- 1961: Best Performance – Folk – Swing Dat Hammer
- 1966: Best Folk Performance – An Evening with Belafonte/Makeba
- 2000: Grammy Hall of Fame Award
Oscar
- 2014: Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award (non-competitive)
Tony
7. Quincy Jones
Source:Recording Academy / GRAMMYsEmmy
Grammys
- 1964: Best Instrumental Arrangement – “I Can’t Stop Loving You“
- 1970: Best Instrumental Jazz Performance – Large Group or Soloist with Large Group – Walking in Space
- 1972: Best Pop Instrumental Performance – Smackwater Jack
- 1974: Best Instrumental Arrangement – “Summer in the City“
- 1979: Best Instrumental Arrangement – “The Wiz Main Title (Overture, Part One)“
- 1981: Best Instrumental Arrangement – “Dinorah, Dinorah“
- 1982: Producer of the Year
- 1982: Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocal(s) – “Ai No Corrida” (with Jerry Hey)
- 1982: Best Arrangement on an Instrumental Recording – “Velas“
- 1982: Best Cast Show Album – Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music
- 1982: Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal – “The Dude”
- 1984: Producer of the Year (Non-Classical)
- 1984: Best Recording for Children – E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
- 1984: Album of the Year – Thriller
- 1984: Record of the Year – “Beat It“
- 1985: Best Arrangement on an Instrumental – “Grace (Gymnastics Theme)” (with Jeremy Lubbock)
- 1986: Best Music Video, Short Form – “We Are the World – The Video Event“
- 1986: Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals – “We Are the World“
- 1986: Record of the Year – “We Are the World”
- 1991: Producer of the Year (Non-Classical)
- 1991: Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocal(s) – “The Places You Find Love“
- 1991: Best Arrangement on an Instrumental – “Birdland“
- 1991: Best Jazz Fusion Performance – “Birdland”
- 1991: Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group – “Back on the Block”
- 1991: Album of the Year – Back on the Block
- 1992: Grammy Legend Award (non-competitive)
- 1994: Best Large Jazz Ensemble Performance – Miles & Quincy Live at Montreux
- 2002: Best Spoken Word Album – Q: The Autobiography of Quincy Jones
- 2019: Best Music Film – Quincy
Oscar
- 1994: Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award (non-competitive)
Tony