In addition to the competitive nature of the entertainment industry, many celebrities have aimed to achieve an “EGOT.” The acronym stands for the four major performing-arts awards: Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony. Although it was originally known as the “Grand Slam” of business awards, the renamed term has made its way into becoming a dream for many to obtain.
The term “EGOT” started back in 1984 when actor Philip Michael Thomas wanted to come up with a word to describe the goals and awards he wanted to win for himself. Soon after, Thomas created a necklace with his acronym engraved on as motivation to keep doing what he was doing each day. It wasn’t until 2009, when the term and Thomas’s necklace became more known to the public. The phrase was essentially used as a storyline of an episode in the sitcom 30 Rock and soon after, other celebrities made it a mission of theirs to get all of these achievements.
Currently, there are 21 EGOT winners but 27 with noncompetitive awards (lifetime achievement honors, etc). These people not only put a lot of effort and dedication into their work, but also had to branch out into different areas of entertainment such as television, music, film, and broadway in order to win this award. Alone, these awards are difficult to attain since each individual award is chosen through a precise voting process.
Composer Richard Rodgers was the first official EGOT winner in 1962, followed by many other celebrities. From John Legend to Elton John, all of these winners have won a variety of award shows over many years. Senior Geneva Simpson-Peña explains, “I believe it took [Robert Lopez] about 7 years to win his first EGOT.”
While these shows happen throughout the year, fans anticipate watching to see who will be the next person to have an EGOT. “I really [hope] Billie Eilish and Ariana Grande [receive an EGOT]. Not only are they extremely versatile and wonderful artists, but [they also] have been in the music industry for a long time,” says sophomore Kayra Arik. Numerous young celebrities have grown a supportive fan base, making the competition harder for the people who are still trying to gain an EGOT.
