As far as legends go, American musician John Legend is one. Last night, he won the Emmy Awards for his production Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert, completing the holy grail of winning an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony Award.
Before now, only twelve people have succeeded in winning all four. 39-year-old Legend (real name John Rogers Stephens) also played the role of Jesus in the musical, along with producers Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice.
It’s the first time an African-American man would win the coveted quartet after Whoopi Goldberg completed the haul in 2002.
He expressed his pride in winning through an Instagram post afterwards saying, “Before tonight, only 12 people had won an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony in competitive categories. Sirs Andrew Lloyd Webber, Tim Rice and I joined that group when we won an Emmy for our production of their legendary show Jesus Christ Superstar. So happy to be part of this team. So honored they trusted me to play Jesus Christ. So amazed to be in such rarefied air.”
In addition to winning 10 Grammy Awards, John Legend won an Oscar for his soundtrack to the movie Selma and a Tony Award in 2017 for the play Jitney.