Hip-Hop Reacts to John Legend Becoming First Black Man to Win EGOT
John Legend entered prestigious company on Sunday night (Sept. 9) at the 2018 Creative Arts Emmys. Along with lyricist Tim Rice and composer Andrew Lloyd Webber, the singer took home the outstanding live variety special award for executive producing NBC's Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert. In doing so, Legend became the first Black man to have won Grammy, Oscar, Tony, and Emmy awards, otherwise known as the EGOT.
Artists like Common, Chance The Rapper and more took to social media to express their support for Legend after the win. "Congratulations to my good brother @johnlegend for the achievement of a lifetime. EGOT! You are an inspiration brother and a true example of shining your light for good #Excellence," Common wrote.
Questlove chimed in with a hilarious comment as well. "I'm following @phontigallo's lead and rechristening this as GETO," he wrote.
For their work on NBC's remake of Weber and Rice's original 1970 rock opera, which was broadcast live on April 1, Legend, Rice and Webber became the 13th, 14th and 15th EGOT-ers in history. In addition to producing, Legend starred as Jesus Christ in the production.
"We put so much love into this performance," Legend said during his acceptance speech. "Even Jesus and Judas, a lot of their interaction was based on love, even there was some betrayal, even though there was some disappointment, and we put so much love into this and I'm so happy that we were able to do this and that you all love it so much and honored our show."
The "Ordinary People" singer acknowledged the weight of the moment on Instagram in a caption for a photo featuring him alongside Webber and Rice. "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. #EGOT," Legend wrote.
Legend has won 10 Grammy Awards. He pulled an Oscar for best original song in 2015 for "Glory," featured in Ava DuVernay's film Selma, and a Tony in 2017 as co-producer of the best revival of a play-winning production, Jitney.
Past EGOT winners include Audrey Hepburn, Mel Brooks and Whoopi Goldberg. After the news broke, rappers and producers jumped online to pay their respects. We've collected some of our favorite reactions from Questlove, Chance The Rapper, Common and more below.
See Rappers' Reactions to John Legend's EGOT