Jennifer Hudson Achieves EGOT Status at the 75th Tony Awards

On Sunday evening, Jennifer Hudson made history and joined the small handful of people who have achieved EGOT status.

When A Strange Loop won Best Musical at the 2022 Tony Awards, Hudson received the award as one of the show’s co-producers. The 40-year-old actress and singer was added as a producer as it transitioned to Broadway. Other producers include Don Cheadle, RuPaul Charles, Mindy Kaling, Billy Porter, and Alan Cumming.

My queen Jennifer Hudson makes history as the youngest person and second black woman to achieve #EGOT status with Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony awards. I’m so proud!!! pic.twitter.com/T3Jm6i272D

— PapiWater (@_Papiwater) June 13, 2022

According to Somag News, “EGOT is the acronym for the Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony Awards, which honor achievements in television, music, film, and theater, respectively. It is considered the grand slam of show business,” a kind of sweep that only a group of artists have been able to achieve. 

Hudson won her first Academy Award in 2007 for her work on Dreamgirls. In 2009, her debut self-titled album won Best R&B Album at the Grammy Awards, and The Color Purple, which won Best Musical Theater Album in 2017. She also served as an executive producer on the animated short titled Baba Yaga, which won Outstanding Interactive Media at the Daytime Emmy Awards in September 2021. 

This is the biggest news of the night and should not be slept on!!!

Jennifer Hudson… former rejected American idol contestant…. Is an EGOT!!!!!!

I am so proud of her 💜 https://t.co/DAmu8FqU1V

— Tom Parrott (@Tom_Parrott23) June 13, 2022

Born and raised in Chicago, Hudson rose to fame in 2004 when she was a finalist on Season 3 of American Idol. In 2007, she made her film debut as Effie White in the movie Dreamgirls. In late September 2008, Hudson released her debut album Jennifer Hudson, which garnered three nominations for the 2009 Grammy Awards. She has since released two other studio albums: I Remember Me in 2011 and JHUD in 2014. In August 2021, Hudson played Aretha Franklin in the film Respect and recorded covers of several of Franklin’s songs for the biopic. Now, she is set to star in the upcoming action/thriller movie Breathe. 

Hudson is now the 17th person to gain EGOT status, collecting all four awards in 15 years. Other recipients of EGOTs include Audrey Hepburn, Whoopi Goldberg, Andrew Lloyd Weber, and John Legend. 

Hosted by West Side Story’s Ariana DeBose, the 75th Tony Awards took place Sunday evening at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. Watch a tribute to Hudson’s historic moment below.