Jennifer Hudson On An EGOT Mountain!

Jennifer Hudson won a Tony. She has now a Tony along with her Emmy, Grammy and Oscar.

She came a long way from American Idol. The entertainer never became an American Idol but ended up becoming one of the few who won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and now a Tony.

Jennifer Hudson has achieved the rarified status of EGOT with her Tony win for producing “A Strange Loop.”

The awards gauntlet lingo of “EGOT” refers to individuals who have won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony over the course of their careers in entertainment. Notable figures who have netted wins across all four awards bodies include Rita Moreno, Alan Menken, Andrew Lloyd Webber, John Legend, Mike Nichols, Mel Brooks and Whoopi Goldberg.

Only 16 individuals in history had achieved an EGOT in competitive categories ahead of tonight’s Tony Awards. Now, Hudson is the 17th.

Hudson took the first steps to achieving EGOT with her Oscar win in the category of best supporting actress for her performance in 2006’s “Dreamgirls.” Since then, Hudson has netted two performing Grammys — one for best musical theater album for “The Color Purple” in 2017 and another for best R&B album for her self-titled album in 2009 — as well as a Daytime Emmy for executing producing the VR-animated film “Baba Yaga.”

Coincidentally, this year’s ceremony for the 75th Tony Awards was hosted by a fellow supporting actress Oscar winner in Ariana DeBose, who took home the award this year for her performance in Steven Spielberg’s “West Side Story.”

“A Strange Loop” entered into Sunday evening’s awards ceremony as an awards darling, gathering momentum from rave reviews and a passionate fanbase. Michael R. Jackson’s Pulitzer-winner led the field, netting 11 nominations across all categories, including in L Morgan Lee for best featured actress in a musical, making Lee the first transgender individual to be nominated for a Tony.