With an Emmy Award win for Jesus Christ Superstar, three music legends have reached EGOT status, joining an exclusive club after previously winning Grammys, Oscars, and Tonys.
Musical theatre titans Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, as well as John Legend, achieved the milestone September 9 as NBC's Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert took home a Creative Arts Emmy for Outstanding Variety Special (Live). The win also went to fellow executive producers Marc Platt (the first lead producer to win multiple Emmys for a live musical broadcast), the late Craig Zadan (who passed away last month at 69), Neil Meron, Mike Jackson, Ty Stiklorius, and Alex Rudzinski, and well as co-executive producer Javier Winnik.
Earlier in the evening, the variety special won awards for Outstanding Technical Direction, Sound Mixing, Production Design, and Lighting Design/Lighting Direction.
Lloyd Webber and Rice shared a Tony Award win in 1980 for the score to Evita; in 1997, they won an Oscar for the song "You Must Love Me," written for the film adaptation of the same musical. Lloyd Webber also won Tonys for Cats, The Phantom of the Opera (as a producer), and Sunset Boulevard. Rice's additional accolades include a Tony for Aida and Oscars for The Lion King's "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" and Aladdin's "A Whole New World" (which also won him a Grammy). The two also shared a Grammy win for the Evita cast album.“I’m honored that the Television Academy recognized this wonderful production of Superstar,” Lloyd Webber said in a statement. “While I celebrate this award with my colleagues—especially my dear friend Tim Rice—we would not be here without the guidance of Craig Zadan, whose recent passing we continue to mourn.”
Singer-songwriter Legend has a total of ten Grammy Awards, as well as an Oscar for the song "Glory" from Selma. In 2017 he won a Tony Award as a producer on the Manhattan Theatre Club revival of Jitney (he was nominated again this year as a contributor to the SpongeBob SquarePants score).
The April 1 staged concert presentation of the biblical rock opera was filmed live from Marcy Avenue Armory in Brooklyn April 1. Legend starred in the title role alongside Tony nominees Sara Bareilles as Mary Magdalene and Brandon Victor Dixon as Judas, with all three earning Emmy nods for their performances.
The 70th annual primetime Emmy Awards ceremony will air live on NBC September 17.