Robert Lopez Becomes First Person to Double EGOT With Coco‘s Best Original Song Win
Photos by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty, Frazer Harrison/GettyWinning an Academy Award is a big deal. Winning the EGOT—meaning an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony—is an even more impressive feat, though, and has a much more exclusive list of recipients. Last night, Robert Lopez became the only person in history to win all four of the highest awards in dramatic arts twice, becoming a double EGOT recipient with his second Oscar win for Coco last night at the 90th Academy Awards, as EW points out.
Lopez won his first Tony in 2004 for Best Original Score for Avenue Q and then went on to win two more Tony’s in 2011, receiving Best Book of a Musical and Best Original Score for The Book of Mormon. Between his Tony wins, Lopez won two Emmys for Outstanding Music Direction and Composition for the Nick Jr. show Wonder Pets! in 2008 and 2010, respectively. Lopez then won three Grammys for Best Musical Theater Album for The Book of Mormon, and just a few years later, won Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media and Best Song Written for Visual Media for Frozen. Lopez and his wife, Kristin Anderson-Lopez, both took home the Oscar for Best Original Song for “Let It Go” from Disney’s 2013 film Frozen at the 86th Academy Awards, completing his first EGOT at 39, making him the youngest winner ever. That brings us to 2018, when on Sunday night, Lopez won his second Oscar for Best Original Song for “Remember Me” from Disney and Pixar’s Coco.
Currently, the 43-year-old is batting a thousand at the Grammys, Tonys and Oscars. He’s also already won three Grammys and Tonys, so that means all he needs to do is win another Emmy and another Oscar to top his own record by becoming the first and only person to triple EGOT. He’s still young, so this is actually very possible—perhaps even likely—to occur.
Lopez also holds the record for completing his EGOT the fastest, doing so in just 10 years. Only 11 other artists have completed an EGOT. The current roster of EGOT winners includes Richard Rogers, Helen Hayes, Rita Moreno, John Gielgud, Audrey Hepburn, Marvin Hamlisch, Jonathan Tunick, Mel Brooks, Mike Nichols, Whoopi Goldberg and Scott Rudin.
There are many other artists who have nearly completed EGOT, including Kate Winslet and Common (both needing Tonys), Viola Davis and Frances McDormand (both needing Grammys), John Legend and Elton John (both needing Emmys), and Lin-Manuel Miranda and Audra McDonald (both needing Oscars), just to name a few.