Robert Lopez becomes first person to achieve double EGOT status

Songwriter Robert Lopez has made history by becoming the first person to achieve double EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Academy and Tony Awards) status.
The 43-year-old Filipino-American musician won an Oscar for Best Original Song at the Academy Awards in Los Angeles on Sunday (04Mar18), for his track Remember Me from the movie Coco.
His win means he is the first person to collect an EGOT double, winning each of the prestigious awards in TV, music, film and theatre at least twice.
Lopez won his other Oscar in 2014, for Let It Go, the inescapable theme to Disney’s blockbuster animation Frozen.
He has also won two Daytime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Music Direction and Composition, honouring his work on animated children’s series Wonder Pets!, and three Grammy Awards for his work on the soundtracks to Frozen and stage musical The Book of Mormon.
The Book of Mormon has also landed him two Tony Awards, with a third coming for his compositions for puppet-based musical Avenue Q.
Achieving EGOT status once is itself a rare feat, as only 12 individuals have won all four awards in competitive categories. Whoopi Goldberg, Mel Brooks and Audrey Hepburn are among those to have done so.
Lopez broke records in when he first joined the EGOT club back in 2014, when he won a Grammy for Let It Go. At 39 he was the youngest person to complete the set, and having done so within a decade of his first win, he is also the quickest.
The musician shared his 2018 Oscar for Best Original Song with his wife and songwriting partner Kristen Anderson-Lopez. She is halfway to an EGOT herself, having also been honoured at the Grammys and Oscars for her work on songs for Frozen.
During the couple’s acceptance speech, Anderson-Lopez noted the impressive diversity of those nominated in their category, as they beat acts including Mary J. Blige, Sufjan Stevens and Common. Lopez concluded their speech by paying tribute to his late mother, who passed away last summer (17).