Tony Awards: Jennifer Hudson becomes second Black woman in history to score EGOT with win for 'A Strange Loop'

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By Charise Moore // Entertainment // EEW Magazine Online

With her win for “A Strange Loop” in the best new musical category, Jennifer Hudson, one of the show’s co-producers, became only the second Black woman in history to have won an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony.

“This brilliant, funny masterpiece exposes the heart and soul of a young artist struggling with his desires, identity and instincts he both loves and hates,” Hudson, 40, said on the awards show Sunday while introducing a performance of the musical.

The singer and actress was added as a producer of the Michael R. Jackson show as it transitioned to Broadway, positioning her for the distinct honor.

The multi-hyphenate is no stranger to making history.

Hudson became the youngest African-American performer in history to win an Oscar in 2007 in a competitive acting category for her role in “Dreamgirls.” She also won two Grammys — one for best R&B album and another for the cast album of “The Color Purple.” Her Daytime Emmy Award was earned for an interactive animated short that she executive produced, “Baba Yaga.”

Hudson shot to stardom in 2004 as a contestant on “American Idol” and starred in the 2015 Broadway revival of “The Color Purple.”

Hudson is one of many star producers behind A Strange Loop, a meta musical written by Michael R. Jackson about a Black, queer man named Usher who is writing his first musical. RuPaul Charles, Marc Platt, Megan Ellison, Don Cheadle, Frank Marshall, Alan Cumming, Ilana Glazer, Mindy Kaling and Billy Porter also served as producers on the musical that won the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

She now joins the very short list of EGOTs that includes Whoopi Goldberg, Rita Moreno, John Legend, and Audrey Hepburn.

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