Benj Pasek and Justin Paul won a Primetime Emmy for outstanding music and lyrics for a song they co-wrote for Only Murders in the Building on Sunday (Sept. 8), the second night of the Creative Arts Emmys. They are the 20th and 21st individuals to EGOT – to win at least one Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony in competition.
Pasek and Paul have set a new record for the fastest climb to an EGOT – a little less than seven years and seven months from the date of their first EGOT win. The old record was held by Robert Lopez, who took nine years and eight months from the time he collected his first EGOT award in June 2004 to the time he completed the journey in March 2014.
Pasek and Paul are the second pair to achieve the EGOT as a team. Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice won each of the four awards as a team – a Tony for best original score for Evita, a Grammy for best cast show album for Evita, an Oscar for best original song for “You Must Love Me” from Evita and an Emmy for outstanding variety special (live) for Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert.
In addition, Pasek, who is 39 years and three months old, is the second-youngest EGOT winner ever, trailing only Lopez, who was 39 and one week old when he achieved the feat in March 2014.
Pasek is the fourth individual who is publicly LGBTQ to achieve the EGOT, following actor Sir John Gielgud (1991), producer Scott Rudin (2012) and Sir Elton John (2024).
Pasek and Paul won their Primetime Emmy for co-writing the song “Which of the Pickwick Triplets Did It?” for Only Murders in the Building with another songwriting team, Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman. While this was the first Emmy win for Pasek and Paul, and also for Wittman, Shaiman had won before. He won outstanding individual achievement in writing in a variety or music program for cowriting the 1992 Oscars, hosted by his longtime friend Billy Crystal.
Series star Steve Martin, who is nominated for a Primetime Emmy for outstanding lead actor in a comedy series, performed the tongue-twisting song.
Pasek and Paul won their first EGOT-qualifying award, an Oscar for best original song, in February 2017 for co-writing “City of Stars” from La La Land with composer Justin Hurwitz. They won a Tony for best original score that June for Dear Evan Hansen and won a second Tony in June 2022 for being among the platoon of producers of A Strange Loop, which was voted best musical. They won their first Grammy, best musical theater album, in January 2018 for Dear Evan Hansen and their second, best compilation soundtrack for visual media, in February 2019 for The Greatest Showman.
Sir Elton John was the most recent person to complete the EGOT before Pasek & Paul. He did so when he won a Primetime Emmy for Elton John Live: Farewell From Dodger Stadium at the ceremony in January (which was delayed for four months by union strikes). This is the fourth time that two or more people have become EGOTs in the same calendar year. Helen Hayes and Rita Moreno both became EGOTs in 1977. Mel Brooks and Mike Nichols both scored in 2001. Webber, Rice and Legend all completed their EGOT journeys in 2018.
In other music news from night 2 of the Creative Arts Emmys, Carlos Rafael Rivera won outstanding music composition for a limited or anthology series, movie or special (original dramatic score) for Lessons in Chemistry (Apple TV+). It’s his third Emmy. He won in the same category three years ago for The Queen’s Gambit and for outstanding main title theme music in 2018 for Godless.
Siddhartha Khosla won outstanding music composition for a series (original dramatic score) for Only Murders in the Building. It’s his first Emmy on his seventh nod.
Jeff Toyne won outstanding original main title theme music for Palm Royale (Apple TV+). It’s his first Emmy. He had a second nod this year, outstanding music composition for a series (original dramatic score).
Trygge Toven won outstanding music supervision for Fallout. It’s his first Emmy nod and win.
Jamie Lee Curtis won outstanding guest actress in a comedy for The Bear. It’s her first Primetime Emmy win. Her father, Tony Curtis, was nominated in 1980 for outstanding lead actor in a limited series or a special for his role in NBC’s Moviola.
Shōgun was the top winner across the two nights of the Creative Arts Emmys, with 14 awards. The Bear placed second, with seven awards, followed by Saturday Night Live (six), Jim Henson Idea Man (five), Blue Eye Samurai and The Oscars (four each).
Billy Joel: The 100th – Live At Madison Square Garden, Only Murders In The Building, Ripley and Welcome To Wrexham each won three awards. Baby Reindeer, The Crown, Girls State, How I Met Your Father, Love on the Spectrum, The Morning Show and Mr. & Mrs. Smith each won two.
Here’s a report on Night 1 of the Creative Arts Emmys.