By Beth Deitchman
Yesterday, Disney Legend Alan Menken joined not one but two very elite clubs: He is now an “EGOT”—a winner of an Emmy®, Grammy®, Oscar®, and Tony®—and he is also a “LEGOT,” having also received the Disney Legends Award in 2001. Only 16 people have achieved EGOT status over the years, but the LEGOT is even rarer: Menken is just the third person to claim that honor, alongside Disney Legends Whoopi Goldberg and Sir Tim Rice. He reached LEGOT and EGOT status thanks to his Daytime Emmy® win for a song composed by Menken with lyricist Glenn Slater for Rapunzel’s Tangled Adventure, “Waiting in the Wings,” which was honored as Outstanding Original Song in a Children’s Young Adult or Animated Program.
“Really proud of everyone who contributed to the Tangled series,” the Disney Legend said today in a tweet. “As far as me finally reaching my official EGOT status (Howard Ashman and I did actually get an honorary Emmy back in the ’80s), what can I say? I’m honored, thrilled, and humbled.”
With his longtime collaborator and fellow Disney Legend, the late Howard Ashman, Menken first began working with Disney on the 1989 animated classic The Little Mermaid, for which he received his first two Oscars for Best Song, “Under the Sea,” and Best Music, Original Score. Three years later, his contributions to Beauty and the Beast earned him two more Academy Awards® for the film’s title song, as well as Best Music, Original Score. After Ashman’s passing, Menken went on to receive Oscars for “A Whole New World” from Aladdin (with lyricist Tim Rice) and for Pocahontas in the categories of Best Music, Song (“Colors of the Wind”) and Best Music, Original Musical or Comedy Score.
On Broadway, Menken’s original score for Newsies earned him the Tony for Best Original Score in 2012, and he has taken home 11 Grammys throughout his illustrious career. His first Grammy win came in 1990 for The Little Mermaid, which was honored as Best Recording For Children as well as Best Song Written Specifically for a Motion Picture or Television (“Under the Sea”).
Menken previously received an honorary Primetime Emmy in 1990 for his work with Ashman on the Television Academy’s anti-drug special Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue, which featured their song “Wonderful Ways to Say No.”
Whoopi Goldberg became the first “LEGOT” when she was inducted as a Disney Legend during D23 Expo 2017. Sir Tim Rice achieved “LEGOT” status the following year upon his Emmy win for NBC’s Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert.
Visit ABCNews.com to watch Goldberg and her fellow co-hosts from The View as they discussed this remarkable achievement in July 2017, just after Goldberg returned from a magical D23 Expo weekend.
