‘Encanto’ could make Lin-Manuel Miranda the third youngest EGOT winner ever

Completing the coveted EGOT (winning competitive Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony awards) grants access to one of the most elite clubs in show business. To date, only 16 people have done it. But Lin-Manuel Miranda could soon become the 17th person — and one of the youngest — to join the group, which includes extraordinary talents like Rita Moreno, Mel Brooks, Helen Hayes and Alan Menken.

Miranda has already won three Tony Awards during his fairly young career: one for Best Original Score for the musical “In the Heights,” which opened on Broadway in 2008, and two for the critically acclaimed “Hamilton” (Best Book of a Musical and Best Original Score), which opened in 2015 and quickly became a worldwide sensation. He is also the recipient of three Grammys, winning Best Musical Theater Album for both “In the Heights” and “Hamilton,” as well as Best Song Written for Visual Media for penning “How Far I’ll Go” for Disney’s “Moana” (2016).

For his work on television, Miranda has taken home two Emmys. In 2014, he won Best Music and Lyrics for co-writing “Bigger,” the opening number to the 67th Tony Awards, with Tom Kitt. Then, in 2021, he snagged its bookend, this time winning for Outstanding Variety Special (Pre-Recorded) for the live stage recording of “Hamilton.”

SEE Lin-Manuel Miranda on directing ‘Tick, Tick… Boom!’ and writing songs for ‘Encanto’

Now, all that remains is the elusive Oscar. In 2017, Miranda was nominated for writing the music and lyrics to “How Far I’ll Go,” but the award ultimately went to Justin Hurwitz, Benj Pasek and Justin Paul for “City of Stars” from Damien Chazelle’s “La La Land” (2016). This could finally be Miranda’s year, though. The multihyphenate has been nominated for Best Original Song for penning “Dos Oruguitas” from Disney’s popular animated film “Encanto.” Currently, it sits in second place in Gold Derby’s combined odds behind only the title track to Daniel Craig’s final James Bond film, “No Time to Die.” (Bond themes have done well at the Oscars in recent years, with “Skyfall” (2012) and ”Spectre” (2015) both going home winners in the category.) While the song is not a No. 1 hit like “We Don’t Talk About Bruno,” which was not submitted, the success of “Bruno” and “Encanto” could propel “Dos Oruguitas” over the finish line. It is ahead of “Be Alive” from “King Richard,” “Down to Joy” from “Belfast,” and “Somehow You Do” from “Four Good Days.”

If Miranda is triumphant for his work on “Dos Oruguitas,” he’ll become the third youngest EGOT winner ever at 42 years, 70 days old. The youngest person to complete the feat was composer Robert Lopez, at just 39 years, 8 days old (Lopez is also the only double EGOT winner and the person to have completed it in the shortest amount of time, at 9 years, 8 months). John Legend is the second youngest, winning all four awards in just 39 years and 8 months. However, if Miranda had won the Oscar in 2017 for his work on “Moana,” he would have been the youngest ever by about two years, as he was 37 years, 41 days old at the time of the ceremony. Still, the third youngest EGOT winner ever would still be an impressive accomplishment in a career that is already full of them. 

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