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Viola Davis Joins the Exclusive EGOT Club Thanks to Grammy Win

While The Woman King might be actress Viola Davis’ splashiest project of 2022, her Grammy win just propelled her to the storied (and exclusive) EGOT club. For those who need to brush up on their entertainment acronyms, EGOT stands for Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony. Only 17 previous individuals have ever claimed EGOT status (by winning all four awards)—and now Davis becomes the 18th.

Her Grammy win comes in the category of Best Audio Book, Narration and Storytelling Recording, for her memoir, Finding Me. Published in April 2022, the book has was touted as a pick for Oprah’s Book Club, a Harper’s Bazaar Best Book of 2022 and Parade and Marie Claire Most Anticipated Book, just to get started.

“This is my story, from a crumbling apartment in Central Falls, Rhode Island, to the stage in New York City, and beyond,” Davis writes. “This is the path I took to finding my purpose but also my voice in a world that didn’t always see me.”

In the Grammys audiobook narration category, the actress beat out EGOT winner Mel Brooks (All About Me!: My Remarkable Life in Show Business), fellow EGOT contender Lin-Manuel Miranda (Aristotle and Dante Dive into the Waters of the World, though Miranada needs an Oscar), Jamie Foxx (Act Like You Got Some Sense) and Questlove (Music Is History).

Viola Davis EGOT Emmys
Jeff Kravitz/Getty Images

With this coveted award, Davis becomes the third Black woman (joining Whoopi Goldberg and Jennifer Hudson) to achieve an EGOT. Before this Grammy win, Davis received the Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for How To Get Away With Murder, two Tony awards (King Hedley II and Fences on Broadway) and an Oscar for Fences opposite Denzel Washington.

Viola Davis EGOT Oscars
Jeffrey Mayer/Getty Images

"What keeps me in the business is hope," said Davis at the 2011 Elle Women in Hollywood Event. "And that's the hope that women of color are also a part of the narrative, that our stories are just as potent, because we also have the power of transformation. We also have the power to be quirky, and sexy, and different, funny, heartfelt and all of those things.”

So totally deserved. Congrats Viola!

The 65th Grammy Awards will take place on February 5, 2023 and air on CBS at 8 p.m. ET.

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