Singer, actor and producer John Legend made history on Sunday when he won an Emmy at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards. This made Legend the first black man and one of the youngest people to achieve coveted EGOT status. "EGOT" is an acronym for some of the most prestigious awards across entertainment industries: the Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony. "Before tonight, only 12 people had won an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony in competitive categories," Legend wrote of the accolade in an Instagram post. "Sirs Andrew Lloyd Webber, Tim Rice and I joined that group when we won an Emmy for our production of their legendary show Jesus Christ Superstar. So happy to be part of this team. So honored they trusted me to play Jesus Christ. So amazed to be in such rarefied air."

Legend's story is not one of overnight success but savvy moves that gave him the opportunity to pursue his passion, including working a safe corporate job for years while hustling through countless rejections and working music on the side. He always hoped to have a career in music but he knew he needed a more practical job to get by. While a student at the University of Pennsylvania, he sang in a college a cappella group and studied English and African-American literature. He graduated magna cum laude in 1999. As he prepared for life after college, he watched many of his friends become bankers and consultants. He followed in their footsteps, taking a job at the prestigious Boston Consulting Group. "I had followed the path that the Penn graduate was supposed to take, but I didn't fall in love," Legend said during a 2014 commencement speech at his alma mater. "I couldn't shake my passion for music."