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Viola Davis became the 18th EGOT winner in history when she was awarded a Grammy yesterday for her Finding Me biography audiobook. I’ve embedded her speech below. She won during the non-televised Grammy ceremony and was a presenter for the main ceremony. Viola said she wrote the book for her six-year-old self and added “I just EGOT.” That was so cute! I’m so happy for her, and I didn’t realize that she was close to becoming an EGOT. Viola, 57(!), is a four-time Oscar nominee with one Oscar, one Emmy, two Tony Awards and now a Grammy. Here’s more from NPR:
Viola Davis has achieved EGOT status, after picking up her first Grammy.
The 57-year-old actor won the award for the best audiobook, narration and storytelling recording for her memoir, Finding Me, at the 2023 Grammy Awards premiere ceremony on Sunday, ahead of the main awards show.
The honor follows her Emmy win for How to Get Away With Murder (2015), an Oscar for Fences (2017), and a Tony for both King Hedley II (2001) and Fences (2010).
She’s only the third Black woman to claim EGOT status, and the 18th person to receive the honor overall.
“I wrote this book to honor the 6-year-old Viola — to honor her life, her joy, her trauma, her everything,” Davis said in her acceptance speech. “And it has been such a journey. I just EGOT!”
Now I know the book I’m going to listen to on Audible after I finish Prince Harry’s Spare. (Honestly I have the hard cover of Finding Me but I only got through the first few chapters. She had such a traumatic childhood that it was hard to read.) Congratulations to Viola! It couldn’t happen to a better actress and person. Did you see Viola and her husband Julius Tennon’s Architectural Digest video? I’ve talked about it before but I absolutely love their interior design and overall vibe, it’s probably my favorite celebrity home I’ve seen.
Viola was in a cute cap sleeve sequin colorblock Naeem Khan gown as she accepted her Grammy and became an EGOT. I just wish she was nominated for an Oscar this year too.
Watch this and try not to cry.
go, Viola! I just love her.
I always say the Tony is most impressive because Broadway is just so hard. EGOT is an amazing achievement!
I’m happy for her and yes the AD video of her house is one of the best.
Agree!! Their house is stunning. They both look so adorable together as well.
I understand that getting the EGOT can be for a number of things. But there is just something about someone who got an actual Grammy for singing/music and an actual Oscar for their acting. To me that’s real EGOT status.
I think Viola’s achievement is amazing – I understand that only three people have ever got their EGOT solely through performance (as opposed to producing etc) and she is one of them.
I think performing a book well and maintaining interest is as impressive. Average song is 3-4 minutes. Viola’s audiobook was 9.25 hours.
Congrats to Viola for her Grammy, her EGOT and for her fabulous dress!
Congratulations to Viola!
Congrats to Viola for becoming an EGOT, and to achieve this with herheartfelt narration of her often traumatic childhood!
Fingers crossed for her to win many more awards and get the recognition she deserves.
Whoop, whoop. I put myself on an audiobook ban until I hear the ones I already have (I don’t have as much free time for audiobooks as I do for eBook consumption), but as soon as my TBR list goes down, I plan to purchase this. I’m in a lot of reading FB groups, and all of them mention how wonderful her book was, especially the audiobook.
I was immensely excited with Davis wins last night and I was incredibly happy for her!! VD is a GOAT!!! She is such an incredible actor on screen and certainly deserving the accolades that she is receiving!!!
Viola Davis is such an inspiration for everyone too!!
Reading an audiobook well and making it compelling and interesting to listen to is a *skill*.
It really is a skill and not easy to do, and not everyone can do it well. She deserved this award.
As a person 100% addicted to audiobooks (seriously, I have earbuds in 24/7), I can attest to the fact that some people whose actual day job is narrating audiobooks are not great at it. It is a serious skill, especially in a autobiography, where there is a wide range in emotions. There are some narrators that are great at comedy, but cannot deliver a serious emotion with any authority, and vice versa.
I think it is harder to be a great narrator, since you can’t rely on a single facial expression to do any of the work.
She looked AMAZING in that dress. Viola is the woman that color was created for.
Congratulations to Ms Davis!!!🎉🎉🎈🎈
Congrats to her! And I love her dress; I hope it heralds the return of sequins in general.
Every time I see a famous/wealthy person’s house I’m just gobsmacked at how much space there is in there. (Regarding the Arch Digest video)
I’m so happy for her. She is so incredibly talented.
If you look at the nominations, Viola won in the category but alongside her for consideration were Jamie Foxx, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Mel Brooks and Questlove.
It was quite the freaking year for Audiobooks apparently.
Incredible! What a milestone achievement – congratulations Viola!
Love Viola’s dress and congrats to her for her win. Still extremely disappointed she didn’t get the Oscar nomination.
❤️❤️❤️❤️
I am such a sap, I burst into tears any time anyone gets to EGOT, but I was particularly ugly cry about this one. Congratulations to Viola, I am so thrilled that I was an adult during the time where I could watch the progression of her career, she’s amazing.