In Hollywood, someone who can sing, dance and act is known as a triple threat. But there's a fourth dimension that is evident when someone wins multiple awards. It's known as EGOT, which stands for Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony. 📺🎼🎥🎭
The latest individual to accomplish this incredible feat among only nineteen such highly decorated award winners is Sir Elton John, whose thoughtful music and wild persona I have loved and followed closely since 1973. That was when his first greatest-hits album was released and made quite an impression on me at overnight summer camp as a young teenager. I couldn't believe how many wonderful songs I loved were seemingly squeezed into a single collection from a single recording artist. It was breathtaking, especially since I grew up collecting singles in the 45-RPM vinyl format. I wasn't much of a long-playing album guy.
The irony is that by being such a fan of his, I would later set myself up for ridicule from high school classmates who deemed him way too uncool in the face of the harder-edge rock 'n roll that most of us were enjoying on the radio. Some of my pals dismissed his music as bubblegum pop or too middle of the road, and they thought his outrageous costumes and oversized eyeglasses were ridiculous or embarrassing.
My larger point is that I'm passionate about excellence. It means a lot to always do my best, whether it's at work or play. Historically speaking, Elton John got the last laugh.
Oftentimes we forget the value of living in a meritocracy wherein people are rewarded for performing well. We get too caught up in labels and trying to please everyone, and in the process, it's easy to lose this focus along the road to achieving equality. We water down excellence and even apologize for it by trying to placate too many average people who are unable to climb the mountain for whatever reason. Too many trophies are passed out to too many kids just for participating in sports or other activities vs. actually earning any recognition. We don't want to ruffle feathers or hurt feelings in the age of diversity, equity and inclusion. Never mind Cancel Culture; we create a Victim Culture.
Clearly, we live in divisive times. It's easy to blame others for our own misfortune. And while there are most definitely systemic problems in our society that need fixing, it's important to shift our focus back to excellence more often and double down on that commitment as individuals, which will strengthen the sum of our varied parts in the U.S. melting pot.
A tip of the cap to Captain Fantastic for adding EGOT to his lengthy resume and reminding us all of just how extraordinary it is to solidify one's track record across TV, music, film and stage as an artist of supreme talent.
I wish I could go!!!! 🎶 And I guess that's why they call it the blues Time on my hands could be time spent with you! 🎶