Songwriting Duo Benj Pasek and Justin Paul Score Emmy, Achieve EGOT Status

Songwriting duo Benj Pasek and Justin Paul might be the most successful gay/straight musical pairing since Elton John and Bernie Taupin, and now they have the EGOT status to prove it.

Pasek is gay and Paul is straight; the two have been a professional pairing since college.

"The duo previously won the best original song Oscar for 'City of Stars' from 'La La Land' and the best musical theater album Grammy for 'Dear Evan Hansen,' which also won them a Tony for best original score," The Hollywood Reporter recalled. "They later won a best compilation soundtrack Grammy for 'The Greatest Showman' and best musical Tony for their work as producers on 'A Strange Loop.'"

Last Sunday, Sept. 9, Pasek and Paul picked up an Emmy, completing their EGOT journey. THR detailed that the duo snagged their statuette "during the second night of the 2024 Creative Arts Emmys," when they won "the Emmy for best original music and lyrics for their 'Only Murders in the Building' composition, alongside Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, 'Which of the Pickwick Triplets Did It?'"

The song was a contribution to a musical episode of the hit Hulu show about a trio of podcasters who investigate homicides. A-listers Meryl Streep, Steve Martin, and Martin Short star in the series.

"The 'Pickwick Triplets' patter song is featured in the Broadway-set third season of 'Only Murders,' and is performed by star Steve Martin," THR said, adding that Martin's character, "Charles-Haden Savage, struggles to master the fast-paced tune. He finally gets it during the episode 'Sitzprobe.'"

THR recalled Pasek telling the publication in a previous article that "as an audience member, you're waiting to see whether or not Steve Martin can get through a very, very difficult patter song full of alliteration and full of dexterity," before adding that Martin had been "so up for the challenge and attacked it with such rigor and determination."

Paul, who typically takes the lead in composing the music for the duo's songs, told the publication in the same article that it was "a very fun, juicy experiment" to write the lyrics for the patter song.

"We came up with a huge long list of possibilities of what to pull from" in order to set "about telling the story that we had really broken down pretty thoroughly with [showrunner] John Hoffman," THR quoted Paul explaining.

"And then," the songwriter added, "it was just the fun of executing it, finding our favorite lines, how can we keep besting each other, besting that line."

Now they've bested just about everyone else in the business, save for a select few who have also won top honors in all four of the major awards.

Moreover, "The pair are the second to EGOT as a team, after Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice," THR observed.

Even more impressive is the youthful age at which Pasek and Paul have achieved the feat. At 39, THR noted, they are matched only by fellow EGOT winners Robert Lopez and John Legend in having notched all four by age 40.

Watch Steve Martin prove his mastery of the tricky song below.