Nothing marks success in a musician’s career quite like a Grammy Award — especially the most coveted statue in the race, album of the year. Though several musicians have been decorated many times over with golden gramophones, only an elite few have secured the top prize since America’s grandest music ceremony began in 1959.
Some more recent album of the year winners include Billie Eilish, Taylor Swift, Jon Batiste, Kacey Musgraves, Bruno Mars, Adele, Beck, Daft Punk and Mumford & Sons, but the honor dates all the way back to Henry Mancini’s inaugural win for The Music From Peter Gun, which beat out industry legends like Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald and Pyotr Tchaikovsky. Sinatra, however, ranks among the select group of repeat album of the year winners, which also includes Tom Coyne, Stevie Wonder and Paul Simon.
Two of the award’s more recent recipients, Adele and Swift, are the only women to have taken home the high honor more than once, for 21 and 25, as well as Folklore, Fearless and 1989, respectively. With Fearless, Swift surpassed Alanis Morissette as the category’s youngest victor at 20 years old. Jon Batiste is the current album of the year holder, winning in 2022 for We Are.
This year, the nominees for album of the year are ABBA (Voyage), Adele (30), Bad Bunny (Un Verano Sin Ti), Beyoncé (Renaissance), Mary J. Blige (Good Morning Gorgeous (Deluxe)), Brandi Carlile (In These Silent Days), Coldplay (Music of the Spheres), Kendrick Lamar (Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers), Lizzo (Special) and Harry Styles (Harry’s House). The winner will be revealed Sunday when the 65th annual Grammy Awards are handed out.
Read about more of the past album of the year champs below.
This was originally published on Feb. 14, 2016.
