Grammy Award for Record of the Year
The Grammy Award for Record of the Year is presented by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without regard to sales or chart position." The Record of the Year award is one of the "General Field" categories at the awards presented annually since the 1st Annual Grammy Awards in 1959.
Arrangers, songwriters, musicians and background singers of a winning recording can apply for a Winners Certificate. Songwriters can only apply for a certificate if it is a new song.
Since the 55th Annual Grammy Awards in 2013, mastering engineers are considered nominees and award recipients in this category.
Although "record" often refers to any recording of music, Record of the Year differs from Song of the Year or Album of the Year:
- Record of the Year is awarded for a single or for one track from an album. This award goes to the performing artist, the producer, recording engineer and/or mixer for that song. In this sense, "record" means a particular recorded song, not its composition or an album of songs.
- Song of the Year is also awarded for a single or individual track, but the recipient of this award is the songwriter who actually wrote the lyrics and/or melodies to the song. "Song" in this context means the song as composed, not its recording.
- Album of the Year is awarded for a whole album, and the award is presented to the artist, songwriter, producer, recording engineer, and mastering engineer for that album. In this context, "album" means a recorded collection of songs, not the individual songs or their compositions.
History and description
The Record of the Year awards have been awarded since 1959. It is one of the four most prestigious Grammy Awards. Despite both the Song of the Year award and Record of the Year being awarded for a single or for one track from an album, this award goes to the performer and production team of the song whereas the Song of the Year award goes only to the composer of the song. According to the 54th Grammy Awards description guide, the award is given for commercially released singles or tracks of new vocal or instrumental recordings. Tracks from a previous year's album may be entered provided the track was not entered the previous year and provided the album did not win a Grammy Award to the artist, producer, recording engineer and/or mixer if other than the artist. Associate producers and executive producers are not eligible".The honorees through its history have been:
- 1959–1965: Artist only.
- 1966–1998: Artist and producer.
- 1999–2012: Artist, producer, recording engineer and mixing engineer
- 2013–present: Artist, producer, recording engineer, mixing engineer and mastering engineer
Achievements
Most wins
holds the record for most wins in this category as a mastering engineer at four times and was the only person to win the award four consecutive years. Only two artists have won three times: Paul Simon and Bruno Mars. Four engineers/mixers have won the award three times Tom Elmhirst has won three times as an engineer/mixer, Serban Ghenea, John Hanes, and Charles MonizRoberta Flack was the first artist to win Record of the Year in two consecutive years: in 1973 and 1974 from two different studio albums. This happened again when U2 won in 2001 and 2002, the only occurrence of an artist winning the award in two consecutive years with records from the same album. Billie Eilish became the first musician ever to complete the feat with recordings from a studio album, as well as a non-album single: in 2020 and 2021.
Other artists to receive multiple Grammys for Record of the Year are Henry Mancini ; Simon & Garfunkel ; The 5th Dimension ; Eric Clapton ; Norah Jones ; Adele.
Mark Ronson is the only performer to win the award both as the main credit artist and as a record producer, winning as lead artist for his respective song, "Uptown Funk" ; and as a producer for "Rehab" by Amy Winehouse.
The instrumentalist to appear on the most consecutive Records of the Year is Hal Blaine, the prolific studio drummer who played on six consecutive winners from 1966 to 1971: "A [Taste of Honey (song)|A Taste of Honey]", "Strangers in the Night", "Up, Up and Away", "Mrs. Robinson", "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In", and "Bridge Over Troubled Water".
Most nominations
is the most nominated artist for Record of the Year with nine nominations. Beyoncé also has the most Record of the Year nominations among female artists with nods for "Say My Name" as part of Destiny's Child and eight times as a solo act with "Crazy in Love", "Irreplaceable", "Halo", "Formation", "Black Parade", "Savage", "Break My Soul" and "Texas Hold 'Em"; however, she is yet to win one. Bruno Mars is the most nominated male artist with eight nominations for "Nothin' on You" as a featured artist, CeeLo Green's "Fuck You" as a producer, "Grenade", "Locked Out of Heaven", "Uptown Funk" as a featured artist with Mark Ronson, "24K Magic", “Leave the Door Open” as part of Silk Sonic and “APT.”. The Beatles have the most Record of the Year nominations as a group, with five nominations: "I Want to Hold Your Hand", "Yesterday", "Hey Jude", "Let It Be" and "Now and Then"; but never won the award.Frank Sinatra holds the record for most consecutive years being nominated for Record of the Year, with four. Additionally, Roberta Flack, Steve Winwood, Post Malone, Billie Eilish, and Doja Cat are the only artists to receive three consecutive nominations for Record of the Year, with Eilish achieving it twice.
African-American winners and nominees
, George Benson, Michael Jackson, Tina Turner, Bobby McFerrin, Natalie Cole, Nat King Cole, Whitney Houston, Seal, Ray Charles, Pharrell Williams, Nile Rodgers, Childish Gambino, Anderson.Paak, Lizzo and Kendrick Lamar are the only African-Americans to win the award, with Flack winning twice consecutively.European, Asian, and Oceanian winners and nominees
In 1959, Domenico Modugno became the first artist to win for a foreign-language song for "Volare" in 1959, also the first Italian to win the award. In 2014, Daft Punk became the first French artists to win the award. Gilbert O'Sullivan, U2 and Sinéad O'Connor are the only Irish artists to be nominated, with U2 winning twice. Kimbra, Lorde and Rosé are the only New Zealanders to be nominated, with Kimbra winning in 2013. Olivia Newton-John, Gotye, Sia and Iggy Azalea are the only Australians to be nominated, with Newton-John winning in 1975 and Gotye in 2013.In 1959, André Previn became the first German to be nominated. In 1964, The Singing Nun became the first Belgian to be nominated. In 1979, Gerry Rafferty became the first Scottish to be nominated. In 1983, Vangelis became the first Greek to be nominated. In 2008, Rihanna became the first Barbadian to be nominated. In 2022, ABBA became the first Swedish artists to be nominated. In 2026, Rosé became the first South Korean to be nominated.
Bruno Mars, who is of European heritage though his Puerto Rican-Ashkenazi Jewish father and of southeast Asian heritage through his Filipina mother, has won the category three times, with "Uptown Funk" in 2016, "24K Magic" in 2018, and "Leave the Door Open" in 2022. He also has been nominated five times, with "Nothin on You" and "Fuck You" in 2011, "Grenade" 2012, "Locked Out of Heaven" in 2014, and "APT." in 2026.
Latino and Hispanic winners and nominees
In 1965, Astrud Gilberto became the first Brazilian and Latino to win the award for "The Girl from Ipanema". In 1984, Puerto Rican-Cuban Irene Cara became the first Hispanic and second Latino to be nominated for "Flashdance... What a Feeling". She was followed by the Mexican-American rock band Los Lobos, who earned a nomination for "La Bamba" in 1988. It was the first time a Spanish-language song was nominated in the category. Santana, the rock band led by Mexican Carlos Santana, came next, becoming the first Hispanic and second Latino act to win the category in 2000. Puerto Rican singer Ricky Martin was also nominated for "Livin' la Vida Loca" in 2000.He was followed by fellow Puerto Rican singers Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee in 2018. Jointly nominated for "Despacito", they became the second artists to earn a nomination for a Spanish-language song in the category. In 2019, Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny, Dominican-Trinidadian rapper Cardi B, and Colombian singer J Balvin were jointly nominated for "I Like It (Cardi B, [Bad Bunny and J Balvin song)|I Like It]". In 2021, the psychedelic soul band Black Pumas, led in part by Mexican-American Adrian Quesada, received a nomination for "Colors". In 2026, Bad Bunny followed, earning a second nomination for "DTMF". He became the first full Hispanic and Latino to be nominated twice and the third to be nominated for a primarily Spanish-language song in the category.
Mariah Carey, who is in part of Hispanic and Latino heritage though her African-American and Afro-Venezuelan father, has been nominated three times, with "Vision of Love" in 1991, "One Sweet Day" in 1996, and "We Belong Together" in 2006.
Bruno Mars, who is in part of Hispanic and Latino heritage though his Puerto Rican-Ashkenazi Jewish father, has won the category three times, with "Uptown Funk" in 2016, "24K Magic" in 2018, and "Leave the Door Open" in 2022. He also has been nominated five times, with "Nothin on You" and "Fuck You" in 2011, "Grenade" 2012, "Locked Out of Heaven" in 2014, and "APT." in 2026.
Female winners
The first woman to win the award was Astrud Gilberto in 1965, for "The Girl from Ipanema". Roberta Flack was the first female artist to win the award twice. Flack, Norah Jones, Adele, and Billie Eilish are the only women to win the award more than once for their recordings, winning for "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" and "Killing Me Softly with His Song"; and "Don't Know Why" and "Here We Go Again" ; and "Rolling in the Deep" and "Hello"; and "Bad Guy" and "Everything I Wanted", respectively. Additionally, both Florence LaRue and Marilyn McCoo also receive this accolade twice as part of The 5th Dimension, for "Up, [Up and Away (song)|Up, Up and Away]" and "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In".Rapper winners and nominees
”U Can’t Touch This” by MC Hammer was the first rap song to be nominated, while “This is America” by Childish Gambino and “Not Like Us” by Kendrick Lamar are the only winners. Lamar is also the most nominated rapper with five nominations for “Humble”, “All the Stars”, “The Heart Part 5”, “Not Like Us” and “Luther”. M.I.A., Iggy Azalea, Cardi B, Doja Cat, Megan Thee Stallion and Doechii, are the only female rappers to be nominated for the award, with Doja Cat receiving three consecutive nominations, for “Say So”, “Kiss Me More” and “Woman”.Youngest winners and nominees
At 17 years old, Lorde became the youngest main artist to be nominated for "Royals" in 2014, followed by Billie Eilish who was also 17, just shy of 18, nominated for "Bad Guy" in 2020. Eilish then became the youngest winner at 18 years old for "Bad Guy" in 2020, and then also the second-youngest winner for "Everything I Wanted" in 2021, at 19 years old. Sam Smith is the youngest male winner, at 22 years old in 2015.Winners of other categories
and Billie Eilish are the only artists to receive Grammys for Record of the Year as well as Album of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best New Artist in a single ceremony. Adele was the first artist to win the awards for Record of the Year, Album of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best New Artist on separate occasions. Only seven artists took the Record of the Year and Best New Artist awards during the same ceremony: Bobby Darin, Christopher Cross, Sheryl Crow, Norah Jones, Amy Winehouse, Sam Smith and Billie Eilish.Thirty-two of the winning songs have also won the award for Song of the Year.