Grammy Award for Album of the Year

The Grammy Award for Album of the Year is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards,^[1] Awards in several categories are distributed annually 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 album sales or chart position."^[2]

It is the most prestigious award category at the Grammys and has been awarded since 1959 and though it was originally presented to the artist alone, the award is now presented to the artist, the producer, the engineer and/or mixer and the mastering engineer. In 1962, the award name was extended to Album of the Year (other than classical) but, in 1965, the shorter name returned. It was not until 1968, 1969, 1999, and 2011 that the award was won by a rock, country, hip hop, or indie album respectively. As of 2012, classical albums are eligible for this award, with the award for Best Classical Album being discontinued.

Achievements

Frank Sinatra, Stevie Wonder, and Paul Simon are the biggest winners in this category with 3 victories each. Paul McCartney leads all performers with nine nominations: five as a member of The Beatles, three for solo albums, and one as a member of Wings. Frank Sinatra leads solo performers with eight nominations, seven for solo albums and one for a duet album. Paul McCartney and Paul Simon are the only artists with nominations in every decade from the 1960s to the 2000s.

The Peasall Sisters, Sarah, Hannah and Leah, are the category's youngest winners, winning for their contributions to the album O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack at the ages of 13, 9, and 7 respectively. Leah Peasall is the youngest winner of any Grammy in any category. ^[3] The youngest person to make an appearance on an Album of the Year is Stevie Wonder's daughter Aisha Morris who, at age 2, appeared on "Isn't She Lovely?" off the album Songs in the Key of Life.

The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band was the first album by a rock 'n' roll artist to win.

Only three artists have ever been awarded the Grammy for "Album of the Year" in two consecutive years. Sinatra had wins in 1966 and 1967, Wonder followed with wins in 1974 and 1975 and finally Lauryn Hill with wins in 1999 and 2000. Wonder also won the most Grammys for Album of the Year within a decade, with three in the 1970s.

To date, there have been two "live" albums to win the award: Judy At Carnegie Hall and The Concert For Bangladesh, though two "MTV Unplugged" albums (Eric Clapton's and Tony Bennett's) have won the award as well, which were performed in front of an intimate, live audience. One television soundtrack recording was also the very first recipient: The Music from Peter Gunn. Two comedy albums have also triumphed in this same category: The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart and The First Family. There has been three soundtrack compilation albums that have been successful, as well: Saturday Night Fever, The Bodyguard and O Brother, Where Art Thou?.

Recipients

^{^[I]} Each year is linked to the article about the Grammy Awards held that year.
^{^[II]} Showing only the nationality(ies) of the performing artist(s).

Notes:

• A ^Award recipients include Bee Gees, David Shire, KC and the Sunshine Band, Kool & the Gang, MFSB, Ralph MacDonald, Tavares, The Trammps, Walter Murphy & Yvonne Elliman as featured artists; Albhy Galuten, Arif Mardin, Bee Gees, Bill Oakes, Bobby Martin, Broadway Eddie, David Shire, Freddie Perren, Harry Wayne Casey, K.G. Productions, Karl Richardson, Ralph MacDonald, Richard Finch, Ron Kersey, Thomas J. Valentino & William Salter, as producers.^[54]

• B ^Only Houston and the producers of her tracks received the award.^[55] Unlike the other two soundtrack compilation albums to win this award, none of the other artists who appeared on The Bodyguard soundtrack (Kenny G, Aaron Neville, Lisa Stansfield, The S.O.U.L. S.Y.S.T.E.M., Curtis Stigers, Joe Cocker, Sass Jordan, and the uncredited instrumental ensemble that performed Alan Silvestri's theme) shared in the award, nor did the producers of those tracks (other than Cole, Foster & Clivilles who also produced some of Houston's tracks).

• C ^Award recipients include Mike Piersante & Peter Kurland, as engineers and mixers; Gavin Lurssen, as master engineer; T-Bone Burnett, as producers; Alison Krauss & Union Station, Chris Sharp, Chris Thomas King, Emmylou Harris, Gillian Welch, Harley Allen, John Hartford, Mike Compton, Norman Blake, Pat Enright, Peasall Sisters, Ralph Stanley, Sam Bush, Stuart Duncan, The Cox Family, The Fairfield Four, The Whites & Tim Blake Nelson (all from the U.S.) as featured artists. James Carter and the Prisoners, Harry McClintock & The Stanley Brothers were not included as their recordings long preceded the soundtrack; the only members of those acts still alive at that time were James Carter (the only "Prisoner" from the Alan Lomax recording who was located) and Ralph Stanley (separately credited for recording "O, Death" specifically for the soundtrack). The Soggy Bottom Boys aren't credited as a group, but Dan Tyminski (the singing voice of George Clooney in the film) is credited as a member of Union Station, while the other two members (Harley Allen & Pat Enright) are credited individually. Chris Sharp, Mike Compton, Sam Bush & Stuart Duncan are not listed as lead or featured artists on any track, but were included for their instrumental credits on the album.^[56]

References

External links

• Official site