20 unbelievable Grammy records, from the youngest winner to the most-awarded artists of all time

Beyoncé is the most-nominated artist in Grammy history, with 99 nominations.

Feb 1, 2025 - 17:52
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20 unbelievable Grammy records, from the youngest winner to the most-awarded artists of all time
US singer-songwriter Taylor Swift accepts the Best Pop Vocal Album award for "Midnights" on stage during the 66th Annual Grammy Awards at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on February 4, 2024.
Taylor Swift is the only artist in the history of the Grammys to win album of the year four times.
  • Multiple records were broken at last year's Grammys.
  • Taylor Swift became the first artist to win album of the year four times.
  • Victoria Monét, at 34, became the oldest person to win best new artist.

The 67th Grammy Awards will take place on Sunday, February 2.

Music's biggest night will be filled with musical performances, heartwarming speeches, more than a few tears, and hopefully, some surprise wins.

There are plenty of records that could be broken this year, including a new most-awarded album ("Cowboy Carter"), a new most-awarded female artist in one night (Charli XCX or Billie Eilish), or the most-nominated individual in Grammy history who has yet to win an award (Chris Gehringer) continuing his unlucky streak.

But until then, here are some of the current record-holders, including Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, Bruno Mars, and U2.

At the 2024 Grammys, Taylor Swift became the first musical artist to win album of the year four times.
taylor swift grammys 2024
Taylor Swift accepts the award for best pop vocal album at the 2024 Grammys.

Swift has won album of the year four times: In 2010 for "Fearless," in 2016 for "1989," in 2021 for "Folklore," and most recently, in 2024 for "Midnights."

Before that night, she was in a four-way tie with Frank Sinatra, Paul Simon, and Stevie Wonder with three wins each in the category. But now, she stands alone.

She also won best pop vocal album for "Midnights," her second win in that category after "1989."

Victoria Monét gave an inspirational speech about never giving up — she became the oldest best new artist winner at 34 years old.
Victoria Monét, winner of the the "Best New Artist" award, the "Best R&B Album" award for "Jaguar II", and the "Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical" award for "Jaguar II", poses in the press room during the 66th GRAMMY Awards at Crypto.com Arena on February 04, 2024 in Los Angeles, California.
Victoria Monét with her three Grammy Awards.

Monét, whose career as a songwriter started in 2010, likened her career to a plant with roots that took years to sprout above ground.

"I just want to say to everybody who has a dream, I want you to look at this as an example," she said during her acceptance speech for best new artist in 2024. "My roots have been growing underneath the ground unseen for so long. And I feel like today I'm sprouting finally above ground."

At 34, Monét became the oldest artist to win best new artist. Before Monét, 33-year-old Sheryl Crow held the honor.

If the band Khruangbin wins the award on Sunday, its members, who are 38, 45, and 48, will be the new oldest winners.

Her daughter, Hazel, was the youngest nominee ever at 2 years old.
John Gaines, Victoria Monét and Hazel Monét Gaines at the 66th Annual GRAMMY Awards held at Crypto.com Arena on February 4, 2024 in Los Angeles, California.
John Gaines, Victoria Monét and Hazel Monét Gaines at the Grammys.

Monét's 2-year-old daughter, Hazel, is featured on her song "Hollywood," which was nominated in 2024 for best traditional R&B performance, making Hazel the youngest nominee ever.

"She understands she's done something really cool, but I don't think she understands the magnitude," Victoria Monét told People.

They ended up losing to PJ Morton and Susan Carol's song "Good Morning," but Hazel is still the record holder for her nomination.

At the 2021 Grammys, Beyoncé officially became the female artist with the most Grammys when she secured her 28th win.
beyonce grammys
Beyoncé with some of her many Grammys.

When Beyoncé and Megan Thee Stallion won for their "Savage" collaboration (more on that later), host Trevor Noah announced Beyoncé was tied with Alison Krauss for female artist with the most Grammy wins.

A few moments later, she won her 28th Grammy, best R&B performance, for "Black Parade," and became the female artist with the most Grammys of all time.

She won her first Grammy in 2001 as part of Destiny's Child. They won for best R&B performance by a group and best R&B song for "Say My Name." She was 19.

And at the 2023 Grammys, she became the most-awarded artist in Grammys history with 32 wins.
beyonce at the 2023 grammys
Beyoncé wins her record-breaking Grammy.

Beyoncé took the crown from Georg Solti, the longtime conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, according to the Grammys website. He won 31 Grammys over 35 years, from 74 nominations.

After taking home her first three Grammys at 2023's event, the "Cuff It" singer made history when she accepted the best dance/electronic album for "Renaissance," her 32nd win overall.

She was nominated for another 11 this year, which could bring her total to 43.

Beyoncé is also the most-nominated artist in Grammys history.
Beyoncé and Jay-Z attend the 66th GRAMMY Awards at Crypto.com Arena on February 04, 2024 in Los Angeles, California
They have 188 nominations between the two of them.

Beyoncé overtook her husband, Jay-Z, as the most nominated artist this year, with a career total of 99 nominations.

The "99 Problems" rapper has been nominated 89 times, making him the male artist with the most nominations.

In 2021, Beyoncé and Megan Thee Stallion became the first female performers to win best rap performance.
beyonce megan thee stallion
Beyoncé and Megan Thee Stallion accept the best rap performance award in 2021.

A woman had never won this award in its first 11 years of existence. But Megan Thee Stallion and Beyoncé ended that streak when they took home the award for "Savage." 

Beyoncé is also the most-nominated artist without a win in the record of the year category, but that could change this year.
beyonce grammys
Beyoncé at the Grammys.

She was nominated for record of the year for "Say My Name," "Crazy in Love," "Irreplaceable," "Halo," "Formation," "Savage," "Black Parade," Break My Soul," and "Texas Hold 'Em."

Only two people have won the Big Four in one night: Billie Eilish and Christopher Cross.
billie eilish christopher cross
Billie Eilish and Christopher Cross.

In 1981, newcomer Cross became the first person to ever win record, song, and album of the year, along with best new artist.

This feat would not be replicated until 2020, when 18-year-old Eilish swept the night, becoming the first female artist to do so.

At 18, Eilish also became the youngest artist to win album of the year.
billie eilish grammys
Billie Eilish at the 2020 Grammys.

Eilish won the Grammy for her debut album, "When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?"

The oldest person to win a Grammy was 97-year-old Pinetop Perkins in 2011.
Pinetop Perkins
Pinetop Perkins and Willie "Big Eyes" Smith at the 2011 Grammys.

Perkins was 97 years old when he won the best traditional blues album award for his album "Joined at the Hip" in 2011. He died just one month later.

But the oldest nominee is Jimmy Carter, who was 100 when he was nominated in November 2024.
Jimmy Carter
Former President Jimmy Carter in September 2018.

The former president was nominated for his 10th Grammy last year, at the age of 100, making him the oldest nominee in history. He was nominated for best audiobook, narration & storytelling recording.

Carter died in December.

The youngest person to win a Grammy was 8-year-old Leah Peasall, who won in 2001.
Leah Peasall
The Peasall sisters perform, from left: Sarah Peasall, 14; Hannah Peasall, 11; and Leah Peasall, 8.

The Peasall Sisters were featured artists on the "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" soundtrack, which won album of the year in 2002 (the second soundtrack to ever do so), and the youngest, Leah, was just 8 years old at the time.

In 2021, 9-year-old Blue Ivy Carter won her first (of what we predict will be many) Grammys, making her the second-youngest winner ever.

The Grammys hit a ratings low in 2021, though numbers were up in 2024. By contrast, the most-watched Grammy ceremony was in 1984.
michael jackson 1984 gramm
Michael Jackson with an armload of Grammy Awards he won at the 26th Annual Grammy Awards.

In 1984, around 51.67 million people watched the King of Pop take home eight trophies, including record and album of the year, Billboard reported.

That number is downright unimaginable today. Last year's ceremony was watched by 16.9 million viewers, a four-year high, per Forbes.

The band with the most Grammys is Irish export U2, with 22 wins.
u2 grammys
Bono, The Edge, Larry Mullen, and Adam Clayton of the band U2 in 2005.

U2 is the group with the most wins of all time — they're also the only group or duo to win album of the year twice (1987's "The Joshua Tree" and 2005's "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb").

When Bruno Mars won song of the year for "That's What I Like," he shared the honor with a record-breaking seven other writers.
bruno mars
Bruno Mars.

There were eight credited songwriters for "That's What I Like," which won song of the year in 2018.

They are Mars himself, Philip Lawrence, Brody Brown, James Fauntleroy, Johnathan Yip, Ray Romulus, Jeremy Reeves, and Ray McCullough II.

That's the most songwriters to win song of the year, ever.

Bad Bunny's "Un Verano Sin Ti" was the first Spanish-language album to be nominated for album of the year.
Bad Bunny poses backstage at the 2020 Billboard Music Awards, broadcast on October 14, 2020 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, CA.
Bad Bunny.

The album was nominated for the Grammy for best música urbana album, which it won, in 2023.

One of the album's songs, "Moscow Mule," was also up for best pop solo performance, but it lost to "Easy on Me" by Adele.

Kim Petras became the first trans woman to win best pop duo/group collaboration in 2023.
kim petras winning a grammy 2023
Kim Petras accepts a Grammy.

Petras shared the award with Sam Smith, who has five Grammys to their name. When "Unholy" won, Smith let Petras accept the award.

She went on to thank her friend and producer Sophie, one of the first trans women to be nominated for a Grammy, who died in January 2021.

She also shouted out Madonna and her mom, who "believed me that I was a girl."

The person with the most nominations across various categories is Quincy Jones, who has been nominated 80 times across 15 categories.
quincy jones
Quincy Jones with some of his Grammys.

Jones was one of the most prolific producers, songwriters, composers, and musicians of all time, with a career that began over seven decades ago.

According to the Grammys, he's been nominated in 15 categories, with 28 wins from 80 nominations. Those categories are the general category (like album of the year), spoken word, arranging, music video/film, jazz, pop, rap, R&B, children's, musical theater, disco, composition, gospel/contemporary Christian music, music for visual media, and production, non-classical.

He also holds the record for the most-awarded producer (28 wins) and is tied for fourth for most wins in a single night, winning six Grammys in 1991.

Jones died in November 2024. He was 91.

Paul McCartney set the record for most nominations in one night without a win almost 60 years ago.
paul mccartney in 1966
Paul McCartney in 1966.

McCartney's nominations came primarily from two Beatles songs, "Yesterday" and "Help!"

He was nominated for record of the year, album of the year, song of the year, best original score written for a motion picture or TV show, best performance by a vocal group, best contemporary single, best contemporary performance by a group (vocal or instrumental, best vocal performance by a male, and best contemporary vocal performance by a male.

He lost each one, a record that stands to this day.

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