Songs that Won Grammy Award for “Record of the Year”
The Grammy Award for Record of the Year is one of the most acclaimed awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States. It is presented to performing artist(s) and music production teams on an annual basis. The first ever Grammy Awards ceremony took place in 1959.
The Record of the Year award is given only to recognize and honor the technical expertise and aptitude shown by these people in the creation of their songs. The award has no relation with sales or chart positions songs have gained.
Songs that can win this award should be a commercially released single or track of new vocal and instrumental recordings that gained great recognition worldwide in an eligible year.
Songs from a previous year’s album are also eligible for the award, provided the track was not entered the previous year and provided the album did not win a Grammy Award for the artist(s), engineer(s), and entire production team. Associate producers and executive producers are not eligible for the award when a song from a previous year wins.
How the Winner for the Record of the Year is Chosen
Members of the Recording Academy nominate their own choices of songs to be put in the category of Grammy Record of the Year.
The list of songs chosen is sorted and twenty songs are selected as the top twenty songs of the year. These twenty songs are given to the Nominations Review Committee (anonymous members of the Recording academy), who then through a special ballot, select eight songs that officially gain a nomination in the category. The other members then vote for the winner from the eight songs and the song with the majority votes wins the award.
The First Song to Win the Grammy for “Record of the Year”
Many musical legends have been nominated and won this award over the years. Domenico Modugno, was the first to receive this award as a songwriter, for his song, “Nel blu, dipinto di blu (Volare)”, in 1959.
Interesting Facts
Popular prolific American drummer Hal Blaine holds the record for most consecutive Records of the Year appearances for a person. He was part of production teams of winners for six consecutive years, from 1966 to 1971.
Legendary mastering engineer, Tom Coyne has won the award the most in history, as a mastering engineer. He has won it consecutively four times.
British-American music legend, Mark Ronson, is the only person to win the award both as the main credit artist and as a record producer.
Astrud Gilberto, singer, and songwriter of the hit song, “The Girl from Ipanema“, in 1965 was the first woman to win this award.
Frank Sinatra and Beyonce hold the record for most-nominated male and female artist respectively. They both have seven nominations each. Famous English rock band, The Beatles have the most nominations for the award as a group, with four nominations.
Artist, producers, recording, mastering, and mixing engineers have received the honor in this manner since its inception:
- 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
The Grammy award for record of the year remains one of the most honorable awards desired and respected by all musicians, record labels and production teams around the world.
All the Winners of the “Record of the Year” Award at the Grammys
Below is a list of every single song that has won this prestigious award, starting from 1959 all the way to 2021:
Domenico Modugno’s “Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu (Volare)” (1959)
Bobby Darin’s “Mack the Knife” (1960)
Percy Faith’s “Theme from A Summer Place” (1961)
Henry Mancini’s “Moon River” (1962)
Tony Bennett’s “I Left My Heart in San Francisco” (1963)
Henry Mancini’s “Days of Wine and Roses” (1964)
Stan Getz & Astrud Gilberto’s “The Girl from Ipanema” (1965)
Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass’ “A Taste of Honey” (1966)
Frank Sinatra’s “Strangers in the Night” (1967)
The 5th Dimension’s “Up, Up and Away” (1968)
Simon & Garfunkel’s “Mrs. Robinson” (1969)
The 5th Dimension’s “Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In” (1970)
Simon & Garfunkel’s “Bridge over Troubled Water” (1971)
Carole King’s “It’s Too Late” (1972)
Roberta Flack’s “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” (1973)
Roberta Flack’s “Killing Me Softly with His Song” (1974)
Olivia Newton-John’s “I Honestly Love You” (1975)
Captain & Tennille’s “Love Will Keep Us Together” (1976)
George Benson’s “This Masquerade” (1977)
Eagles’ “Hotel California” (1978)
Billy Joel’s “Just the Way You Are” (1979)
The Doobie Brothers’ “What a Fool Believes” (1980)
Christopher Cross’ “Sailing” (1981)
Kim Carnes’ “Bette Davis Eyes” (1982)
Michael Jackson’s “Beat It” (1984)
Tina Turner’s “What’s Love Got to Do with It” (1985)
USA for Africa’s “We Are the World” (1986)
Steve Winwood’s “Higher Love” (1987)
Paul Simon’s “Graceland” (1988)
Bobby McFerrin’s “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” (1989)
Bette Midler’s “Wind Beneath My Wings” (1990)
Phil Collins’ “Another Day in Paradise” (1991)
Natalie Cole and Nat King Cole’s “Unforgettable” (1992)
Eric Clapton’s “Tears in Heaven” (1993)
Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You” (1994)
Sheryl Crow’s “All I Wanna Do” (1995)
Seal’s “Kiss from a Rose” (1996)
Eric Clapton’s “Change the World” (1997)
Shawn Colvin’s “Sunny Came Home” (1998)
Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On” (1999)
Santana and Rob Thomas’ “Smooth” (2000)
Norah Jones’ “Don’t Know Why” (2003)
Ray Charles and Norah Jones’s “Here We Go Again” (2005)
Green Day’s “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” (2006)
Dixie Chicks’ “Not Ready to Make Nice” (2007)
Amy Winehouse’s “Rehab” (2008)
Robert Plant and Alison Krauss’ “Please Read the Letter” (2009)
Kings of Leon’s “Use Somebody” (2010)
Lady Antebellum’s “Need You Now” (2011)
Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep” (2012)
Gotye and Kimbra’s “Somebody That I Used to Know” (2013)
Daft Punk, Pharrell Williams, and Nile Rodgers’ “Get Lucky” (2014)
Sam Smith’s “Stay with Me (Darkchild Version)” (2015)
Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars’ “Uptown Funk” (2016)
Bruno Mars’ “24K Magic” (2018)
Childish Gambino’s “This Is America” (2019)
Billie Eilish’s “Bad Guy” (2020)
Billie Eilish’s “Everything I Wanted” (2021)
