Record Of The Year GRAMMY Rewind

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Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Adele: Record Of The Year GRAMMY Rewind

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Time travel through GRAMMY history and revisit the impressive lineage of Record Of The Year winners
Tim McPhate
GRAMMYs
Jan 4, 2018 - 5:17 pm

Numerically speaking, it's the first category on the GRAMMY Awards nominations list. Conversely, it is typically one of the final categories announced on the annual GRAMMY telecast. And its winners have spanned jazz, pop, rock, R&B, and Latin, among other genres.

Rewind The Record Of The Year GRAMMY Winners

What's the category? It's Record Of The Year, which is an award that goes to a track's artist, producer, engineer, mixer, and mastering engineer.

The Record Of The Year category's 59-year history offers a unique aural tour through the annals popular music — one that certainly has the makings for one powerfully diverse playlist.

Record Of The Year: Full List Of Winners And Nominees

There's Bobby Darin's swingin' "Mack The Knife" (1959), Henry Mancini's exquisite "Days Of Wine And Roses" (1963), Frank Sinatra's velvety "Strangers In The Night" (1966),  Simon And Garfunkel's inspired "Bridge Over Troubled Water," Roberta Flack's radiant "Killing Me Softly With His Song" (1973), and Captain & Tennille's breezy "Love Will Keep Us Together" (1975).

In the '80s, radio-friendly hits such as Toto's "Rosanna" (1982), Michael Jackson's "Beat It" (1983) and Tina Turner's "What's Love Got To Do With It" (1984) were among the winning recordings.

The '90s netted the likes of Eric Clapton's moving "Tears In Heaven" (1992), Whitney Houston's ubiquitous "I Will Always Love You" (1993) and Santana featuring Rob Thomas' infectious "Smooth" (1999).

The Record Of The Year lineage continued into the 2000s and beyond with unforgettable hits such as U2's "Beautiful Day" (2000), Green Day's "Boulevard Of Broken Dreams" (2005), Amy Winehouse's "Rehab" (2007), Daft Punk featuring Pharrell Williams & Nile Rodgers' "Get Lucky" (2013), and most recently, Adele's "Hello" (2016).

Which recording will become the 60th Record Of The Year GRAMMY winner? Tune in to the 60th GRAMMY Awards on Jan. 28 to find out.

What's The Difference? GRAMMY Record Of The Year Vs. Song Of The Year

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GRAMMY Rewind: Album Of The Year
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Stevie Wonder To Adele: Album Of The Year GRAMMY Rewind

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Take a trip through GRAMMY history and look back at some of the incredible artists and albums that have been recognized for the Album Of The Year
Nate Hertweck
GRAMMYs
Jan 19, 2018 - 3:54 pm

For recording artists, the GRAMMY for Album Of The Year represents one of the highest honors for a collection of songs. One look at the storied list of previous winners reminds us of the historic weight the award carries. From seminal albums by Fleetwood Mac, Bonnie Raitt and Lauryn Hill to artists with multiple wins such as Stevie Wonder and Taylor Swift, the GRAMMY for Album Of The Year is the ultimate honor.

While hit singles throughout recorded music's history have always lit up radio's airwaves, electrified DJ sets or racked up massive streaming metrics, the holistic experience of listening to an album has remained meaningful — even essential — for the many passionate music fans. On the artist's side, ever since vinyl-cutting technology introduced the long-playing 33-1/3 format, true artists have labored over crafting a collection of songs that is cohesive, dynamic, inspired, and rich.

Over the years, the album format has yielded masterpieces in many forms, from concept albums to film and TV soundtracks to hit-packed track lists. A great album can come in many shapes and sizes. So what makes an album great? Simply put, when the whole of its collection becomes greater than the sum of its parts.

The first artist to win Album Of The Year at the inaugural GRAMMYs was Henry Mancini for The Music From Peter Gunn, and notable winners in the first three decades of GRAMMY history include three-time winner Frank Sinatra, Barbara Streisand, the Beatles, Carole King, and Michael Jackson.

More recently, the Album Of The Year has been awarded to artists spanning many genres and styles, such as U2, Whitney Houston, Bob Dylan, Alanis Morissette, Norah Jones, OutKast, Dixie Chicks, and Daft Punk.

In 2016 Swift became the first female artist to win Album Of The Year twice for her solo recordings when her landmark pop album 1989 took home top honors at the 58th GRAMMY Awards, closely followed by Adele's second Album Of The Year win for 25 at the 59th GRAMMYs.

Who will be prevail on Music's Biggest Night as this year's Album Of The Year? Tune in to the 60th GRAMMY Awards on Sunday, Jan. 28 to find out.

Here Are This Year's Contenders For Album Of The Year | 60th GRAMMY Awards

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15 songs to make you swoon on Valentine's Day

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THE GRAMMYs
GRAMMYs
May 15, 2017 - 2:08 am

Roses are red, violets are blue, we've got a list of 15 GRAMMY-winning love songs just for you.

"Just The Way You Are"
Bruno Mars, Best Male Pop Vocal Performance, 2010

Dating advice from Bruno Mars: If you think someone is beautiful, you should tell him/her every day. We don't know if it got Mars a date for Valentine's Day, but it did get him a No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100.

"Need You Now"
Lady Antebellum, Record Of The Year, 2010

It's not so much an "I love you" song as it is an "I want you" song. But really, is there a difference?

"Fool For You"
Cee Lo Green & Melanie Fiona, Best Traditional R&B Performance, 2011

It's a far cry from his previous GRAMMY-winning song, "F*** You," but "Fool For You" had us yearning for "that deep, that burning/That amazing unconditional, inseparable love."

"My Heart Will Go On (Love Theme From Titanic)"
Celine Dion, Record Of The Year, Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, 1998

This omnipresent theme song from the 1997 film Titanic was propelled to the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 as the story of Jack and Rose (played by Leonardo DiCaprio and GRAMMY winner Kate Winslet) swept the country.

"Always On My Mind"
Willie Nelson, Best Country Vocal Performance, Male, 1982

On this cover, Nelson sings to the woman in his life, lamenting over those small things he should have said and done, but never took the time. Don't find yourself in the same position this Valentine's Day.

"My Boo"
Usher & Alicia Keys, Best R&B Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals, 2004

"There's always that one person that will always have your heart," sings Usher in this duet with Keys, taking the listener back to that special first love.

"If You Leave Me Now"
Chicago, Best Pop Vocal Performance By A Duo, Group Or Chorus, 1976

On their first single to reach No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, Chicago vocalist Peter Cetera pleads for a love that is incomparable, singing, with nearly impossibly high-pitched urgency, "A love like ours is love that's hard to find."


"Truly"
Lionel Richie, Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male, 1982

A song embodying true dedication to a loved one, delivered with sincerity from the king of '80s romantic pop who gave life to the timeless love-song classics "Endless Love," "Still" and "Three Times A Lady."

"I Will Always Love You"
Whitney Houston, Record Of The Year, Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female, 1993

Houston passionately delivers a message of love, remembrance and forgiveness on her version of this song, which was written by country sweetheart Dolly Parton and nominated for a GRAMMY in 1982.

"Strangers In The Night"
Frank Sinatra, Record Of The Year, Best Vocal Performance, Male, 1966

Ol' blue eyes offers but a glimmer of hope for the single crowd on Valentine's Day, gently ruminating about exchanging glances with a stranger and sharing love before the night is through.

"You're Still The One"
Shania Twain, Best Female Country Vocal Performance, Best Country Song, 1998

Co-written with producer and then-husband Mutt Lange, Twain speaks of beating the odds with love and perseverance in lyrics such as, "I'm so glad we made it/Look how far we've come my baby," offering a fresh coat of optimism for couples of all ages.

"Oh, Pretty Woman"
Roy Orbison, Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male, 1990

Orbison captures the essence of encountering a lovely woman for the first time, and offers helpful one-liners such as "No one could look as good as you" and "I couldn't help but see … you look as lovely as can be." Single men, take notes.

"Pusher Love Girl"
Justin Timberlake, Best R&B Song, 2013

Timberlake is so high on the love drug he's "on the ceiling, baby." Timberlake co-wrote the track with James Fauntleroy, Jerome Harmon and Timbaland, and it's featured on his 2013 album The 20/20 Experience, which flew high to No. 1 on the Billboard 200.

"My Valentine"
Paul McCartney, Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album for Kisses On The Bottom, 2013

Whether you have a Valentine or not this year, you can find comfort in McCartney's lyrics: "I know that someday soon the sun is gonna shine/And she'll be there/This love of mine/My Valentine."

"Get Lucky"
Daft Punk Featuring Pharrell Williams & Nile Rodgers, Record Of The Year, Best Pop Duo/Group Performance, 2013

Voted by multiple publications as one of the best summer songs of 2013, "Get Lucky" revels in a late-night hookup less shallow than those typically found in No. 1 singles. "Getting lucky is not just sleeping with her, but meeting someone for the first time and it just clicking," said Williams in an interview last year. We hope you get lucky this Valentine's Day. 

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GRAMMY Rewind: 30th Annual GRAMMY Awards

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U2 wins Album Of The Year and Jody Watley wins Best New Artist against these nominees
Crystal Larsen
GRAMMYs
Dec 2, 2014 - 4:06 pm

(For a list of 54th GRAMMY Awards nominees, click here.)

Music's Biggest Night, the 54th Annual GRAMMY Awards, will air live from Staples Center in Los Angeles on Sunday, Feb. 12 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on CBS.

In the weeks leading up to the telecast, we will take a stroll down music memory lane with GRAMMY Rewind, highlighting the "big four" categories — Album Of The Year, Record Of The Year, Song Of The Year, and Best New Artist — from past awards shows. In the process, we'll examine the winners and the nominees who just missed taking home a GRAMMY, while also shining a light on the artists' careers and the eras in which the recordings were born.

Join us as we take an abbreviated journey through the trajectory of pop music from the 1st Annual GRAMMY Awards in 1959 to last year's 53rd Annual GRAMMY Awards.

30th Annual GRAMMY Awards
March 2, 1988

Album Of The Year
Winner: U2, The Joshua Tree
Whitney Houston, Whitney
Michael Jackson, Bad
Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris And Linda Ronstadt, Trio
Prince, Sign 'O' The Times

U2 Win Album Of The Year



Arguably, the decade's biggest artists were nominated for Album Of The Year in 1987. U2 won for their huge breakthrough, The Joshua Tree. It contained the band's first No. 1 single (the GRAMMY-nominated "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For") and established them as, in the words of frontman Bono on the 43rd GRAMMY telecast, the best band in the world. It took an album that monumental to knock off some towering competition. Houston didn't fall prey to a sophomore slump with her second album, Whitney, which spawned four No. 1 hits and, perhaps also in the words of Bono, made her the biggest R&B singer in the world. But the world's biggest R&B/rock/iconoclast may have been Prince, whose Sign 'O' The Times found the purple one at the pinnacle of his genre-stretching talents. The double album touched on an almost endless array of styles with the confidence of an auteur. Still another major hurdle for U2 to surmount was the King of Pop himself. Jackson's Bad was his follow-up to 1982's Thriller, and its five No. 1 singles showed Jackson was still in the most fertile period of his career. The final entry, the all-star teaming of Parton, Harris and Ronstadt, put three top contemporary country-leaning singers in the studio with a first-rate backing band that included Ry Cooder, Russ Kunkel, Albert Lee, and David Lindley, producing a harmony-rich, traditional country album.

Record Of The Year
Winner: Paul Simon, "Graceland"
Los Lobos, "La Bamba"
U2, "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For"
Suzanne Vega, "Luka"
Steve Winwood, "Back In The High Life Again"

Paul Simon Wins Record Of The Year



In a relatively rare occurrence, only one of the Album Of The Year nominees made an appearance in the Record Of The Year race — U2 with their anthemic "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For." The song's theme of searching for meaning in life became one of the deeper hit songs in recent memory, but other records here explored complicated themes. Simon's "Graceland" took the prize with an equally rich search for redemption. It was a winning reprise for Simon, who with partner Art Garfunkel scored his first GRAMMY for Record Of The Year in 1968 for "Mrs. Robinson." Singer/songwriter Vega had a neo-folk hit with "Luka," a somber tale of child abuse with a nonetheless catchy hook. East Los Angeles-based band Los Lobos, with a unique sound combining many elements of Anglo rock and Latin music, scored their biggest hit to date with a cover of Ritchie Valens' "La Bamba," a cut for the 1987 film of the same name. Finally, Winwood was cresting the wave of a comeback that started in 1980 with Arc Of A Diver. The former Traffic vocalist went Top 15 with "Back In The High Life Again," and soared to No. 1 with "Higher Love," which won Record Of The Year the year prior.

Song Of The Year
Winner: Linda Ronstadt & James Ingram, "Somewhere Out There"
Whitney Houston, "Didn't We Almost Have It All"
Los Lobos, "La Bamba (Adapted By Richie Valens)"
U2, "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For"
Suzanne Vega, "Luka"

"Somewhere Out There" Wins Song Of The Year



Ronstadt and Ingram's duet "Somewhere Out There" was written by James Horner, Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, and was featured in the 1986 animated film An American Tail. Horner would win a trio of statues a decade later for "My Heart Will Go On (Love Theme From Titanic)." Houston's "Didn't We Almost Have It All," written by Will Jennings and Michael Masser, made the cut. Five years later, Houston would win three GRAMMYs via the soundtrack to The Bodyguard. Los Lobos' take on "La Bamba" was also recognized. The soundtrack album featured other Valens classics such as "Come On Let's Go" and "Donna." U2 was cited again for "I Still Haven't Found …" To go with their Album Of The Year trophy, Bono and friends also won the GRAMMY for Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal. Vega's "Luka," despite its dark subject matter, was her highest-charting single, reaching No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100. Vega won her lone GRAMMY in 1990 for Best Album Package.

Best New Artist
Winner: Jody Watley
Breakfast Club
Cutting Crew
Swing Out Sister
Terence Trent D'Arby

Jody Watley Wins Best New Artist



The Chicago-born Watley, who was first nominated for a GRAMMY as a member of Shalamar in 1983, picked up Best New Artist honors. The pop/R&B songstress' 1987 self-titled debut album featured the GRAMMY-nominated hit "Looking For A New Love." New York-based pop group Breakfast Club — consisting of Stephen Bray, Gary Burke, Dan Gilroy, and Eddie Gilroy — scored a nod. An earlier incarnation included Madonna, and Bray went on to co-write several songs with the Material Girl herself, including "True Blue" and "Express Yourself." Also recognized were two UK pop bands: Cutting Crew, best known for their No. 1 smash "(I Just) Died In Your Arms," and Swing Out Sister, whose Jimmy Webb-inspired hooks were manifested in Top 40 hits such as "Breakout" and "Twilight World." With his wishing well in tow, D'Arby rounded out the nominees. His debut album, Introducing The Hardline According To Terence Trent D'Arby, won a GRAMMY for Best R&B Vocal Performance, Male, the following year. (More than a decade later, D'Arby renamed himself Sananda Maitreya, and proclaimed that "Terence Trent D'Arby was dead. ...")

Come back to GRAMMY.com Jan. 26 as we revisit the 40th Annual GRAMMY Awards. Meanwhile, visit The Recording Academy's social networks on Facebook and Twitter for updates and breaking GRAMMY news.

 

Roberta Flack

Roberta Flack at the 1974 GRAMMYs

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GRAMMY Rewind: Roberta Flack Wins Record Of The Year For "Killing Me Softly With His Song"

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For the latest episode of GRAMMY Rewind, we revisit the iconic soul singer's second Record Of The Year GRAMMY, for "Killing Me Softly With His Song" at the 1974 GRAMMYs
Ana Monroy Yglesias
GRAMMYs
Oct 2, 2020 - 12:17 pm

For the latest episode of GRAMMY Rewind (watch below), we revisit the iconic Roberta Flack's second Record Of The Year GRAMMY, for "Killing Me Softly With His Song" at the 1974 GRAMMYs.

Looking '70s chic in a lime green dress and natural makeup, she accepted her award with a simple yet sincere message: "I'd like to thank the world."

Roberta Flack Wins Record Of The Year In 1974

The soulful classic/No. 1 hit (which hit No. 1 again when the Fugees covered it in 1996) also won Best Female Pop Vocal Performance that year. The emotive song is from Flack's 1973 album Killing Me Softly, which was also nominated for Album Of The Year that year.

The year prior, at the 15th GRAMMY Awards, Flack won her first two GRAMMYs, Record Of The Year for "The First Time I Ever Saw Your Face" (yes, she won it two years in a row!) and Best Pop Vocal Performance By A Duo, Group Or Chorus for "Where Is The Love" with Donny Hathaway, from their 1972 duet album.

Watch & Learn: Diversity, Equity & Inclusion: Watch The Recording Academy's Inspiring "Change Music" Summit In Full

This year, the "Tryin' Times" singer's powerful voice and countless classics will be celebrated at the GRAMMY Salute To Music Legends, where she joins the prestigious group of Recording Academy Lifetime Achievement Award honorees. Along with Isaac Hayes, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, John Prine and several others, she joins the 2020 class.

Tune into the Special Merit Awards 2020 celebration on Oct. 16 on PBS to hear music from the honorees sung by artists they've inspired.

Watch: Lalah Hathaway Honors Late Father Donny Hathaway In Moving GRAMMY Salute To Music Legends Performance