An incalculable number of albums have been released in music history, but only 58 have earned the coveted distinction of Album Of The Year GRAMMY winner so far. From Henry Mancini's The Music From Peter Gunn to Taylor Swift's 1989, some of these elite albums have arguably surprised, some were seemingly consensus choices and still others have fostered lasting debate. In part one of Album Of The Year GRAMMY Winners, explore the albums that won — and were runners-up for — music's biggest prize for 1958–1969.

1958 ALBUM OF THE YEAR

The Music From Peter Gunn
Henry Mancini

"Peter Gunn," the noir-ish television detective series created by Blake Edwards, first aired in 1958 and was one of the first to feature an original score. Penned by composer Henry Mancini, the show's cool jazz strains became integral to the tone of the show. Mancini, only 34 at the time, was already a veteran film composer, having written for The Glenn Miller Story and The Benny Goodman Story. Over the years, "Peter Gunn"'s insistent show theme has been covered by artists of all genres (the Art Of Noise, Jimi Hendrix and Quincy Jones, among others), and remains one of the most recognized — and hippest — of all time.

Other Nominees: 
Tchaikovsky: Concerto No. 1, In B-Flat Minor, Op. 23, Van Cliburn
Ella Fitzgerald Sings The Irving Berlin Song Book, Ella Fitzgerald
Come Fly With Me, Frank Sinatra
Only The Lonely, Frank Sinatra 

1959 ALBUM OF THE YEAR

Come Dance With Me!
Frank Sinatra

One of the most successful and popular albums of Frank Sinatra's career, Come Dance With Me! features classic compositions by songwriting titans, including Lerner & Loewe ("I Could Have Danced All Night"), Irving Berlin ("Cheek To Cheek"), Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne ("Saturday Night [Is The Loneliest Night Of The Week]"), and Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein ("The Song Is You"). Produced by Capitol Records' Dave Cavanaugh, and featuring iconic swing arrangements by Billy May, the album parked itself on Billboard's charts for more than two years.

Other Nominees: 
Belafonte At Carnegie Hall, Harry Belafonte
Victory At Sea, Vol. 1, Robert Russell Bennett
Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 3, Kiril Kondrashin, Van Cliburn and the Symphony Of The Air Orchestra
More Music From Peter Gunn, Henry Mancini

1960 ALBUM OF THE YEAR

The Button-Down Mind Of Bob Newhart
Bob Newhart

The Button-Down Mind Of Bob Newhart won out over some serious competition: Frank, Harry and Nat, as well as a pair of classical heavyweights. But remember — this was an era when comedy albums (including those by Shelley Berman, Allan Sherman and Vaughn Meader) were extraordinarily popular. How much so? The Button-Down Mind … topped the Billboard charts for weeks (even fending off Elvis Presley and the original cast album to The Sound Of Music). Newhart was also named Best New Artist, something never again achieved by a comedian, so far. Primarily known for his stand-up to this point, he became a major star when the Emmy-nominated "The Bob Newhart Show" debuted in 1972.

Other Nominees: 
Belafonte Returns To Carnegie Hall, Harry Belafonte
Wild Is Love, Nat "King" Cole
Brahms: Concerto, Erich Leinsdorf and Sviatoslav Richter
Puccini: Turandot, Erich Leinsdorf
Nice 'N Easy, Frank Sinatra

1961 ALBUM OF THE YEAR

Judy At Carnegie Hall
Judy Garland

At this stage in her career, the 39-year-old Garland had shifted from performing in films to television, and was one of the highest-paid performers to appear in Las Vegas. But this double album — recorded at Carnegie Hall in New York on April 23, 1961 — reinvigorated her position as a singer of impressive vocal power, class and rarified status. A winner of four GRAMMYs, Judy At Carnegie Hall remains steadfastly popular to this day.

Other Nominees:
Genius + Soul = Jazz, Ray Charles
The Nat "King" Cole Story, Nat "King" Cole
West Side Story — Motion Picture Soundtrack, John Green
Breakfast At Tiffany's — Motion Picture Soundtrack, Henry Mancini
Great Band With Great Voices, Si Zentner and Johnny Mann Singers

1962 ALBUM OF THE YEAR

The First Family
Vaughn Meader

Beating out Tony Bennett's I Left My Heart In San Francisco was no small feat, but Vaughn Meader's The First Family was a smash-hit comedy album that sold an unheard-of 1 million copies in the fall of 1962. Clearly, Meader's lighthearted parody of life with the Kennedys struck a chord with Americans during the brightest days of Camelot. Ironically, only months later, the 5th Annual GRAMMY Awards show was preempted for coverage of John F. Kennedy's assassination. (Out of deference, Meader did not appear on the rescheduled telecast.)

Other Nominees:
I Left My Heart In San Francisco, Tony Bennett
Modern Sounds In Country And Western Music, Vol. 1, Ray Charles
Jazz Samba, Stan Getz and Charlie Byrd
My Son, The Folk Singer, Allan Sherman

1963 ALBUM OF THE YEAR

The Barbra Streisand Album
Barbra Streisand

By 1963, 20-year-old Barbra Streisand was just beginning to make a name for herself on the Broadway stage. It makes sense, then, that her debut solo album would feature selections from shows such as "The Fantasticks" and "A Taste Of Honey." With sweeping arrangements by Peter Matz (known for his work up to this point with Harold Arlen and Noël Coward) and works by Cole Porter and Rodgers & Hart, the collection kicks off with a moving take on "Cry Me A River" (written by Arthur Hamilton and made famous by torchbearer Julie London). The Barbra Streisand Album won three GRAMMY Awards, establishing Streisand as a musical force.

Other Nominees:
Honey In The Horn, Al Hirt
The Singing Nun, Soeur Sourire
Bach's Greatest Hits, the Swingle Singers
Days Of Wine And Roses, Andy Williams

1964 ALBUM OF THE YEAR

Getz/Gilberto
Stan Getz & João Gilberto

The 7th Annual GRAMMY Awards marked a time of change in the world of popular music — although the ceremony was still black tie and gown, the "longhairs" were starting to make some noise (the Beatles were named Best New Artist). And during this period, as silky bossa nova began to grace American hi-fi's, the pairing of tenor saxophone great Stan Getz and renowned Brazilian composer João Gilberto would take home Album Of The Year as well as Record Of The Year for its lilting single "The Girl From Ipanema," sung by Gilberto's wife, Astrud. Recorded in spring 1963, and impeccably produced by Creed Taylor and engineered by Phil Ramone, the album also features the immeasurable contribution of Brazilian guitarist/pianist Antonio Carlos Jobim.

Other Nominees:
Cotton Candy, Al Hirt
The Pink Panther, Henry Mancini
Funny Girl, Barbra Streisand, Bob Merrill and Jule Styne
People, Barbra Streisand

1965 ALBUM OF THE YEAR

September Of My Years
Frank Sinatra

In 1965 Frank Sinatra was at the top of his game: His albums were consistently touched by Midas, he was headlining Vegas with the Rat Pack and he was an established film star (Can-Can, Ocean's 11 and The Manchurian Candidate). He also made his debut as a film director with the release of None But The Brave. Produced by Reprise Records' Sonny Burke, Sinatra's reflective September Of My Years earned Album Of The Year honors, and one of its tracks — the Ervin Drake-penned "It Was A Very Good Year" — took home GRAMMYs for Best Vocal Performance, Male and Best Arrangement Accompanying A Vocalist Or Instrumentalist.

Other Nominees:
Whipped Cream & Other Delights, Herb Alpert's Tijuana Brass
The Sound Of Music — Motion Picture Soundtrack, Julie Andrews and Cast
My World, Eddy Arnold
Help!, the Beatles
My Name Is Barbra, Barbra Streisand

1966 ALBUM OF THE YEAR

A Man And His Music
Frank Sinatra

Only two artists — Stevie Wonder and Frank Sinatra — have captured the prestigious Album Of The Year GRAMMY in consecutive years. A Man And His Music is a double-disc retrospective of the Chairman's career up to 1965, particularly noteworthy in that the year marked his 50th birthday. Because many of the songs had been previously released on his former labels (including RCA, Columbia and Capitol), Sinatra chose to re-record them and release the album on Reprise Records, the label he founded in 1958. A TV special of the same name would capture Emmy and Peabody awards.

Other Nominees:
What Now My Love, Herb Alpert And The Tijuana Brass
Revolver, the Beatles
Dr. Zhivago — Motion Picture Soundtrack, Maurice Jarre
Color Me Barbra, Barbra Streisand

1967 ALBUM OF THE YEAR

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
The Beatles

For three years in a row, Frank Sinatra and the Beatles would be nominated for Album Of The Year, with Sinatra capturing it twice. But with their epic psychedelic trip Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, the Beatles would reign supreme for 1967. The group had for the most part retired from touring by 1966, choosing to instead retreat to Abbey Road Studios and its newfound technological advances. Sgt. Pepper's ... — whose memorable collage artwork cover won the GRAMMY for Best Album Cover, Graphic Arts — became one of the most influential albums in rock history, opening doors for other recording artists to the infinite possibilities of studio recording.

Other Nominees:
My Cup Runneth Over, Ed Ames
It Must Be Him, Vikki Carr
Ode To Billie Joe, Bobbie Gentry
Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim, Frank Sinatra and Antonio Carlos Jobim

1968 ALBUM OF THE YEAR

By The Time I Get To Phoenix
Glen Campbell

After years as one of the busiest on-call sidemen in the music business (including service as a touring member of the Beach Boys as well as the acclaimed Phil Spector-favored "Wrecking Crew" session players), Glen Campbell began to stretch out on his own as a country solo artist. The year prior to Campbell's win for Album Of The Year, he brought home four GRAMMYs for the tracks "Gentle On My Mind," written by John Hartford, and "By The Time I Get To Phoenix," written by Jimmy Webb. The latter was one of the first of many successful partnerships between Webb and Campbell, including the classics "Wichita Lineman" and "Galveston."

Other Nominees: 
Magical Mystery Tour, the Beatles
Feliciano!, José Feliciano
A Tramp Shining, Richard Harris
Bookends, Simon And Garfunkel

1969 ALBUM OF THE YEAR

Blood, Sweat & Tears
Blood, Sweat & Tears

Every album nominated in 1969 remains an essential listen, especially the winner. Featuring pop hits "And When I Die" (written by Laura Nyro), "Spinning Wheel" and "You've Made Me So Very Happy" — as well as the delicate "Variations On A Theme By Erik Satie" — Blood, Sweat & Tears' second album is an accessible mix of rock, jazz, R&B, and classical that showed rock could sample from many palettes as it entered the '70s. The group's massive, ever-rotating lineup was akin to a superstar big band with long hair and bell-bottoms: This recording features vocalist David Clayton-Thomas, guitarist Steve Katz, alto sax/piano man Fred Lipsius, drummer Bobby Colomby, and bassist Jim Fielder.

Other Nominees: 
Abbey Road, the Beatles
Johnny Cash At San Quentin, Johnny Cash
Crosby, Stills & Nash, Crosby, Stills & Nash
The Age Of Aquarius, 5th Dimension

Jon Batiste walked into the 2022 GRAMMYs with a whopping 11 nominations, making him the most recognized artist of the evening. By the end of the night, he received five GRAMMYs for Best American Roots Performance, Best American Roots Song, Best Score Soundtrack For Visual Media, Best Music Video, and the highly coveted Album Of The Year.

In this episode of GRAMMY Rewind, watch Batiste take the stage to accept the award for Album Of The Year for his sixth studio album, We Are

Batiste began his praises by acknowledging God: "I just put my head down and work on the craft every day. I love music, he said. "I've been playing since I was a little boy. It's more than entertainment for me — it's a spiritual practice." He also thanked the "many people that went into making this album," including his grandfather, nephew, father, and executive producer, Ryan Lynn.

"This [award] is for real artists, real musicians. Let's just keep going. Be you! That's it. I love you even if I don't know you," Batiste cheered.

Press play on the video above to hear Jon Batiste's complete acceptance speech and check back to GRAMMY.com for more new episodes of GRAMMY Rewind.

Watch: Jon Batiste Delivers A Heartfelt Performance Of “Ain’t No Sunshine” & “Lean On Me” | 2024 GRAMMYs Performance

At the 2024 GRAMMYs, Taylor Swift became the artist with the most Album Of The Year awards in GRAMMY history with four total wins. But her first record-breaking AOTY moment traces back eight years ago, when she became the first woman to win the category twice.

In this episode of GRAMMY Rewind, relive the moment she won the historic golden gramophone for her iconic fifth studio album, 1989, at the 2016 GRAMMYs.

“I want to thank the fans for the last 10 years,” Swift beamed, praising her loyal fanbase, the Swifties. She later acknowledged the Recording Academy for “this unbelievable honor” and the project’s main producer, Max Martin, who “deserved to be up there for 25 years.”

Before she left the stage, she offered an inspiring message to aspiring female musicians in light of her groundbreaking win. “To all the young women, there are going to be people along the way who try to undercut your success or take credit for your accomplishments or your fame,” she explained. “But if you just focus on the work and don’t let those people sidetrack you, someday, when you get where you’re going, you’ll look around and know that it was you and the people who love you who put you there. That will be the greatest feeling in the world.”

Check out Taylor Swift’s complete acceptance speech for her second Album Of The Year win, before diving into the release of The Tortured Poets Department, and check back to GRAMMY.com for more new episodes of GRAMMY Rewind.

Get Ready For Taylor Swift's ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ Album Release: Everything You Need To Know

Henry Mancini had a gift for melodies of an ethereal, almost supernatural beauty.  

His prolific discography — albums of jazzy orchestral pop, dozens of film and television soundtracks — established him as a cultural icon and transformed the role that melody and song played in the art of movie narrative. Once you encounter a Henry Mancini tune, it’s almost impossible not to start humming it.

A composer, arranger, conductor and pianist of tireless discipline, Mancini won a staggering 20 GRAMMY Awards and was nominated 72 times. All of his wins — including the first-ever golden gramophone for Album Of The Year at the inaugural 1959 GRAMMYs — will be on display at the GRAMMY Museum to honor his centennial birthday, April 16. 

To mark what would be his centennial birthday, Mancini's children will travel to Abruzzo, Italy — where Mancini’s parents migrated from. And on June 23, the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra will present a program of his music with a gallery of guest stars including singer Monica Mancini, the maestro’s daughter. Out June 21, The Henry Mancini 100th Sessions – Henry Has Company will feature a new recording of "Peter Gunn" conducted by Quincy Jones and featuring John Williams, Herbie Hancock and Arturo Sandoval.

Although Mancini died in 1994 at age 70, his compositions remain timeless and ever-relevant. Read on for 10 essential Henry Mancini compositions to cherish and rediscover.  

"Peter Gunn" (1958)

In 1958, Mancini was looking for work and used his old Universal studio pass to enter the lot and visit the barber shop. It was outside the store that he met writer/director Blake Edwards and got the chance to write the music for a new television show about private detective Peter Gunn. 

Seeped in West Coast Jazz, Mancini’s main theme sounds brash and exciting to this day – its propulsive beat and wailing brass section evoking an aura of cool suspense. The "Peter Gunn" assignment cemented his reputation as a cutting-edge composer, and the accompanying album (The Music From Peter Gunn) won GRAMMYs in the Album Of The Year and Best Arrangement categories.

"Mr. Lucky" (1959)

Half of the "Peter Gunn" fan mail was addressed to Mancini. As a result, CBS offered Blake Edwards a second television show, as long as the composer was part of the package. Edwards created "Mr. Lucky," a stylish series about the owner of a floating casino off the California coast. 

1959 was an exhausting year for Mancini, as he was scoring two shows at the same time on a weekly basis. Still, his music flowed with elegance and ease. The "Mr. Lucky" ambiance allowed him to explore Latin rhythms, and the strings on his wonderful main theme shimmer with a hint of yearning. It won GRAMMY Awards in 1960 for Best Arrangement and Best Performance by an Orchestra.

"Lujon" (1961)

As part of his contract with RCA Victor, Mancini was committed to recording a number of albums featuring original compositions in the same velvety jazz-pop idiom from his television work. "Lujon" is the standout track from Mr. Lucky Goes Latin, a collection of Latin-themed miniatures that luxuriate in a mood of plush languor.

 Inspired by the complex harmonics of French composer Maurice Ravel, "Lujon" steers safely away from lounge exotica thanks to the refined qualities of the melody and arrangement.

"Moon River" (1961)

Performed on a harmonica, the main melody of "Moon River" is nostalgic to the bone, but also life affirming. A majestic string section makes the music swoon, like gliding on air. And the harmonies in the vocal chorus add gravitas — a touch of humanity. 

It took Mancini half an hour to write "Moon River," but the Breakfast at Tiffany’s anthem made him a global superstar. Among the many artists who covered the song, pop crooner Andy Williams turned it into his personal anthem. Mancini won an Academy Award for Best Original Song, and GRAMMY Awards for Record Of The Year, Song Record Of The Year and Best Arrangement. The album soundtrack earned two additional gramophones.

Theme from Hatari! (1962)

After two failed attempts with different composers, legendary director Howard Hawks invited Mancini to write the score for Hatari! — the wildly episodic but oddly endearing safari film he had shot in Tanganyika with John Wayne. Mancini jumped at the opportunity, and Hawks gave him a few boxes from the trip that contained African percussive instruments, a thumb piano and a tape of Masai tribal chants. Two chords from that chant, together with a slightly detuned upright piano formed the basis for the movie’s main theme. 

Mancini’s sparse arrangement and melancholy melody conspired to create one of the most gorgeous themes in the history of film.

"Days of Wine and Roses" (1962)

Throughout the decades, Mancini provided musical accompaniment to Blake Edwards’ filmography, which switched from slapstick comedy to stark melodrama. There is a perverse beauty to the theme of Days of Wine and Roses — a movie about a couple of lifelong alcoholics — as the lush choral arrangement seems to glorify the innocence of better times. 

It won an Academy Award for Best Original Song — Mancini’s second Oscar in a row — and three GRAMMYs: Record Of The Year, Song Of The Year and Best Background Arrangement.

"The Pink Panther Theme" (1963)

Directed by Edwards and starring Peter Sellers as part of an ensemble cast, the original Pink Panther was a frothy caper comedy that had none of the manic touches of comedic genius that Sellers would exhibit in subsequent entries of the franchise. It was Mancini’s ineffable main theme that carried the movie through.

Jazzy and mischievous, Mancini wrote the melody with the light-as-a-feather playing of tenor saxophonist Plas Johnson in mind. It won GRAMMYs in three categories: Best Instrumental Arrangement, Best Instrumental Compositions (Other Than Jazz), and Best Instrumental Performance – Non-Jazz.

Charade (1963)

Mancini’s gift for cosmopolitan tunes and jazzy arrangements found the perfect vehicle in the score for Stanley Donen’s Charade — a droll Hitchcockian thriller shot in Paris and starring Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn. 

The main theme is a waltz in A minor, and opens with pulsating percussion. When the central melody appears, it evokes a melancholy reflection and a certain thirst for the kind of globetrotting adventure that the film delivers in spades. It was Johnny Mercer’s favorite Mancini melody, and he wrote exquisite lyrics for it. 

The best version probably belongs to jazz singer Johnny Hartman, who released it as the opening track of his 1964 album I Just Dropped By To Say Hello.

Two For The Road (1967)

Friends and family remember Mancini as a humble craftsman who ignored the trappings of fame and focused on the discipline of work. In 1967, after Audrey Hepburn cabled to ask him about writing the music for the Stanley Donen film Two For The Road, Mancini agreed, but was taken aback when the director rejected his initial theme. Leaving his ego aside, he returned to the drawing board and delivered a lovely new melody – and a spiraling piano pattern seeped in old fashioned tenderness.

"Theme from The Molly Maguires" (1970)

Even though Mancini enjoyed most accolades during the ‘60s, his protean level of inspiration never wavered. In 1970, he was brought in to rescue the soundtrack of Martin Ritt’s gritty secret societies drama The Molly Maguires, about Irish-American miners rebelling against their mistreatment in 19th century Pennsylvania. 

The main theme makes time stand still: a sparse arrangement that begins with a solitary harp, until a recorder ushers in a haunting, Irish-inspired melody. The score reflected a more restrained Mancini, but was still intensely emotional.

Jeff Goldblum's Musical Influences: How Frank Sinatra, "Moon River" & More Jazz Greats Inspired The Actor-Turned-Musician

Taylor Swift has made GRAMMY history once again.

The pop superstar won the GRAMMY for Album Of The Year for Midnights at the 2024 GRAMMYs, marking her fourth win in the Category — the most Album Of The Year wins of any artist at the GRAMMYs. (She had been tied with Frank Sinatra, Stevie Wonder, and Paul Simon.) 

Swift was shocked as she accepted the award, bringing up her producer Jack Antonoff — who had already won the GRAMMY for Producer of the Year — and collaborator Lana Del Rey, who was also nominated for Album Of The Year for Did You Know There’s A Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd. She acknowledged both in her acceptance speech, calling Antonoff "a once in a generation producer" and Del Rey "a legacy artist, a legend in her prime right now." 

She continued, "I would love to tell you that this is the best moment of my life, but I feel this happy when I finish a song, or when I crack to code to a bridge I love, or when I'm shortlisting a music video, or when I'm rehearsing with my dancers or my band, or getting ready to go to Tokyo to play a show. For me the award is the work. All I wanna do is keep being able to do this. I love it so much, it makes me so happy." 

The 66th GRAMMY Awards were already a big night for Swift before her Album Of The Year victory. Midnights won Best Pop Vocal Album earlier in the telecast, marking her 13th win; as Swifties know, 13 is Swift's lucky number because of her Dec. 13 birthday.

And at the 2024 GRAMMYs, it was her lucky number indeed: along with making history, Swift used her first win to announce a brand-new album. Swift will release her 11th studio album, The Tortured Poets Department, on April 19.

2024 GRAMMY Nominations: See The Full Nominees List