Grammy Award for Record of the Year facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Grammy Award for Record of the Year
"luther" by Kendrick Lamar & SZA is the most recent recipient
Presented by	National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences
Country	United States
First awarded	1959
Currently held by	Kendrick Lamar – "luther" (2026)

The Grammy Award for Record of the Year is a super important prize given out by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences in the United States. It celebrates amazing musical recordings that show great artistic skill and technical quality. This award isn't about how many copies a song sells or where it lands on music charts. It's all about the quality of the music itself!

This award is one of the "Big Four" Grammy awards, which have been given out every year since the very first Grammy Awards in 1959. The other "Big Four" awards are Best New Artist, Song of the Year, and Album of the Year.

It's easy to get confused between "Record of the Year," "Song of the Year," and "Album of the Year." Here's how they are different:

• Record of the Year is for a single song or a track from an album. This award goes to the people who *made* the recording sound great: the performing artist, the producer, the recording engineer, and the mixing engineer. Think of "record" here as the actual recorded sound of a song.
• Song of the Year is also for a single song, but this award goes to the person who *wrote* the song – the songwriter who created the lyrics and melodies. "Song" in this case means the musical composition itself, not the recorded version.
• Album of the Year is for an entire album, which is a collection of songs. This award goes to everyone involved in making the whole album, including the artist, songwriters, producers, recording engineers, and mastering engineers.

What is the Record of the Year Award?

The Record of the Year award has been a part of the Grammys since 1959. It's one of the four most important Grammy awards. While both Record of the Year and Song of the Year are about individual songs, Record of the Year honors the performers and the team who produced and engineered the song. Song of the Year, on the other hand, celebrates the person who composed the song.

This award is given for songs that have been released commercially, whether they are new vocal or instrumental recordings. Sometimes, a song from an older album can be nominated if it wasn't entered in previous years and if the album itself didn't already win a Grammy for the artist or production team.

Over the years, the people who receive this award have changed:

• 1959–1965: Only the artist received the award.
• 1966–1998: The artist and the producer received the award.
• 1999–2012: The artist, producer, recording engineer, and mixing engineer were honored.
• 2013–Present: The artist, producer, recording engineer, mixing engineer, and mastering engineer all receive the award.

Since 2019, the number of nominees in this category has grown, showing how many amazing songs are being recognized!

Amazing Achievements in Record of the Year

Many talented artists and production teams have made history with this award.

Artists with Multiple Wins

Tom Coyne holds the record for most wins as a mastering engineer, with four awards. He was the only person to win four years in a row! Paul Simon and Bruno Mars are two artists who have won this award three times! Paul Simon won with "Mrs. Robinson" (1969) and "Bridge over Troubled Water" (1971) as part of Simon & Garfunkel, and then again with "Graceland" (1988). Bruno Mars won with "Uptown Funk" (2016) alongside Mark Ronson, then with "24K Magic" (2018), and "Leave the Door Open" (2022) as part of Silk Sonic.

Roberta Flack was the first artist to win two years in a row, in 1973 and 1974. U2 also won consecutively in 2001 and 2002 with songs from the same album. More recently, Billie Eilish won in 2020 and 2021, and Kendrick Lamar achieved this feat with his wins in 2025 and 2026.

Other artists who have won more than once include Henry Mancini, The 5th Dimension, Eric Clapton, Norah Jones, and Adele.

Most Nominations

Beyoncé holds the record for the most nominations in this category with nine! She has been nominated as part of Destiny's Child and eight times as a solo artist, but she has not yet won this specific award. Bruno Mars is the most nominated male artist with eight nominations, including for "Nothin' on You" as a featured artist, a song by CeeLo Green from 2011 (as a producer), "Grenade", "Locked Out of Heaven", "Uptown Funk" (with Mark Ronson), "24K Magic", “Leave the Door Open” (as part of Silk Sonic), and “APT.” (with Rosé). The Beatles have the most nominations for a group, with five, but they never won the award.

Frank Sinatra was nominated for Record of the Year for four years in a row. Billie Eilish is one of the artists to receive three consecutive nominations, and she achieved it twice!

African-American Winners

Many African-American artists have won this award, including Roberta Flack, George Benson, Michael Jackson, Tina Turner, Bobby McFerrin, Natalie Cole, Whitney Houston, Seal, Ray Charles, Pharrell Williams, Nile Rodgers, Childish Gambino, Anderson .Paak, Lizzo, Kendrick Lamar and SZA. Roberta Flack and Kendrick Lamar are the only ones to win twice in a row.

International Winners and Nominees

The Grammy Awards celebrate music from around the world!

• In 1959, Domenico Modugno from Italy won for "Volare", a foreign-language song.
• Daft Punk became the first French artists to win in 2014.
• Irish artists like U2 have won, and New Zealanders like Kimbra and Lorde have been nominated.
• Australian artists like Olivia Newton-John and Gotye have also won.
• Rosé became the first South Korean artist to be nominated in 2026.

Latino and Hispanic Winners and Nominees

Latino and Hispanic artists have also made their mark:

• Astrud Gilberto from Brazil was the first Latina to win in 1965 for "The Girl from Ipanema".
• Irene Cara was the first Hispanic artist nominated in 1984.
• Santana, led by Mexican artist Carlos Santana, was the first Hispanic act to win in 2000.
• Songs in Spanish have also been nominated, like "La Bamba" by Los Lobos in 1988, "Despacito" by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee in 2018, and "DTMF" by Bad Bunny in 2026.
• Bruno Mars, who has Puerto Rican heritage, has won the award three times.

Female Winners

Astrud Gilberto was the first woman to win this award in 1965. Roberta Flack, Norah Jones, Adele, and Billie Eilish have each won more than once for their own recordings. Florence LaRue and Marilyn McCoo also won twice as part of The 5th Dimension.

Rapper Winners and Nominees

"U Can't Touch This" by MC Hammer was the first rap song to be nominated. The only rap songs to win are "This is America" by Childish Gambino, and "Not Like Us" and "Luther" with SZA by Kendrick Lamar. Kendrick Lamar is the most nominated rapper with five nominations.

Youngest Winners

At 17 years old, Lorde became the youngest main artist to be nominated for "Royals" in 2014. Billie Eilish was also 17 when she was nominated for "Bad Guy" in 2020. Eilish then became the youngest winner at 18 years old for "Bad Guy" in 2020. She was also the second-youngest winner (after herself!) for "Everything I Wanted" in 2021, at 19 years old.

Winning Multiple Top Awards

Christopher Cross and Billie Eilish are the only artists to win Record of the Year, Album of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best New Artist all in the same ceremony! Adele also won all four of these top awards, but over different years.

How Winners Are Chosen

The process for choosing the Record of the Year has changed a bit over time. For many years, members of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences would nominate their favorite records. Then, a special committee would narrow down these choices to the top five nominees. Finally, all members would vote for the winner from those five.

In 2018, the number of nominated songs increased to eight. Then, in 2021, the special committees were removed, and now all members vote directly for the final nominees. In 2022, the number of nominees temporarily increased to ten, but for the 2024 ceremony and onwards, it has returned to eight nominees.

Recent Winners (2020s)

Here are the winners and nominees for Record of the Year from 2020 to 2026:

See also

In Spanish: Anexo:Premio Grammy a la grabación del año para niños

• Grammy Award for Song of the Year
• Grammy Award for Album of the Year
• Best New Artist