The Record of the Year is one of the four most prestigious Grammy Awards presented annually. It has been awarded since 1959. The honorees through its history have been:
- 1959-1965: Artist only.
- 1966-1998: Artist and producer.
- 1999-present: Artist, producer, and engineer and/or mixer.
Years reflect the year in which the Grammy Awards were handed out, for music released in the previous year.
Record of the Year is not to be confused with Song of the Year or Album of the Year:
- Record of the Year is awarded for a single or for one track from an album. This award goes to the performing artist, the producer, recording engineer, and/or mixer for that song. In this sense, "record" means a recording of one song, not the composition or an album of songs. Often, the nominees and winners of this song represent the most successful songs of the year.
- Song of the Year is also awarded for a single or individual track, but the recipient of this award is the songwriter who actually created the song in the first place. Thus, "song" in this context means the song as written, not its recording.
- Album of the Year is awarded for a whole album, and the award is presented to the artist, producer, recording engineer, and mastering engineer for that album. So, in this context, "album" means a recorded collection of songs (a multi-track LP, CD, or download package), not the individual songs or their compositions.
Roberta Flack was the first artist to win Record of the Year in two consecutive years for the years 1972 ("The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face") and 1973 ("Killing Me Softly With His Song"). This would happen again when the group U2 would win for the years 2001 (Beautiful Day) and 2002 (Walk On).
Other artists to receive 2 Grammys for Record of the Year are Henry Mancini ("Moon River", "Days Of Wine And Roses"), Simon and Garfunkel ("Mrs. Robinson", "Bridge Over Troubled Water"), The 5th Dimension ("Up, Up And Away", "Aquarius/Let The Sunshine In"), Eric Clapton ("Tears In Heaven", "Change The World")and Norah Jones ("Don't Know Why," "Here We Go Again").
The Beatles were nominated for Record of the Year on 4 different occasions ("I Want To Hold Your Hand", "Yesterday", "Hey Jude", "Let It Be"). Although they did not take this award, they did receive each of the other 3 top honors (Best New Artist; Song of the Year, "Michelle"; Album of the Year, "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band").
During the first 50 years of the Grammys, only 5 artists have taken the Record of the Year and Best New Artist awards during the same ceremony; Bobby Darin ("Mack The Knife"), Christopher Cross ("Sailing"), Sheryl Crow ("All I Wanna Do"), Norah Jones ("Don't Know Why") and Amy Winehouse ("Rehab"). 24 of the winners of Record of the Year have also won Song of the Year.
An asterisk (*) indicates the recording also won Song of the Year.
2000s
| Year |
Winner |
Nominations |
| 2009 |
Please Read the Letter by Alison Krauss and Robert Plant T-Bone Burnett, producer; Mike Piersante, engineer/mixer, from the album Raising Sand released on Rounder |
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| 2008 |
Rehab* by Amy Winehouse; engineered/mixed by Tom Elmhirst, Vaughan Merrick, Dom Morley, Mark Ronson & Gabriel Roth; produced by Mark Ronson |
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| 2007 |
Not Ready to Make Nice* by Dixie Chicks; engineered/mixed by Chris Testa, Jim Scott & Richard Dodd; produced by Rick Rubin |
|
| 2006 |
Boulevard of Broken Dreams by Green Day; engineered/mixed by Chris Lord-Alge & Doug McKean, produced by Green Day & Rob Cavallo |
|
| 2005 |
Here We Go Again by Ray Charles and Norah Jones; engineered/mixed by Al Schmitt, Mark Fleming, & Terry Howard; produced by John R. Burk |
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| 2004 |
Clocks by Coldplay; engineered/mixed by Coldplay, Ken Nelson & Mark Phythian; produced by Coldplay & Ken Nelson |
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| 2003 |
Don't Know Why* by Norah Jones; engineered/mixed by Jay Newland; produced by Arif Mardin, Jay Newland & Norah Jones |
|
| 2002 |
Walk On by U2, engineered/mixed by Richard Rainey & Steve Lillywhite; produced by Brian Eno & Daniel Lanois |
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| 2001 |
Beautiful Day* by U2, engineered/mixed by Richard Rainey & Steve Lillywhite; produced by Brian Eno & Daniel Lanois |
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| 2000 |
Smooth* by Santana featuring Rob Thomas, engineered/mixed by David Thoener, produced by Matt Serletic |
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1990s
| Year |
Winner |
Nominations |
| 1999 |
My Heart Will Go On* by Celine Dion;
engineered/mixed by David Gleeson,
Humberto Gatica & Simon Franglen; produced by James Horner,
Simon Franglen & Walter Afanasieff |
|
| 1998 |
Sunny Came Home* by Shawn Colvin,
produced by John Leventhal |
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| 1997 |
Change the World* by Eric Clapton, produced by Babyface |
|
| 1996 |
Kiss from a Rose* by Seal, produced by Trevor Horn |
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| 1995 |
All I Wanna Do by Sheryl Crow, produced by Bill Bottrell |
|
| 1994 |
I Will Always Love You by Whitney Houston, produced by David Foster |
|
| 1993 |
Tears in Heaven* by Eric Clapton, produced by Russ Titelman |
|
| 1992 |
Unforgettable* by Natalie Cole with Nat King Cole, produced by David Foster |
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| 1991 |
Another Day in Paradise by Phil Collins, produced by Hugh Padgham & Phil Collins |
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| 1990 |
Wind Beneath My Wings* by Bette Midler, produced by Arif Mardin |
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1980s
| Year |
Winner |
Nominations |
| 1989 |
Don't Worry, Be Happy* performed by Bobby McFerrin, produced by Linda Goldstein |
|
| 1988 |
Graceland performed by Paul Simon, produced by Paul Simon |
|
| 1987 |
Higher Love performed by Steve Winwood, produced by Russ Titelman & Steve Winwood |
|
| 1986 |
We Are the World* performed by USA for Africa, produced by Quincy Jones |
|
| 1985 |
What's Love Got to Do with It* performed by Tina Turner, produced by Terry Britten |
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| 1984 |
Beat It performed by Michael Jackson, produced by Michael Jackson & Quincy Jones |
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| 1983 |
Rosanna performed by Toto, produced by Toto |
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| 1982 |
Bette Davis Eyes* performed by Kim Carnes, produced by Val Garay |
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| 1981 |
Sailing* performed by Christopher Cross, produced by Michael Omartian |
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| 1980 |
What a Fool Believes* performed by The Doobie Brothers, produced by Ted Templeman |
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1970s
| Year |
Winner |
Nominations |
| 1979 |
Just the Way You Are* performed by Billy Joel, produced by Phil Ramone |
|
| 1978 |
Hotel California performed by The Eagles, produced by Bill Szymczyk |
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| 1977 |
This Masquerade performed by George Benson, produced by Tommy LiPuma |
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| 1976 |
Love Will Keep Us Together performed by Captain & Tennille, produced by Daryl Dragon |
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| 1975 |
I Honestly Love You performed by Olivia Newton-John, produced by John Farrar |
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| 1974 |
Killing Me Softly with His Song* performed by Roberta Flack, produced by Joel Dorn |
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| 1973 |
The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face* performed by Roberta Flack, produced by Joel Dorn |
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| 1972 |
It's Too Late performed by Carole King, produced by Lou Adler |
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| 1971 |
Bridge over Troubled Water* performed by Simon and Garfunkel; produced by Art Garfunkel, Paul Simon & Roy Halee |
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| 1970 |
Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In performed by The 5th Dimension, produced by Bones Howe |
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1960s
1950s
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Grammy Award for Record of the Year |
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| 1950s |
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| 1960s |
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| 1970s |
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| 1980s |
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| 1990s |
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| 2000s |
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