Grammy Award for Best R&B Album

The Grammy Award for Best R&B Album is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards,[1] to recording artists for quality works on albums in the R&B music genre. Honors in several categories are presented at the ceremony annually by The Recording Academy of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without regard to album sales or chart position".[2]

Grammy Award for Best R&B Album
Jaguar II by Victoria Monét is the most recent recipient
Awarded forQuality R&B music albums
CountryUnited States
Presented byNational Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences
First awarded1995
Currently held byVictoria Monét, Jaguar II (2024)
Websitegrammy.com

According to the category description guide for the 54th Grammy Awards, the award is reserved for albums "containing at least 51% playing time of newly recorded contemporary R&B vocal tracks" which may also "incorporate production elements found in rap music".[3]

From 2003 to 2011, a separate category was formed, the Best Contemporary R&B Album, meant for R&B albums that had modern hip-hop stylings to them, while more traditional and less electronic-styled R&B music still fell under the Best R&B Album category. After the 2011 Grammy season, the Best Contemporary R&B Album category was discontinued and recordings that previously fell under this category were shifted back to the Best R&B Album category. This was part of a major overhaul of the Grammy Award categories.[4] In 2020, a sister category titled Best Progressive R&B Album was debuted.

The award goes to the artist, producer and engineer/mixer, provided they are credited with at least 50% of playing time on the album. A producer or engineer who are responsible for less than 50% of playing time, as well as the mastering engineer, can apply for a Winners Certificate.[5]

Alicia Keys and John Legend are the biggest recipients in this category with three wins. TLC, D'Angelo and Robert Glasper have won the award twice. Mary J. Blige holds the record for the most nominations, with six in total. In 2015, Norwegian singer Bern/hoft became the first non-American artist to be nominated.

Recipients

edit
 
Boyz II Men were the first recipients of the Grammy Award for Best R&B Album in 1995.
 
For her work on The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, Lauryn Hill won the Grammy Award for Best R&B Album as well as Album of the Year.
 
Two-time recipient D'Angelo.
 
2002, 2005 and 2014 award winner, Alicia Keys
 
Three-time nominee and 2003 award winner India.Arie
 
To date, John Legend has earned eleven Grammy Awards for his work, including three for Best R&B album.
 
2009 award winner Jennifer Hudson
 
2012 award winner Chris Brown
 
2022 award winner Jazmine Sullivan
Year[I] Performing artist(s) Work Nominees Ref.
1995 Boyz II Men II [6]
1996 TLC CrazySexyCool [7]
1997 Tony Rich Words [8]
1998 Erykah Badu Baduizm [9]
1999 Lauryn Hill The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill [10]
2000 TLC FanMail [11]
2001 D'Angelo Voodoo [12]
2002 Alicia Keys Songs in A Minor [13]
2003 India.Arie Voyage to India [14]
2004 Luther Vandross Dance with My Father [6]
2005 Alicia Keys The Diary of Alicia Keys [15]
2006 John Legend Get Lifted [16]
2007 Mary J. Blige The Breakthrough [17]
2008 Chaka Khan Funk This [18]
2009 Jennifer Hudson Jennifer Hudson [19]
2010 Maxwell BLACKsummers'night [20]
2011 John Legend and The Roots Wake Up! [21]
2012 Chris Brown F.A.M.E. [22]
2013 Robert Glasper Experiment Black Radio [23]
2014 Alicia Keys Girl On Fire [24]
2015 Toni Braxton & Babyface Love, Marriage & Divorce [25]
2016 D'Angelo & The Vanguard Black Messiah [26]
2017 Lalah Hathaway Lalah Hathaway Live [27]
2018 Bruno Mars 24K Magic [28]
2019 H.E.R. H.E.R. [29]
2020 Anderson .Paak Ventura [30]
2021 John Legend Bigger Love
[31]
2022 Jazmine Sullivan Heaux Tales [32]
2023 Robert Glasper Black Radio III [33]
2024 Victoria Monét Jaguar II
2025 TBA TBA [34]

^[I] Each year is linked to the article about the Grammy Awards held that year.


Artists with multiple wins

edit

Artists with multiple nominations

edit

See also

edit

References

edit
General
  • "Past Winners Search". National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on February 12, 2015. Retrieved May 15, 2011.
Specific
  1. ^ "Grammy Awards at a Glance". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on March 9, 2012. Retrieved January 6, 2011.
  2. ^ "Overview". National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on January 3, 2011. Retrieved May 14, 2011.
  3. ^ "54th Grammy category: Best R&B Album". National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on October 1, 2011. Retrieved May 15, 2011.
  4. ^ "Full Category List". National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. 2011. Archived from the original on April 8, 2011. Retrieved May 15, 2011.
  5. ^ "Grammy Blue Book (edition 2021)" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2020-06-10. Retrieved 2020-06-17.
  6. ^ a b "Past Winners Search". National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on February 12, 2015. Retrieved May 15, 2011.
  7. ^ "List of Grammy nominees". CNN. January 4, 1996. Archived from the original on December 7, 2012. Retrieved May 15, 2011.
  8. ^ Kot, Greg (January 8, 1997). "Pumpkins A Smash With 7 Grammy Nominations". Chicago Tribune. p. 12. Archived from the original on July 7, 2012. Retrieved May 14, 2011.
  9. ^ "Complete List of Academy Voter Picks". Los Angeles Times. January 8, 1998. p. 15. Archived from the original on July 1, 2012. Retrieved May 15, 2011.
  10. ^ Kot, Greg (January 6, 1999). "10 Nominations Put Lauryn Hill Atop Grammy Heap". Chicago Tribune. p. 10. Archived from the original on July 1, 2012. Retrieved May 15, 2011.
  11. ^ "Santana Tops List With 10 Grammy Nominations". The Seattle Times. January 5, 2000. Archived from the original on October 28, 2011. Retrieved June 21, 2011.
  12. ^ "43rd Grammy Awards". CNN. February 21, 2001. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved May 15, 2011.
  13. ^ "Complete List Of Grammy Nominees". CBS News. January 4, 2002. Archived from the original on October 10, 2003. Retrieved May 15, 2011.
  14. ^ "Complete list of Grammy nominees; ceremony set for Feb. 23". San Francisco Chronicle. January 8, 2003. p. 3. Archived from the original on July 16, 2011. Retrieved May 15, 2011.
  15. ^ "Grammy Award nominees in top categories". USA Today. December 7, 2004. Archived from the original on June 28, 2011. Retrieved May 15, 2011.
  16. ^ "Complete list of Grammy Award nominations". USA Today. December 8, 2005. Archived from the original on April 26, 2012. Retrieved May 15, 2011.
  17. ^ "Winners and Nominees: Major Categories". People. February 9, 2007. Archived from the original on September 23, 2015. Retrieved May 15, 2011.
  18. ^ "2008 Grammy Award Winners and Nominees". The New York Times. February 9, 2008. Archived from the original on July 3, 2015. Retrieved May 15, 2011.
  19. ^ "Grammy 2009 Winners List". MTV. Viacom. February 8, 2009. Archived from the original on December 16, 2013. Retrieved May 15, 2011.
  20. ^ Bruno, Mike (May 15, 2011). "Grammy Awards 2010: The winners list". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on November 11, 2014. Retrieved February 2, 2011.
  21. ^ "Grammy Nominees 2011". AOL Music. Archived from the original on February 6, 2011. Retrieved May 15, 2011.
  22. ^ "2011 - 54th Annual GRAMMY Awards Nominees And Winners: R&B Field". The Recording Academy. November 30, 2011. Archived from the original on July 1, 2016. Retrieved December 3, 2011.
  23. ^ List of 2013 nominees Archived 2012-02-01 at the Wayback Machine
  24. ^ "2014 Nominees" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-12-16. Retrieved 2013-12-08.
  25. ^ "List of Nominees 2015" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2015-02-11. Retrieved 2014-12-08.
  26. ^ "Billboard.com, 7 December 2015". Archived from the original on 10 December 2015. Retrieved 8 December 2015.
  27. ^ Unterberger, Andrew (6 December 2016). "Here Is the Complete List of Nominees for the 2017 Grammys". Billboard. Archived from the original on 6 December 2016. Retrieved 6 December 2016.
  28. ^ Lynch, Joe (November 28, 2017). "Grammys 2018: See the Complete List of Nominees". Billboard. Archived from the original on November 28, 2017. Retrieved November 29, 2017.
  29. ^ "Grammy.com, 7 December 2018". Archived from the original on 7 December 2018. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
  30. ^ "Grammy.com, 22 November 2019". Archived from the original on 26 January 2020. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
  31. ^ "2021 Nominations List" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2020-11-29. Retrieved 2020-11-28.
  32. ^ "2022 Nominations List". Archived from the original on 2021-11-25. Retrieved 2021-11-24.
  33. ^ "2023 Nominations List". Archived from the original on 2022-11-16. Retrieved 2022-11-16.
  34. ^ Monroe, Jazz (2024-11-08). "Grammy Nominations 2025: See the Full List Here". Pitchfork. Retrieved 2024-11-08.
edit