Grammy Awards

INTRODUCTION

The Grammy awards are the most prestigious music awards in modern popular music. There are many categories in the ceremony but the biggest award is the award for best album. This page looks at the backgrounds of the artists who won this award. As the Grammy awards are an American award, most winners have been American.

Charts

1. Region of Birth or Band Origin of US Best Album Grammy Winners

2. Country of Birth or Band Origin of Best Album Grammy Winners

3. Most Common State of Birth or Band Origin of US Best Album Grammy Winners

Data Table

4. Best Album Grammy Award by Artist, Work and Origin of Artist

The best album Grammy award is the most prestigious award in the music world today. It is considered the height of musical achievement in modern popular music.

Different regions have different musical cultures and styles as well as a different concentration record companies. The presence of a major record label in a place can result in large numbers of artists from that area becoming successful.

The Northeast is by far the most common region of birth or origin of band for best album Grammy winners with New York and New jersey being especially well represented. Frank Sinatra, who has won the award 3 times, is from New Jersey in the Northeast. The Midwest has the 2nd most with 27%. Stevie Wonder who has also won the award 3 times is from Detroit in the Midwestern state of Michigan. The South has notably just 17% despite being the origin of many musical styles. It's worth noting that Elvis Presley, who originated in the South, rose to prominence years before the Grammy awards started.

Note: "Band Origin" refers to the place where the band was formed. Usually that is also in the same region of birth of the main band members.

Frank Sinatra, from New Jersey in the Northeast of the United States, won Album of the Year 3 times.

Since the Grammy awards are an American award, it's not surprising that best album winners most commonly originated from the USA. The UK is the origin of 17% of Best Album winners. All other countries combined are 12%. The chart reflects the domination of these the USA and the UK in the global music industry. The success of British artists at the Grammy's reflects the global reach of British music from the Beatles in the 60s to Adele recently.

American musician Stevie Wonder won Album of the Year 3 times.

New York is the origin of the largest number of American Best Album winners with 8 winners, 7 of them from New York City. New York City has long been the center of the American music industry and is also often called the world capital of music. The neighbouring state of New Jersey is 2nd with 7 which is impressive for the 11th largest state. Within New Jersey, Newark is the birthplace of the winners of 3 Best Album Winners. Despite being the largest state, California is well behind New York and New Jersey.

Note: Where two artists collaborated, each counts as 0.5 for the chart.

DATA TABLE

4. Best Album Grammy Award by Artist, Work and Origin of Artist

Year	Artist	Work	City/town of birth/origin	US State of birth/origin	Country of birth/origin	Racial/Ethnic group
1959	Henry Mancini	The Music from Peter Gunn	Cleveland	Ohio	USA	White/European
1960	Frank Sinatra	Come Dance with Me!	Hoboken	New Jersey	USA	White/European
1961	Bob Newhart	The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart	Oak Park	Illinois	USA	White/European
1962	Judy Garland	Judy at Carnegie Hall	Grand Rapids	Minnesota	USA	White/European
1963	Vaughn Meader	The First Family	Waterville	Maine	USA	White/European
1964	Barbra Streisand	The Barbra Streisand Album	New York City	New York	USA	White/European
1965	Stan Getz	Getz/Gilberto	Philadelphian	Pennsylvania	USA	White/European
	Joao Gilberto		Juazeri	N/A	Brazil	White/European
1966	Frank Sinatra	September of My Years	Hoboken	New Jersey	USA	White/European
1967	Frank Sinatra	A Man and His Music	Hoboken	New Jersey	USA	White/European
1968	The Beatles	Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band	Liverpool	N/A	UK	White/European
1969	Glen Campbell	By the Time I Get to Phoenix	Delight	Arkansas	USA	White/European
1970	Blood, Sweat & Tears	Blood, Sweat & Tears	New York City	New York	USA	White/European
1971	Simon & Garfunkel	Bridge over Troubled Water	New York City	New York	USA	White/European
1972	Carole King	Tapestry	New York City	New York	USA	White/European
1973	George Harrison	The Concert for Bangladesh	Liverpool	N/A	UK	White/European
1974	Stevie Wonder	Innervisions	Saginaw	Michigan	USA	Black/African
1975	Stevie Wonder	Fulfillingness' First Finale	Saginaw	Michigan	USA	Black/African
1976	Paul Simon	Still Crazy After All These Years	Newark	New Jersey	USA	White/European
1977	Stevie Wonder	Songs in the Key of Life	Saginaw	Michigan	USA	Black/African
1978	Fleetwood Mac	Rumours	London	N/A	UK	White/European
1979	Barry Gibb	Saturday Night Fever: The Original Movie Sound Track	Douglas	N/A	Isle of Man	White/European
1980	Billy Joel	52nd Street	New York City	New York	USA	White/European
1981	Christopher Cross	Christopher Cross	San Antonio	Texas	USA	White/European
1982	John Lennon	Double Fantasy	Liverpool	N/A	UK	White/European
	Yoko Ono		Tokyo	N/A	Japan	East Asian
1983	Toto	Toto IV	Orange	Texas	USA	White/European
1984	Michael Jackson	Thriller	Gary	Indiana	USA	Black/African
1985	Lionel Richie	Can't Slow Down	Tuskegee	Alabama	USA	Black/African
1986	Phil Collins	No Jacket Required	London	N/A	UK	White/European
1987	Paul Simon	Graceland	Newark	New Jersey	USA	White/European
1988	U2	The Joshua Tree	Dublin	N/A	Ireland	White/European
1989	George Michael	Faith	London	N/A	UK	White/European
1990	Bonnie Raitt	Nick of Time	Burbank	California	USA	White/European
1991	Quincy Jones and various artists	Back on the Block	Chicago	Illinois	USA	White/European
1992	Natalie Cole	Unforgettable... with Love	Los Angeles	California	USA	Black/African
1993	Eric Clapton	Unplugged	Ripley	N/A	UK	White/European
1994	Whitney Houston[B]	The Bodyguard: Original Soundtrack Album	Newark	New Jersey	USA	Black/African
1995	Tony Bennett	MTV Unplugged	New York City	New York	USA	White/European
1996	Alanis Morissette	Jagged Little Pill	Ottowa	N/A	Canada	White/European
1997	Celine Dion	Falling into You	Charlemagne	N/A	Canada	White/European
1998	Bob Dylan	Time Out of Mind	Duluth	Minnesota	USA	White/European
1999	Lauryn Hill	The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill	East Orange	New Jersey	USA	Black/African
2000	Santana	Supernatural	San Francisco	California	USA	Mestizo
2001	Steely Dan	Two Against Nature	Annandale-on-Hudson	New York	USA	White/European
2002	Various artists[C] Produced by T Bone Burnett	O Brother, Where Art Thou?soundtrack	St Louis	Missouri	USA	White/European
2003	Norah Jones	Come Away with Me	New York City	New York	USA	Eurasian
2004	OutKast	Speakerboxxx/The Love Below	East Point	Georgia	USA	Black/African
2005	Ray Charles	Genius Loves Company	Albany	Georgia	USA	Black/African
2006	U2	How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb	Dublin	N/A	Ireland	White/European
2007	Dixie Chicks	Taking the Long Way	Dallas	Texas	USA	White/European
2008	Herbie Hancock	River: The Joni Letters	Chicago	Illinois	USA	Black/African
2009	Robert Plant	Raising Sand	West Bromwich	N/A	UK	White/European
	Alison Krauss		Decatur	Illinois	USA	White/European
2010	Taylor Swift	Fearless	Reading	Pennsylvania	USA	White/European
2011	Arcade Fire	The Suburbs	Montreal	N/A	Canada	White/European
2012	Adele	21	London	N/A	UK	White/European
2013	Mumford & Sons	Babel	London	N/A	UK	White/European
2014	Daft Punk	Random Access Memories	Paris	N/A	France	White/European
2015	Beck	Morning Phase	Los Angeles	California	USA	White/European
2016	Taylor Swift	1989	Reading	Pennsylvania	USA	White/European
2017	Adele	25	London	N/A	UK	White/European
2018	Bruno Mars	24K Magic	Honolulu	Hawaii	USA	Multiracial

OTHER PAGES ABOUT MUSIC

Music Artists

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grammy_Award_for_Album_of_the_Year

https://www.wikipedia.org/

https://www.grammy.com/grammys/awards

Charts created using OpenOffice Calc.