Receiving a Grammy Award is regarded as the pinnacle of success in the music industry, showcasing the epitome of musical excellence. Among the various Grammy categories, the “big four” – album of the year, song of the year, record of the year, and best new artist – are the most prestigious and highly coveted.

The album of the year award, known colloquially as the “big award,” is presented to full-length albums that demonstrate exceptional artistic merit and industry quality, irrespective of their commercial performance or sales figures. To qualify, an album must contain at least five tracks and total a minimum duration of 15 minutes or, alternatively, 30 minutes with no specific track count, as outlined by the Recording Academy.

“This Grammy award recognizes any artist, featured artist, songwriter of original material, producer, recording engineer, mixer, and mastering engineer who has at least 33% of the album’s total playtime,” the Recording Academy clarifies.

Let us explore the complete history of album of the year winners through the years and check out the nominations for the upcoming 67th annual Grammy Awards on February 2.

Nominees for Album of the Year at the 2025 Grammy Awards

The following albums have been nominated for the album of the year at the 2025 Grammy Awards:

• “New Blue Sun” – André 3000
• “Cowboy Carter” – Beyoncé
• “Short n’ Sweet” – Sabrina Carpenter
• “Brat” – Charli xcx
• “Djesse Vol. 4” – Jacob Collier
• “Hit Me Hard and Soft” – Billie Eilish
• “Chappell Roan The Rise And Fall Of A Midwest Princess” – Chappell Roan
• “The Tortured Poets Department” – Taylor Swift

List of Album of the Year Grammy Winners

Here is a comprehensive list of Grammy Award recipients for album of the year dating back to 1959:

• “The Music from Peter Gunn” – Henry Mancini (1st Grammy Awards in 1959)
• “Come Dance with Me!” – Frank Sinatra (2nd Grammy Awards in 1959)
• “The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart” – Bob Newhart (3rd Grammy Awards in 1961)
• “Judy at Carnegie Hall” – Judy Garland (4th Grammy Awards in 1962)
• “The First Family” – Vaughn Meader (5th Grammy Awards in 1963)
• “The Barbra Streisand Album” – Barbra Streisand (6th Grammy Awards in 1964)
• “Getz/Gilberto” – Stan Getz and João Gilberto (7th Grammy Awards in 1965)
• “September of My Years” – Frank Sinatra (8th Grammy Awards in 1966)
• “A Man and His Music” – Frank Sinatra (9th Grammy Awards in 1967)
• “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” – The Beatles (10th Grammy Awards in 1968)
• “By the Time I Get to Phoenix” – Glen Campbell (11th Grammy Awards in 1969)
• “Blood, Sweat & Tears” – Blood, Sweat & Tears (12th Grammy Awards in 1970)
• “Bridge over Troubled Water” – Simon & Garfunkel (13th Grammy Awards in 1971)
• “Tapestry” – Carole King (14th Grammy Awards in 1972)
• “The Concert for Bangladesh” – George Harrison & Friends (15th Grammy Awards in 1973)
• “Innervisions” – Stevie Wonder (16th Grammy Awards in 1974)
• “Fulfillingness’ First Finale” – Stevie Wonder (17th Grammy Awards in 1975)
• “Still Crazy After All These Years” – Paul Simon (18th Grammy Awards in 1976)
• “Songs in the Key of Life” – Stevie Wonder (19th Grammy Awards in 1977)
• “Rumours” – Fleetwood Mac (20th Grammy Awards in 1978)
• “Saturday Night Fever” (soundtrack) – Various Artists (21st Grammy Awards in 1979)
• “52nd Street” – Billy Joel (22nd Grammy Awards in 1980)
• “Christopher Cross” – Christopher Cross (23rd Grammy Awards in 1981)
• “Double Fantasy” – John Lennon and Yoko Ono (24th Grammy Awards in 1982)
• “Toto IV” – Toto (25th Grammy Awards in 1983)
• “Thriller” – Michael Jackson (26th Grammy Awards in 1984)
• “Can’t Slow Down” – Lionel Richie (27th Grammy Awards in 1985)
• “No Jacket Required” – Phil Collins (28th Grammy Awards in 1986)
• “Graceland” – Paul Simon (29th Grammy Awards in 1987)
• “The Joshua Tree” – U2 (30th Grammy Awards in 1988)
• “Faith” – George Michael (31st Grammy Awards in 1989)
• “Nick of Time” – Bonnie Raitt (32nd Grammy Awards in 1990)
• “Back on the Block” – Quincy Jones (33rd Grammy Awards in 1991)
• “Unforgettable with Love” – Natalie Cole (34th Grammy Awards in 1992)
• “Unplugged” – Eric Clapton (35th Grammy Awards in 1993)
• “The Bodyguard: Original Soundtrack Album” – Whitney Houston (36th Grammy Awards in 1994)
• “MTV Unplugged” – Tony Bennett (37th Grammy Awards in 1995)
• “Jagged Little Pill” – Alanis Morissette (38th Grammy Awards in 1996)
• “Falling into You” – Celine Dion (39th Grammy Awards in 1997)
• “Time Out of Mind” – Bob Dylan (40th Grammy Awards in 1998)
• “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill” – Lauryn Hill (41st Grammy Awards in 1999)
• “Supernatural” – Santana (42nd Grammy Awards in 2000)
• “Two Against Nature” – Steely Dan (43rd Grammy Awards in 2001)
• “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” (soundtrack) – Various Artists (44th Grammy Awards in 2002)
• “Come Away with Me” – Norah Jones (45th Grammy Awards in 2003)
• “Speakerboxxx/The Love Below” – OutKast (46th Grammy Awards in 2004)
• “Genius Loves Company” – Ray Charles (47th Grammy Awards in 2005)
• “How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb” – U2 (48th Grammy Awards in 2006)
• “Taking the Long Way” – The Chicks (49th Grammy Awards in 2007)
• “River: The Joni Letters” – Herbie Hancock (50th Grammy Awards in 2008)
• “Raising Sand” – Robert Plant and Alison Krauss (51st Grammy Awards in 2009)
• “Fearless” – Taylor Swift (52nd Grammy Awards in 2010)
• “The Suburbs” – Arcade Fire (53rd Grammy Awards in 2011)
• “21” – Adele (54th Grammy Awards in 2012)
• “Babel” – Mumford & Sons (55th Grammy Awards in 2013)
• “Random Access Memories” – Daft Punk (56th Grammy Awards in 2014)
• “Morning Phase” – Beck (57th Grammy Awards in 2015)
• “1989” – Taylor Swift (58th Grammy Awards in 2016)
• “25” – Adele (59th Grammy Awards in 2017)
• “24K Magic” – Bruno Mars (60th Grammy Awards in 2018)
• “Golden Hour” – Kacey Musgraves (61st Grammy Awards in 2019)
• “When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?” – Billie Eilish (62nd Grammy Awards in 2020)
• “Folklore” – Taylor Swift (63rd Grammy Awards in 2021)
• “We Are” – Jon Batiste (64th Grammy Awards in 2022)
• “Harry’s House” – Harry Styles (65th Grammy Awards in 2023)
• “Midnights” – Taylor Swift (66th Grammy Awards in 2024)