Grammy Award for Song of the Year

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Grammy Award for Song of the Year
A gold gramophone trophy with a plaque set on a table
"What Was I Made For?" by Billie Eilish is the most recent recipient
Awarded forQuality song containing both lyrics and melody
CountryUnited States
Presented byNational Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences
First awarded1959
Currently held byBillie Eilish and Finneas O'Connell – "What Was I Made For?" (2024)
Websitegrammy.com

The Grammy Award for Song of the Year is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards.[1] The Song of the Year award is one of the four most prestigious categories at the awards (alongside Best New Artist, Record of the Year and Album of the Year), presented annually since the 1st Grammy Awards in 1959. According to the 54th Grammy Awards description guide, the award is presented:

to honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without regard to album sales or chart position.[2]

If a winning song contains samples or interpolations of existing material, the publisher and songwriter(s) of the original song(s) can apply for a Winners Certificate.[3]

Song of the Year is related to but is conceptually different from Record of the Year or Album of the Year:

  • Song of the Year is awarded for a single or for one track from an album. This award goes to the songwriter who actually wrote the lyrics and/or melodies to the song. "Song" in this context means the song as composed, not its recording.
  • Record of the Year is also awarded for a single or individual track, but the recipient of this award is the performing artist, the producer, recording engineer and/or mixer for that song. In this sense, "record" means a particular recorded song, not its composition or an album of songs.
  • Album of the Year is awarded for a whole album, and the award is presented to the artist, songwriter, producer, recording engineer, and mastering engineer for that album. 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.

History and description[edit]

The Song of the Year awards have been awarded since 1959.[4] It is one of the four most prestigious Grammy Awards. Despite both the Record of the Year award and Song of the Year being awarded for a single or for one track from an album, this award goes only to the composer(s) of the song whereas the Record of the Year award goes to the performer(s) and production team for a particular recording of the song. According to the 54th Grammy Awards description guide, the award is given to the songwriter(s) of a song that "must contain melody and lyrics and must be either a new song or a song first achieving prominence during the eligibility year. Songs containing prominent samples or interpolations are not eligible".[5]

The award has not always been restricted to new or newly prominent songs; for instance, in 1992, when the winner was Natalie Cole's cover of "Unforgettable" (a song that had first been recorded by Nat King Cole and achieved prominence in the 1950s), the rule was merely that the song had to have been recorded during the eligibility year and not previously nominated for the award.[6]

Since the late 1960s other songwriter's awards have been presented for genre-specific categories, including Grammy Award for Best Country Song (since 1965), Grammy Award for Best R&B Song (since 1969), Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media (since 1988), Grammy Award for Best Rock Song (since 1992), and most recently Grammy Award for Best Rap Song (since 2004), Grammy Award for Best Gospel Song (from 2006 to 2014), Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Christian Music Song (from 2012 to 2014), Grammy Award for Best American Roots Song (since 2014), Grammy Award for Best Gospel Performance/Song (since 2015), and Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song (since 2015).

The category was expanded to include eight nominees in 2019 and 10 nominees in 2022.[7] The number of nominees was reverted to eight starting with the 2024 ceremony.[8]

As of 2023, a distinct category to honor songwriters was established: Songwriter of the Year, Non-Classical.

Achievements[edit]

In many cases, the songwriters were also the performers (Domenico Modugno, Henry Mancini, John Lennon & Paul McCartney, Joe South, Paul Simon, Carole King, Barbra Streisand, Billy Joel, Michael McDonald, Christopher Cross, Sting, Michael Jackson & Lionel Richie, Bobby McFerrin, Eric Clapton, Bruce Springsteen, Seal, Shawn Colvin, Rob Thomas, U2, Alicia Keys, Luther Vandross, John Mayer, Dixie Chicks, Amy Winehouse, Coldplay, Beyoncé, Lady Antebellum, Adele, Fun, Lorde, Sam Smith, Ed Sheeran, Bruno Mars, Childish Gambino, Billie Eilish, H.E.R., Anderson .Paak, and Bonnie Raitt).

Dernst Emile II is the only songwriter to win Song of the Year in two consecutive years: in 2021 ("I Can't Breathe") and 2022 ("Leave the Door Open").

Other multiple winners in this category include Henry Mancini ("Moon River" and "Days of Wine and Roses"); Johnny Mercer ("Moon River" and "Days of Wine and Roses"); James Horner ("Somewhere Out There" and "My Heart Will Go On"); Will Jennings ("Tears in Heaven" and "My Heart Will Go On"); U2 ("Beautiful Day" and "Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own"); Adele ("Rolling in the Deep" and "Hello"); Christopher Brody Brown ("That's What I Like" and "Leave the Door Open"); Bruno Mars ("That's What I Like" and "Leave the Door Open"); Billie Eilish ("Bad Guy" and "What Was I Made For?"); and Finneas O'Connell ("Bad Guy" and "What Was I Made For?"), winning two times each.[9] However, songs written for Andy Williams, Roberta Flack, Barbra Streisand and Bette Midler have received this award twice.

American singer/songwriter Taylor Swift is the most nominated songwriter in this category with seven nominations. Swift has never won the award.[10]

The first woman to win the award was Carole King in 1972, for "You've Got a Friend".[11] Adele was the first female songwriter to win the award twice, winning for "Rolling in the Deep" and "Hello".[12]

Lorde is the youngest songwriter to win in the category, winning for "Royals" in 2014 at the age of 17.

Irving Gordon is the oldest songwriter to win the award, winning for "Unforgettable" in 1992 at age 77.

Christopher Cross and Billie Eilish are the only artists to receive the Grammys for Song of the Year as well as Record of the Year, Album of the Year, and Best New Artist in a single ceremony. Adele was the first artist to win the award for Song of the Year, Record of the Year, Album of the Year, and Best New Artist from separate occasions, and first woman to accomplish this feat. Only six artists have won the Song of the Year and Best New Artist awards the same year: Christopher Cross ("Sailing" in 1981), Alicia Keys ("Fallin'" in 2002), Amy Winehouse ("Rehab" in 2008), Fun ("We Are Young" in 2013), Sam Smith ("Stay with Me (Darkchild Version)" in 2015) and Billie Eilish ("Bad Guy" in 2020); Marvin Hamlisch is the only composer to win the Song of the Year and Best New Artist awards the same year in 1975, for "The Way We Were".

John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Lionel Richie, Diane Warren, Billie Eilish, H.E.R, and Finneas O'Connell are the only songwriters to receive three consecutive nominations for Song of the Year.

The song "Nel blu, dipinto di blu (Volare)", winner in 1959, written by Domenico Modugno and performed in Italian, is the only foreign-language song to win this award,[13] although the 1967 winner "Michelle" penned by Lennon–McCartney for The Beatles to perform, has a critical part of its lyrics in French.[14]

The Ernest Gold song "Theme of Exodus", which won in 1961, is the only instrumental song to ever receive this award.[15]

The first and only tie in this category in Grammy history took place in 1978, when both Barbra Streisand's & Paul Williams' "Evergreen (Love Theme from A Star Is Born)" and Joe Brooks' "You Light Up My Life" won the award.[16]

The first time in Grammy history that two different songs with the same title have been nominated in this category happened with "Hello" written by Lionel Richie in 1985 and "Hello" by Adele & Greg Kurstin in 2017.[17]

The song with the most writers to win this award is "That's What I Like", which won in 2018 with eight writers. The song with the most writers nominated in this category is "Peaches", which had 11 co-writers nominated for the 2022 ceremony.[18]

Thirty-two of the winning songs have also won the award for Record of the Year.

Process[edit]

From 1995 to 2018, members of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences nominated their choices for song of the year. A list of the top twenty records was given to the Nominations Review Committee, a specially selected group of anonymous members, who then selected the top five records to gain a nomination in the category in a special ballot.[19] The rest of the members then vote a winner from the five nominees.[20] In 2018, it was announced the number of nominated tracks would be increased to eight.[21] In 2021, it was announced that the Nomination Review Committees would be disbanded, and the final nominees for song of the year would be decided by votes from members.[22] Starting in 2022, the number of nominees in the category increased to 10.[23] However, the decision to expand the number of nominees in this category was made 24 hours before the nominees were announced after an early version of the nominations list had already been circulated. This allowed "Kiss Me More" by Doja Cat featuring SZA and "Right on Time" by Brandi Carlile to be nominated as they were the songs that received the most votes besides the other eight nominees.[24] As of the 2024 ceremony, the number of nominees has been reduced back to eight.[25]

Recipients[edit]

2020s[edit]

Year[I] Songwriter(s) Work Performing artist(s)[II] Nominees Ref
2020 Billie Eilish O'Connell
Finneas O'Connell 		"Bad Guy" * Billie Eilish
[26]
2021 Dernst Emile II
H.E.R.
Tiara Thomas 		"I Can't Breathe" H.E.R. [27]
2022 Brandon Anderson
Christopher Brody Brown
Dernst Emile II
Bruno Mars 		"Leave the Door Open" * Silk Sonic
[28]
2023 Bonnie Raitt "Just Like That" Bonnie Raitt
[29]
2024 Billie Eilish O'Connell & Finneas O'Connell "What Was I Made For?" Billie Eilish
  • ^[I] Each year is linked to the article about the Grammy Awards held that year.
  • ^[II] The performing artist is only listed but does not receive the award.

Songwriters with multiple awards[edit]

Two awards

Songwriters with multiple nominations[edit]

2 nominations

See also[edit]

References[edit]

General
  • "Past Winners Search". National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Retrieved March 4, 2011. Note: User must select the "General" category as the genre under the search feature.
  • "Grammy Awards: Album of the Year". Rock on the Net. Retrieved July 12, 2010.
Specific
  1. ^ "Grammy Awards at a Glance". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved February 4, 2011.
  2. ^ "Overview". National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Retrieved March 16, 2011.
  3. ^ Grammy Blue Book
  4. ^ "GRAMMY REWIND: 1ST ANNUAL GRAMMY AWARDS". The Recording Academy. Retrieved February 12, 2017.
  5. ^ "Category Mapper". National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Retrieved November 25, 2011.
  6. ^ Hilburn, Robert (March 8, 1992). "How Unforgettable?: How could a song from 1951 be declared the best song of 1991?". Los Angeles Times.
  7. ^ Grein, Paul (November 23, 2021). "Why Are the 2022 Grammys Jumping From 8 to 10 Nominees In Big Four Categories?". Billboard.com. Retrieved September 26, 2022.
  8. ^ Paul Grein (June 16, 2023). "Here Are the 10 Biggest Changes to the Grammy Awards Process for 2024". Billboard. Retrieved June 16, 2023.
  9. ^ Grein, Paul. "Grammy Preview: Why So Many Legendary Songwriters Don't Have Song of the Year Wins". [Billboard]. Archived from the original on September 20, 2019.
  10. ^ Mier, Tomás (November 10, 2023). "Taylor Swift Now Has the Most Song of the Year Grammy Nominations. Like, Ever". Rolling Stone. Retrieved November 11, 2023.
  11. ^ "9 Times Women Made Grammy History". The Recording Academy. Archived from the original on March 26, 2018.
  12. ^ Grein, Paul (February 13, 2017). "David Bowie, Adele Dominate the Grammy Awards". Yahoo!. Archived from the original on January 26, 2018. Retrieved February 13, 2017.
  13. ^ "Sinatra To The Chipmunks: 7 Things To Know About The 1st GRAMMY Awards". The Recording Academy. Archived from the original on July 2, 2019.
  14. ^ Grein, Paul. "Grammy Watch: From 'That's What I Like' to 'This Is America,' The Varied Winners of Song of the Year". Billboard. Archived from the original on January 22, 2020. Retrieved January 21, 2020.
  15. ^ "Here is a List of Every GRAMMYs Song of the Year Winner Ever". CBS.com. Archived from the original on February 24, 2019. Retrieved February 9, 2015.
  16. ^ "Has There Ever been a Tie for a Grammy?". Parade. Archived from the original on September 20, 2019. Retrieved January 26, 2018.
  17. ^ Grein, Paul (December 6, 2016). "GRAMMY WHISPERER: EIGHT RECORDS THAT WERE SET IN THIS YEAR'S NOMS". Hits Daily Double. Archived from the original on December 8, 2016. Retrieved December 6, 2016.
  18. ^ Grein, Paul. "Justin Bieber's 'Peaches' Sets a New Grammy Record". [Billboard].
  19. ^ Behind Grammy's Closed Door
  20. ^ Wyman, Bill (February 11, 2011). "The Grammys: the secret committee that alters the membership's nominations". Slate.com. Retrieved May 23, 2014.
  21. ^ Mench, Chris (June 28, 2018). "The Grammys' General Field Categories Will Expand From Five To Eight Nominees Next Year". Genius.com. Retrieved December 9, 2018.
  22. ^ Grein, Paul (April 30, 2021). "Recording Academy Votes to End Grammy Nomination Review Committees". Billboard.com. Retrieved September 26, 2022.
  23. ^ Grein, Paul (November 23, 2021). "Why Are the 2022 Grammys Jumping From 8 to 10 Nominees In Big Four Categories?". Billboard.com. Retrieved September 26, 2022.
  24. ^ Sisario, Ben; Coscarelli, Joe (November 24, 2021). "At Last Minute, Kanye West, Taylor Swift Added as Top Grammy Nominees". The New York Times. Retrieved November 10, 2023.
  25. ^ Paul Grein (June 16, 2023). "Here Are the 10 Biggest Changes to the Grammy Awards Process for 2024". Billboard. Retrieved June 16, 2023.
  26. ^ "2020 GRAMMY Awards: Complete Nominees List". GRAMMY.com. November 18, 2019. Retrieved November 20, 2019.
  27. ^ "Inside the Song of the Year Nominees | 2021 GRAMMY Awards".
  28. ^ "2022 GRAMMYs Awards Show: Complete Nominations List".
  29. ^ "2023 GRAMMY Nominations: See The Complete Nominees List". GRAMMYs. November 15, 2022. Retrieved November 15, 2022.

External links[edit]

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