Dolly Parton is what you might call a perennial Grammy nominee. This is the 37th year that she has received at least one Grammy nod. And if you’re thinking that must be close to the all-time record, you’re right.
It is the record among women and among country artists. Among all artists, it puts her in second place. One artist has been a nominee in even more years – 42. Can you guess who it is? You’ll have to scroll to the bottom of this list to find out.
Parton received her first Grammy nod in 1970 for best country performance by a duo or group for “Just Someone I Used to Know,” a collab with Porter Wagoner. She’s competing this year for best audio book, narration, and storytelling recording for Behind the Seams: My Life in Rhinestones. The 67th annual Grammy Awards are set for Feb. 2 at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, despite the wildfires that have devastated parts of the city over the past 10 days.
Paul McCartney, Barbra Streisand and the late Chick Corea, who are also high on the list of artists with the most years with at least one Grammy nod, were also nominated this year. (Streisand is competing with Parton for best audio book, narration, and storytelling recording.)
Some artists amass a lot of nominations in just a few years and are rarely nominated again. Those flame-outs aren’t on this list. These are the people who were in the game year after year after year.
Here are the 25 artists who have received Grammy nominations in 25 or more years. The years shown are the years of the Grammy ceremonies. Note: This list counts only years in which the artists received Grammy nominations in competition—not honorary awards from the Recording Academy. But we do fill you in on who has (and hasn’t) received honorary awards – lifetime achievement awards (for performers), trustees awards (for non-performers) and the mothballed Grammy Legend Award.
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Tony Bennett, 25 years
First nods: 1963, record of the year and best solo vocal performance, male for “I Left My Heart in San Francisco”; album of the year for the album of the same name.
Last nods: 2022, album of the year and best traditional pop vocal album for Love for Sale; record of the year, best pop/duo group performance and best music video for “I Get a Kick Out of You” (all collabs with Lady Gaga).
Notes: The legendary singer received a lifetime achievement award from the Recording Academy in 2001. He died in 2023 at age 96.
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Bob Dylan, 25 years
First nod: 1963, best folk recording for Bob Dylan.
Most recent nod: 2018, best traditional pop vocal album for Triplicate.
Notes: The legendary singer/songwriter, 83, received a lifetime achievement award in 1991.
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Steven Epstein, 25 years
First nods: 1981, classical producer of the year; best classical album and best classical orchestral recording for Ruggles: Complete Music; best classical orchestral recording for Respighi: Feste Romane/Fountains of Rome.
Most recent nods: 2022, producer of the year, classical; best chamber music/small ensemble performance for Beethoven: Cello Sonatas – Hope Amid Tears.
Notes: The classical and Broadway cast album producer has won the Grammy for producer of the year, classical, seven times, which puts him in a tie for the most wins in the category with David Frost, Robert Woods and Judith Sherman. Epstein has yet to receive a trustees award.
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Vince Gill, 25 years
First nods: 1991, best country vocal performance, male and best country song for “When I Call Your Name
Most recent nod: 2024, best country duo/group performance for “Kissing Your Picture (Is So Cold)” (collab with Paul Franklin).
Notes: The country star, 67, is younger than any other artist who has been nominated in 25 or more years. He has yet to receive a lifetime achievement award.
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Al Schmitt, 25 years
First nod: 1962, best engineering contribution – popular recording for Henry Mancini’s Breakfast at Tiffany’s and also Si Zentner’s Great Band With Great Voices, a collab with the Johnny Mann Singers.
Last nod: 2014, best surround sound album for Paul McCartney’s Live Kisses
Notes: The engineer and producer received a trustees award in 2006. He died in 2021 at age 91.
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Herbert von Karajan, 25 years
First nod: 1961, best classical opera production for Verdi: Aida
Last nods: 1990, best classical album and best orchestral performance for Bruckner: Symphony No. 8 In C Minor.
Notes: The Austrian classical conductor died in 1989 at age 81. He has yet to receive a trustees award.
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Stevie Wonder, 25 years
First nods: 1967, best rhythm & blues recording, best rhythm & blues solo vocal performance, male or female for “Uptight (Everything’s Alright)”
Most recent nod: 2010, best male pop vocal performance for “All About the Love Again”
Notes: Wonder, 74, is the only artist in Grammy history to win album of the year with three consecutive studio albums. The Motown legend received a lifetime achievement award in 1996.
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Leonard Bernstein, 26 years
First nod: 1959 (the Grammys’ inaugural year), best classical performance – orchestra for Stravinsky: Le Sacre Du Printemps
Last nods: 1993, best classical album and best orchestral performance for Mahler: Symphony No. 9
Notes: The conductor, composer and pianist received a lifetime achievement award in 1985. He died five years later at age 72.
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Pet Metheny, 26 years
First nod: 1981, best jazz fusion performance for American Garage
Most recent nod: 2024, best jazz instrumental album for Dream Box
Notes: Metheny, 70, has yet to receive a lifetime achievement award.
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Pierre Boulez, 27 years
First nod: 1967,best classical performance – orchestra for Boulez: Le Soleil Des Eaux/Messiaen: Chronochromie/Koechlin: Les Bandar-Log
Last nod: 2011, best orchestral performance for Stravinsky: Pulcinella; Symphony in Three Movements; Four Études
Notes: The French classical composer/conductor received a lifetime achievement award in 2015. He died the following year at age 90.
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Vladimir Horowitz, 27 years
First nod: 1959 (the Grammys’ inaugural year),best classical performance – instrumentalist (other than concerto-scale accompaniment), Horowitz Plays Chopin
Last nod: 1993, best classical performance – instrumental solo without orchestra for Horowitz – Discovered Treasures (Chopin, Liszt, Scarlatti, Scriabin, Clementi)
Notes: The Russian-born classical pianist and composer died in 1989 at age 86. He received a lifetime achievement award posthumously the following year.
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Chet Atkins, 28 years
First nod: 1964, best rock & roll recording for “Teen Scene”
Last nod: 1998, best country instrumental performance for “Smokey Mountain Lullaby” (with Tommy Emmanuel)
Notes: The guitarist, producer and songwriter who helped create the Nashville Sound received a lifetime achievement award in 1993. He died in 2001 at age 77.
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James Mallinson, 28 years
First nod: 1972, album of the year, classical for Haydn: Symphonies Nos. 65-72 (Vol.1)
Last nod: 2014, producer of the year, classical
Notes: In 1980,Mallinson became the inaugural winner of producer of the year, classical. The Englishman died in 2018 at age 75. He has yet to receive a trustees award.
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André Previn, 28 years
First nods: 1959 (the Grammys’ inaugural year), best soundtrack album, dramatic picture score or original cast for Gigi and best performance by an orchestra for “Young Man’s Lament”
Last nods: 2005, best classical contemporary composition for Previn: Violin Concerto “Anne-Sophie”; best instrumental soloist(s) performance (with orchestra) for Previn: Violin Concerto “Anne-Sophie”/Bernstein: Serenade
Notes: The German-born pianist, composer, and conductor received a lifetime achievement award in 2010. He died in 2019 at age 89.
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Barbra Streisand, 28 years
First nods: 1964, album of the year and best vocal performance, female for The Barbra Streisand Album; record of the year for “Happy Days Are Here Again”
Most recent nod: 2025, best audio book, narration, and storytelling recording for My Name Is Barbra
Note: The superstar, 82, received a Grammy legend award in 1992 and a lifetime achievement award in 1995.
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Aretha Franklin, 29 years
First nods: 1968, best vocal performance, female; best rhythm & blues recording and best rhythm & blues solo vocal performance, female, for “Respect”; best contemporary female solo vocal performance for “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman”
Last nod: 2011, best R&B performance by a duo or group with vocals for “You’ve Got a Friend” (collab with Ronald Isley)
Notes: The Queen of Soul received a Grammy legend award in 1991 and a lifetime achievement award in 1994. She died in 2018 at age 76.
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Quincy Jones, 29 years
First nods: 1961, best jazz performance large group for The Great Wide World of Quincy Jones and best arrangement for Ray Charles’ “Let the Good Times Roll”
Last nod: 2019, best music film for Quincy
Notes: The producer, arranger and artist is the only person in Grammy history to win at least one Grammy in six consecutive decades (in his case, the ’60s through the ’10s). Jones received a trustees award in 1989 and a Grammy legend award in 1991. He died in 2024 at age 91.
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Emmylou Harris, 30 years
First nod: 1976,best country vocal performance, female for “If I Could Only Win Your Love”
Most recent nods: 2016, best Americana album for The Traveling Kind (a collab with Rodney Crowell); best American roots song for the title track.
Note: The country and Americana singer/songwriter, 77, received a lifetime achievement award in 2018.
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Jay David Saks, 30 years
First nod: 1977, best classical orchestral performance for Brahms: Symphony No. 1 In C Minor
Last nods: 2017, best opera recording for Bizet: Les Pêcheurs De Perles and also Berg: Lulu
Note: The classical and cast album producer died in 2024 at age 79. He has yet to receive a trustees award.
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Georg Solti, 31 years
First nods: 1963, best opera recording for Verdi: Aida and also R. Strauss: Salome
Last nods: 1999, best classical album and best choral performance for Georg Solti – The Last Recording (Bartok: Cantana Profana/Kodaly: Psalmus Hungaricus/Weiner: Serenade)
Note: For many years, Solti held the record for most career Grammys won (31). Beyoncé topped that record two years ago, but she still has a way to go to match Solti’s mark of receiving one or more nominations in 31 years. (Queen Bey has been nominated in 22 years.) Solti received a lifetime achievement award in 1996. He died the following year at age 84.
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Willie Nelson, 32 years
First nod: 1975, best country vocal performance by a duo or group for “After the Fire Is Gone” (collab with Tracy Nelson – no relation)
Most recent nod: 2024, best bluegrass album for Bluegrass
Note: The country legend, 91, received a Grammy legend award in 1990 and a lifetime achievement award in 2000.
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Paul McCartney, 34 years
First nods: 1965, best new artist; record of the year for “I Want to Hold Your Hand”; song of the year, best rock & roll recording and best performance by a vocal group for “A Hard Day’s Night”; best original score written for a motion picture or television show for A Hard Day’s Night. (All nominations for The Beatles; song of the year nod shared with John Lennon.)
Most recent nods: 2025, record of the year and best rock performance for “Now and Then” (with The Beatles)
Note: The pop music legend, 82, received a lifetime achievement award in 1990 and another, with the Beatles, in 2014. The Beatles had won a trustees award in 1972 (when performers were still eligible for that award).
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Chick Corea, 36 years
First nods: 1974, best jazz performance by a group for “Light as a Feather” and best instrumental arrangement for “Spain”
Last nods: 2025, best jazz instrumental album for Remembrance; best instrumental composition for the title track; and best jazz performance for “Juno”
Note: The jazz pianist, composer and bandleader died in 2021 at age 79. He has yet to receive a lifetime achievement award.
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Dolly Parton, 37 years
First nod: 1970,best country performance by a duo or group for “Just Someone I Used to Know” (collab with Porter Wagoner)
Most recent nod: 2025, best audio book, narration, and storytelling recording for Behind the Seams: My Life in Rhinestones
Note: The country legend has been nominated in more years than any other vocalist, any other woman and any other country artist. Parton, 78, received a lifetime achievement award in 2011.
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John Williams, 42 years
First nod: 1962,best sound track album or recording of score from motion picture or television for Checkmate
Most recent nods: 2024, best score soundtrack for visual media (includes film and television) for both Indiana Jones and The Dial of Destiny and The Fabelmans; best instrumental composition for “Helena’s Theme”
Note: The composer/conductor/pianist, 92, received a trustees award from the Recording Academy in 2018. Williams’ tally of 54 Oscar nominations is topped only one individual, living or dead – the late Walt Disney.