Kendrick Lamar and Beyonce
Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for The Recording Academy; Kevin Winter/Getty Images for The Recording Academy
Black artists won both album and record of the year at the 67th annual Grammy Awards, which were held on Sunday (Feb. 2) at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter won album of the year. Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” won record of the year.
This was the ninth time in Grammy history that Black lead or co-lead artists won in both of the most closely-watched categories.
This was Bey’s fifth album of the year nomination as a lead artist and her first win. She was previously nominated for I Am…Sasha Fierce, Beyoncé, Lemonade and Renaissance. While Beyonce is the most nominated and awarded artist in Grammy history, this was just her second win in what is popularly called a Big Four category – album, record and song of the year, plus best new artist. Her first was for song of the year 15 years ago for co-writing “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It).”
Beyoncé is just the fourth Black woman to win album of the year as a lead artist, following Natalie Cole, Whitney Houston and Lauryn Hill. (Two of these women won for stylistic departures – Cole’s nod to the traditional pop songs made famous by her father, Nat “King” Cole and Bey’s album which sought to bring attention to Black artists’ overlooked role in country music history.)
The record of the year win for “Not Like Us” represented Lamar’s first win in a Big Four category. Moreover, “Not Like Us” is just the second hip-hop smash to win in the category, following Childish Gambino’s “This Is America” six years ago.
Here are all the times Black lead or co-lead artists won both album and record of the year at the Grammys in the same year.
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1974: Stevie Wonder & Roberta Flack
Telecast date: March 2, 1974
Wonder became the first Black artist to win album of the year as a lead artist with Innervisions, which is widely regarded as his finest album. Flack took record of the year for the second year in a row with the sublime “Killing Me Softly With His Song.” She had won the previous year for “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face.” She was the first artist to win back-to-back awards in this category, an achievement since equaled by U2 and Billie Eilish.
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1977: Stevie Wonder & George Benson
Telecast date: Feb. 19, 1977
Wonder took album of the year with his double-album opus Songs in the Key of Life. It was his third consecutive studio album to win the award, which remains an unequalled feat. Benson took record of the year for his jazzy take on Leon Russell’s “This Masquerade.”
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1984: Michael Jackson (both awards)
Telecast date: Feb. 28, 1984
Jackson became the first Black artist to win both of the top awards in the same year with his album Thriller and its rock-leaning smash “Beat It.” Here’s a 40th anniversary recap of the show, which Jackson thoroughly dominated – even though he elected not to perform.
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1985: Lionel Richie & Tina Turner
Telecast date: Feb. 26, 1985
Richie won album of the year for his second solo album, Can’t Slow Down. Turner, who opened concerts for Richie that year, won record of the year for her instant classic “What’s Love Got to Do With It.”
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1992: Natalie Cole (both awards)
Telecast date: Feb. 25, 1992
Cole won album of the year for Unforgettable With Love, a tribute to her father, the late Nat “King” Cole. She also won record of the year for her silky version of her dad’s 1951 hit “Unforgettable.” (Nat was featured on Natalie’s swanky recording, but didn’t win a posthumous Grammy. Just millions of new fans.)
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1994: Whitney Houston (both awards)
Telecast date: March 1, 1994
Houston won album of the year for the soundtrack to The Bodyguard and record of the year for her chart-dominating reinvention of Dolly Parton’s gentle ballad “I Will Always Love You.”
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2005: Ray Charles (both awards)
Telecast date: Feb. 13, 2005
Charles won posthumous awards for album of the year for Genius Loves Company and record of the year for a Norah Jones-assisted remake of his 1967 hit “Here We Go Again.” Charles died in June 2004 at age 73. Charles had previously been nominated for album of the year for Genius + Soul = Jazz and Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music and for record of the year for “Georgia on My Mind” and “I Can’t Stop Loving You.” None of those classics won in these top categories.
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2022: Jon Batiste & Silk Sonic’s Anderson .Paak
Telecast date: April 3, 2022
Batiste was a surprise winner for album of the year for his sixth studio album We Are. Silk Sonic, with Anderson .Paak alongside Bruno Mars, won record of the year for the duo’s plush, retro-R&B smash “Leave the Door Open.”
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2025: Beyoncé & Kendrick Lamar
Telecast date: Feb. 2, 2025
Beyoncé won album of the year for her eighth studio album, Cowboy Carter. Lamar won record of the year for his Drake diss track “Not Like Us.” Drake has yet to win record of the year, and has been nominated for the award just once as a lead artist, for “God’s Plan.” (He was previously nominated as a featured artist on Rihanna’s “Work.”)
Fun fact: Bey and Lamar shared a Grammy nomination eight years ago — best rap/sung performance for “Freedom,” a highlight of Bey’s Lemonade album.