The 16 albums that have won the most Grammys
The Grammys are the Oscars of the music world. They are filled with the grandeur and pomp of esteem. However, this doesn’t always indicate quality or any real meaning for that matter. As the late Hungarian composer Béla Bartók once proclaimed: “Competitions are for horses, not artists.” Nevertheless, with its peer-reviewed edge, there’s certainly some clout to the golden gramophones.
The Grammy Awards began back in 1959 with the goal of recognising “Outstanding Achievement in the music industry”. The ceremony was set up when industry executives realised that many esteemed people involved in music might miss out on a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Thus, they set up a ceremony to rival the Oscars and Emmys in the hope of rectifying music’s place on the Walk of Fame committee.
While the ceremony usually has a broad spectrum of genres and artists up for awards in categories as niche as Best Improvised Jazz Solo and Best Regional Mexican Music Album Including Tejano (NB neither of those are parodies they are both genuine categories), there have still been some huge, I mean absolutely mammoth names that have slipped through the cracks somehow.
From ABBA and Bob Marley to Queen and Jimi Hendrix, there is a slew of huge names who never got the nod. However, there are others that have been lauded with a slew of separate gongs for the same album. For instance, Santana and U2 sit at the top of the pile with nine Grammys each for the albums Supernatural and How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb respectively. This is indicative of the strange world of Grammy critique.
It’s not that either of these albums weren’t successful or that the critics panned them – they proved commercial and critical triumphs in their own right – but it has to be said that I don’t think anyone would’ve predicted them as being the most decorated albums of all time without prior knowledge or even deem them worthy to be sitting at the top spot.
While the rest of the list does have some of the biggest albums of all time in the ranks, equally there are some very noticeable absentees. When it comes to the crossover of commercialism and the Grammy stamp of approval, Michael Jackson’s Thriller is the only album to feature in both the top ten best-selling records of all time and the list below. On the flip side, certain albums that changed everything like The Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds never actually won a simple Grammy.
The result is a strange old list with classics and nearly forgotten misfits sitting side by side in a truly eclectic mix. One thing is for certain, however, when it comes to Grammy’s night, U2 are usually laughing. Check out the full list below.
The 16 albums that have won the most Grammys:
- 9: How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb – U2
- 9: Supernatural – Santana
- 8: Genius Loves Company – Ray Charles
- 7: Thriller – Michael Jackson
- 7: Back on the Block – Quincy Jones
- 7: All That You Can’t Leave Behind – U2
- 7: Come Away With Me – Nora Jones
- 7: 24k Magic – Bruno Mars
- 6: The Return of Roger Miller – Roger Miller
- 6: 21 – Adele
- 6: The Blueprint 3 – Jay-Z
- 6: Bridge Over Troubled Water – Simon & Garfunkel
- 6: Raising Sand – Robert Plant & Alison Krauss
- 6: Toto IV – Toto
- 6: Unforgettable… with Love – Natalie Cole
- 6: To Pimp a Butterfly – Kendrick Lamar
