Who has won the most Grammys of all time?
For most musicians, the pinnacle of award season is the Grammys. While many will pretend not to care about winning one, in truth, everybody wants to have a Grammy resting on their shelf at home. Some are even fortunate enough to own several, and the person with the most awards on their shelf has incredibly won 31.
In all likelihood, in a matter of weeks, Beyoncé will cement her place at the top of the pile thanks to her latest album, Renaissance. Currently, the former Destiny’s Child singer is trailing behind by three wins, but in 2023, she looks destined to shoot to the top spot as she’s nominated in nine different categories. Somehow, if Beyoncé doesn’t win three or more Grammys this year, her time will almost definitely come in the future.
At the 2021 ceremony, Beyoncé overtook Alison Krauss as the female artist with the most Grammy awards won. In her celebratory speech, she said: “As an artist, I believe it’s my job and all of our jobs to reflect the times. It has been such a difficult time, so I wanted to uplift, encourage, and celebrate all of the beautiful Black queens and kings that continue to inspire me and inspire the whole world. This is so overwhelming. I’ve been working for my whole life, since nine-years-old, and I can’t believe this happened.”
Currently, Beyoncé is tied with Quincy Jones in the second position. Both artists are household names, yet, the person they are trailing is a less familiar figure. Composer Georg Solti was born György Stern in Hungary at the end of the first world war, and from humble beginnings, he became the most celebrated person in Grammy history.
Due to his Germanic family name, his father wanted him to have a Hungarian name, and Georg decided upon the name of Solti after a town which helped him camouflage into society. His first step into the music industry came when he enrolled at the Academy of Music in Budapest, and Solti’s reputation soon became international.
Speaking to Bruce Duffie, Georg offered up a piece of advice to other artists, which provides an insight into his psyche. He said: “The only advice one can give is to work as hard as possible; it is the only way to achieve something that you want. Don’t rest on your laurels, and don’t wake in the morning and say, ‘I was wonderful yesterday.’ See your shortcomings, strive to improve, and if you are talented it will arrive. You always arrive. I don’t believe we have any neglected talent in the 20th century. That’s the only advice I suggest. Don’t despair, it is sometimes very difficult to go on and work, but you will learn.”
It wasn’t only the Grammys who celebrated Solti’s greatness. In 1967, the composer was given an honorary CBE by the Royal Family in Britain, and an honorary knighthood in 1971, which became a substantive knighthood the following year when Solti officially took up British citizenship. Throughout his career, Solti was responsible for crafting more than 250 recordings for Decca, including 45 opera sets. Listen to one of his pieces below.
