The GRAMMY Awards have celebrated singers, songwriters, producers and composers for more than six decades, but a select group of women stand apart for the sheer scale and longevity of their success.
This Cinema Awards Archive feature brings together the most decorated female GRAMMY winners across genres – from opera, jazz and gospel to country, rock, pop, R&B, hip‑hop and beyond. Each artist card below pairs a concise career overview with a year‑by‑year snapshot of their most significant GRAMMY victories.
Whether you are an awards historian, a trivia fan or simply curious about how these records were built, this page is designed as a reference guide you can bookmark, revisit and use alongside the video breakdown on my YouTube channel.
Career overview
Beyoncé Giselle Knowles‑Carter (born September 4th 1981) is an American singer‑songwriter, actress and businesswoman.
The record for the most GRAMMY Awards won in a lifetime is currently held by Beyoncé, who has won 35 awards as a singer, songwriter and record producer.
She is one of the best‑selling music artists of all time with estimated sales of over 200 million records and is the only female artist to debut all eight of her studio albums at number one on the Billboard 200.
Beyoncé is the most awarded and nominated artist in the history of the GRAMMY Awards, as well as the most awarded artist at the BET, NAACP Image and Soul Train Music Awards. Her honours also include induction into the Guinness World Records Hall of Fame and the Black Music & Entertainment Walk of Fame.
The first woman to headline an all‑stadium tour, she is one of the highest‑grossing live acts in history. Billboard named her the Top Female Artist of the 2000s and the Greatest Pop Star of the 21st Century, while Rolling Stone listed her among the greatest singers of all time.
Selected GRAMMY wins (year‑by‑year)
- 2001 – Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals; Best R&B Song – “Say My Name”
- 2002 – Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals – “Survivor”
- 2004 – Best Contemporary R&B Album – Dangerously in Love
- 2004 – Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals – “The Closer I Get to You” (with Luther Vandross)
- 2004 – Best R&B Song; Best Rap/Sung Collaboration – “Crazy in Love” (featuring Jay‑Z)
- 2004 – Best Female R&B Vocal Performance – “Dangerously in Love 2”
- 2006 – Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals – “So Amazing” (with Stevie Wonder)
- 2007 – Best Contemporary R&B Album – B’Day
- 2010 – Best Contemporary R&B Album – I Am… Sasha Fierce
- 2010 – Best Female Pop Vocal Performance – “Halo”
- 2010 – Song of the Year; Best R&B Song; Best Female R&B Vocal Performance – “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)”
- 2010 – Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance – “At Last”
- 2013 – Best Traditional R&B Performance – “Love On Top”
- 2015 – Best Surround Sound Album – Beyoncé
- 2015 – Best R&B Performance; Best R&B Song – “Drunk in Love” (featuring Jay‑Z)
- 2017 – Best Urban Contemporary Album – Lemonade
- 2017 – Best Music Video – “Formation”
- 2019 – Best Urban Contemporary Album – Everything Is Love
- 2020 – Best Music Film – Homecoming: A Film by Beyoncé
- 2021 – Best R&B Performance – “Black Parade”
- 2021 – Best Rap Performance; Best Rap Song – “Savage (Remix)” (Megan Thee Stallion featuring Beyoncé)
- 2021 – Best Music Video – “Brown Skin Girl” (with Blue Ivy Carter, SAINt JHN and Wizkid)
- 2023 – Best Dance/Electronic Album – Renaissance
- 2023 – Best Dance/Electronic Recording – “Break My Soul”
- 2023 – Best Traditional R&B Performance – “Plastic Off the Sofa”
- 2023 – Best R&B Song – “Cuff It”
- 2025 – Album of the Year; Best Country Album – Cowboy Carter
- 2025 – Best Country Duo/Group Performance – “II Most Wanted” (with Miley Cyrus)
Career overview
Alison Maria Krauss (born July 23rd 1971) is an American bluegrass‑country singer, fiddler and music producer.
She entered the music industry at an early age, competing in local contests by eight and recording for the first time at 14.
As of 2019, Krauss has won 27 GRAMMY Awards from 42 nominations, ranking her fourth behind Beyoncé, Quincy Jones and Sir Georg Solti for most GRAMMY wins overall.
She was the singer and female artist with the most awards in GRAMMY history until Beyoncé secured her 28th win in 2021. When Krauss won her first GRAMMY in 1991, she was the second‑youngest winner at the time.
Selected GRAMMY wins (year‑by‑year)
- 1991 – Best Bluegrass Recording – I’ve Got That Old Feeling
- 1993 – Best Bluegrass Album – Every Time You Say Goodbye
- 1995 – Best Southern Gospel, Country Gospel or Bluegrass Gospel Album – I Know Who Holds Tomorrow
- 1996 – Best Female Country Vocal Performance – “Baby, Now That I’ve Found You”
- 1996 – Best Country Collaboration with Vocals – “Somewhere in the Vicinity of the Heart”
- 1997 – Best Country Collaboration with Vocals – “High Lonesome Sound”
- 1998 – Best Country Instrumental Performance – “Little Liza Jane”
- 1998 – Best Bluegrass Album – So Long So Wrong
- 1999 – Best Country Collaboration with Vocals – “Same Old Train”
- 2002 – Album of the Year – O Brother, Where Art Thou?
- 2002 – Best Bluegrass Album – New Favorite
- 2002 – Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal – “The Lucky One”
- 2003 – Best Contemporary Folk Album – This Side
- 2004 – Best Country Collaboration with Vocals – “How’s the World Treating You” (with James Taylor)
- 2004 – Best Country Instrumental Performance – “Cluck Old Hen”
- 2004 – Best Bluegrass Album – Live
- 2006 – Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal – “Restless”
- 2006 – Best Country Instrumental Performance – “Unionhouse Branch”
- 2006 – Best Country Album – Lonely Runs Both Ways
- 2008 – Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals – “Gone Gone Gone (Done Moved On)” (with Robert Plant)
- 2009 – Album of the Year; Best Contemporary Folk/Americana Album – Raising Sand (with Robert Plant and T‑Bone Burnett)
- 2009 – Record of the Year – “Please Read the Letter” (with Robert Plant)
- 2009 – Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals – “Rich Woman” (with Robert Plant)
- 2009 – Best Country Collaboration with Vocals – “Killing the Blues” (with Robert Plant)
- 2012 – Best Bluegrass Album – Paper Airplane
Career overview
Aretha Louise Franklin (March 25th 1942 – August 16th 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist.
Honoured as the “Queen of Soul”, she was twice named by Rolling Stone as the greatest singer of all time.
Franklin received numerous honours throughout her career, winning 18 GRAMMY Awards from 44 nominations, including the first eight awards ever given for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance (1968–1975).
In GRAMMY special awards, she received the GRAMMY Living Legend Award in 1991, the Lifetime Achievement Award in 1994 and was named MusiCares Person of the Year in 2008. In 1987 she became the first female artist to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Her other inductions include the UK Music Hall of Fame (2005), the Gospel Music Hall of Fame (2012) and, posthumously, the National Women’s Hall of Fame (2020). In 2019 the Pulitzer Prize jury awarded her a posthumous special citation “for her indelible contribution to American music and culture for more than five decades”.
Selected GRAMMY wins (year‑by‑year)
- 1968 – Best Rhythm & Blues Solo Vocal Performance, Female; Best Rhythm & Blues Recording – “Respect”
- 1969 – Best Rhythm & Blues Vocal Performance, Female – “Chain of Fools”
- 1970 – Best R&B Vocal Performance, Female – “Share Your Love with Me”
- 1971 – Best R&B Vocal Performance, Female – “Don’t Play That Song”
- 1972 – Best R&B Vocal Performance, Female – “Bridge over Troubled Water”
- 1972 – Best R&B Vocal Performance, Female – Young, Gifted and Black
- 1973 – Best Soul Gospel Performance – Amazing Grace
- 1974 – Best R&B Vocal Performance, Female – “Master of Eyes”
- 1975 – Best R&B Vocal Performance, Female – “Ain’t Nothing Like the Real Thing”
- 1982 – Best R&B Vocal Performance, Female – “Hold On I’m Comin’”
- 1984 – Best R&B Vocal Performance, Female – “Freeway of Love”
- 1987 – Best R&B Vocal Performance, Female – Aretha
- 1988 – Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal – “I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)” (with George Michael)
- 1989 – Best Soul Gospel Performance, Female – One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism
- 2004 – Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance – “Wonderful”
- 2006 – Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance – “A House Is Not a Home”
- 2008 – Best Gospel Performance – “Never Gonna Break My Faith” (with Mary J. Blige; tied with The Clark Sisters’ “Blessed & Highly Favored”)
Career overview
Alicia Augello Cook (born January 25th 1981), known professionally as Alicia Keys, is an American singer and songwriter.
A classically trained pianist, Keys began composing songs at 12 and was signed by Columbia Records at 15.
She has sold over 90 million records worldwide, making her one of the world’s best‑selling music artists.
Billboard named her the Top Artist of the 2000s in the R&B/Hip‑Hop category and placed her tenth on its list of the Top 50 R&B/Hip‑Hop Artists of the Past 25 Years.
Across her career she has received numerous honours, including 17 GRAMMY Awards, 17 NAACP Image Awards, 12 ASCAP Awards and recognition from the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the National Music Publishers Association.
Selected GRAMMY wins (year‑by‑year)
- 2002 – Best New Artist – Alicia Keys
- 2002 – Song of the Year; Best Female R&B Vocal Performance; Best R&B Song – “Fallin’”
- 2002 – Best R&B Album – Songs in A Minor
- 2005 – Best R&B Album – The Diary of Alicia Keys
- 2005 – Best Female R&B Vocal Performance – “If I Ain’t Got You”
- 2005 – Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals – “My Boo” (with Usher)
- 2005 – Best R&B Song – “You Don’t Know My Name”
- 2008 – Best R&B Song; Best Female R&B Vocal Performance – “No One”
- 2009 – Best Female R&B Vocal Performance – “Superwoman”
- 2011 – Best Rap/Sung Collaboration; Best Rap Song – “Empire State of Mind” (with Jay‑Z)
- 2014 – Best R&B Album – Girl on Fire
- 2024 – Best Immersive Audio Album – The Diary of Alicia Keys
- 2025 – Best Musical Theater Album – Hell’s Kitchen
- 2025 – Global Impact Award – honoured
Career overview
Priscilla Marie Winans Love, known professionally as CeCe Winans (born October 8th 1964), is an American gospel singer and one of the most awarded vocalists in the genre.
She has earned 17 GRAMMY Awards – the most for any female gospel singer – along with 31 GMA Dove Awards, 19 Stellar Awards, 7 NAACP Image Awards, 4 Billboard Music Awards and many other honours, including being among the inaugural inductees into the Black Music & Entertainment Walk of Fame in Atlanta.
Winans is the best‑selling and most awarded female gospel singer of all time, with stars on both the Hollywood Walk of Fame and the Music City Walk of Fame. Her 19 million RIAA‑certified record sales place her among the best‑selling gospel artists in history.
She first rose to prominence in the 1980s as half of the double‑platinum gospel duo BeBe & CeCe Winans alongside her brother BeBe, before launching a highly acclaimed solo career.
Selected GRAMMY wins (year‑by‑year)
- 1988 – Best Soul Gospel Performance, Female – “For Always”
- 1990 – Best Gospel Vocal Performance, Female – “Don’t Cry”
- 1992 – Best Contemporary Soul Gospel Album – Different Lifestyles
- 1996 – Best Contemporary Soul Gospel Album – Alone in His Presence
- 2002 – Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album – CeCe Winans
- 2006 – Best Contemporary Soul Gospel Album – Purified
- 2006 – Best Gospel Performance – “Pray”
- 2009 – Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album – Thy Kingdom Come
- 2011 – Best Contemporary Soul Gospel Album – Still (BeBe & CeCe Winans)
- 2011 – Best Gospel Performance – “Grace” (BeBe & CeCe Winans)
- 2018 – Best Gospel Performance/Song – “Never Have to Be Alone”
- 2018 – Best Gospel Album – Let Them Fall in Love
- 2022 – Best Gospel Performance/Song – “Never Lost”
- 2022 – Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song; Best Gospel Album – Believe for It
Career overview
Adele Laurie Blue Adkins (born May 5th 1988), known mononymously as Adele, is an English singer‑songwriter.
Regarded as a British icon, she is known for her mezzo‑soprano vocals and emotionally charged songwriting.
Her accolades include 16 GRAMMY Awards, 12 BRIT Awards (including three for British Album of the Year), an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award.
Adele is one of the world’s best‑selling music artists, with more than 120 million records sold worldwide. The best‑selling female artist of the 21st century in the UK, she was also named the best‑selling artist of the 2010s in the United States.
Her studio albums 21 and 25 were the two best‑selling albums of the 2010s in the UK and both rank among the best‑selling albums in UK chart history; in the United States, both are certified Diamond, the most for any artist who debuted in the 21st century.
According to Guinness World Records, Adele currently holds 18 world records spanning chart performance, sales and streaming milestones.
Selected GRAMMY wins (year‑by‑year)
- 2009 – Best New Artist
- 2009 – Best Female Pop Vocal Performance – “Chasing Pavements”
- 2012 – Album of the Year; Best Pop Vocal Album – 21
- 2012 – Record of the Year; Song of the Year; Best Short Form Music Video – “Rolling in the Deep”
- 2012 – Best Pop Solo Performance – “Someone Like You”
- 2013 – Best Pop Solo Performance – “Set Fire to the Rain” (live, from Live at the Royal Albert Hall)
- 2014 – Best Song Written for Visual Media – “Skyfall” (from Skyfall)
- 2017 – Album of the Year; Best Pop Vocal Album – 25
- 2017 – Record of the Year; Song of the Year; Best Pop Solo Performance – “Hello”
- 2023 – Best Pop Solo Performance – “Easy on Me”
Career overview
Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13th 1989) is an American singer‑songwriter.
Known for her autobiographical songwriting, frequent artistic reinventions and vast cultural impact, Swift is a leading figure in popular music and the subject of intense media coverage with a global fanbase known as “Swifties”.
With 200 million records sold, she is one of the world’s best‑selling music artists and the only act to have seven albums each sell one million copies in their first week in the United States.
Swift is the highest‑grossing touring artist, the richest female musician and the first billionaire whose primary source of income is music. She has been listed among history’s greatest artists by outlets such as Rolling Stone and Billboard, and is the only person from the arts to have been named Time Person of the Year (2023).
Her accolades include 14 GRAMMY Awards, with a record four wins for Album of the Year, a Primetime Emmy Award and a record five IFPI Global Recording Artist of the Year titles. Swift is also the most‑awarded artist in the history of the American Music Awards, the Billboard Music Awards and the MTV Video Music Awards.
Selected GRAMMY wins (year‑by‑year)
- 2010 – Album of the Year; Best Country Album – Fearless
- 2010 – Best Female Country Vocal Performance; Best Country Song – “White Horse”
- 2012 – Best Country Solo Performance; Best Country Song – “Mean”
- 2013 – Best Song Written for Visual Media – “Safe & Sound” (featuring The Civil Wars)
- 2016 – Album of the Year; Best Pop Vocal Album – 1989
- 2016 – Best Music Video – “Bad Blood” (featuring Kendrick Lamar)
- 2021 – Album of the Year – Folklore
- 2023 – Best Music Video – All Too Well: The Short Film
- 2024 – Album of the Year; Best Pop Vocal Album – Midnights
Career overview
Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta (born March 28th 1986), known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter and actress.
Celebrated for her image reinventions and versatility across music, film and fashion, she is an influential figure in contemporary popular culture.
With an estimated 170 million records sold, Gaga is one of the world’s best‑selling music artists and the only female performer to have four singles each sell at least 10 million copies globally.
Five of her studio albums have debuted atop the US Billboard 200. According to Forbes, she was the world’s highest‑paid female musician and the most powerful celebrity in 2011, while Time named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world in both 2010 and 2019.
Her accolades include 14 GRAMMY Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, 18 MTV Video Music Awards and recognition from the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Selected GRAMMY wins (year‑by‑year)
- 2010 – Best Electronic/Dance Album – The Fame
- 2010 – Best Dance Recording – “Poker Face”
- 2011 – Best Pop Vocal Album – The Fame Monster
- 2011 – Best Female Pop Vocal Performance; Best Short Form Music Video – “Bad Romance”
- 2015 – Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album – Cheek to Cheek (with Tony Bennett)
- 2019 – Best Pop Duo/Group Performance; Best Song Written for Visual Media – “Shallow” (with Bradley Cooper)
- 2019 – Best Pop Solo Performance – “Joanne (Where Do You Think You’re Goin’?)”
- 2020 – Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media – A Star Is Born (with Bradley Cooper)
- 2020 – Best Song Written for Visual Media – “I’ll Never Love Again” (Film Version)
- 2021 – Best Pop Duo/Group Performance – “Rain on Me” (with Ariana Grande)
- 2022 – Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album – Love for Sale (with Tony Bennett)
- 2025 – Best Pop Duo/Group Performance – “Die with a Smile” (with Bruno Mars)
Career overview
Mary Violet Leontyne Price (born February 10th 1927) is an American spinto soprano who became the first African‑American soprano to receive international acclaim.
From 1961 she began a long association with the Metropolitan Opera and regularly appeared at the world’s leading houses, including the Royal Opera House, San Francisco Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago and La Scala, where she was also the first African American to sing a leading role.
Among her many honours are the Presidential Medal of Freedom (1964), the Spingarn Medal (1965), the Kennedy Center Honors (1980), the National Medal of Arts (1985), the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement (1986), numerous honorary degrees and 13 GRAMMY Awards for operatic and song recitals and full operas, plus a Lifetime Achievement Award in 1989 — more than any other classical singer.
Selected GRAMMY wins (year‑by‑year)
- 1961 – Best Classical Performance – Vocal Soloist – A Program of Song – Leontyne Price Recital
- 1964 – Best Classical Performance – Vocal Soloist (With or Without Orchestra) – Great Scenes from Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess
- 1965 – Best Vocal Soloist Performance (With or Without Orchestra) – Berlioz: Nuits d’Été (Song Cycle) / Falla: El Amor Brujo
- 1966 – Best Classical Vocal Soloist Performance – Strauss: Salome (Dance of the Seven Veils, Interlude, Final Scene) / The Egyptian Helen (Awakening Scene)
- 1967 – Best Classical Vocal Soloist Performance (With or Without Orchestra) – Prima Donna (Works of Barber, Purcell, etc.)
- 1968 – Best Classical Vocal Soloist Performance – Prima Donna, Volume 2 (RCA Italiana Opera Orchestra)
- 1970 – Best Vocal Soloist Performance, Classical – Barber: Two Scenes from Antony and Cleopatra / Knoxville: Summer of 1915
- 1972 – Best Classical Vocal Soloist Performance – Leontyne Price Sings Robert Schumann
- 1974 – Best Classical Vocal Soloist Performance – Puccini: Heroines
- 1975 – Best Classical Vocal Soloist Performance – Leontyne Price Sings Richard Strauss
- 1981 – Best Classical Vocal Soloist Performance – Prima Donna, Vol. 5 – Great Soprano Arias from Handel to Britten
- 1983 – Best Classical Vocal Soloist Performance – Verdi: Arias (Leontyne Price Sings Verdi)
- 1984 – Best Classical Vocal Soloist Performance – Leontyne Price & Marilyn Horne in Concert at the Met
Career overview
Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April 25th 1917 – June 15th 1996) was an American singer, songwriter and composer, often called the “First Lady of Song”, “Queen of Jazz” and “Lady Ella”.
She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing, timing and intonation, along with absolute pitch and a “horn‑like” improvisational ability, especially in scat singing.
Her accolades included 14 GRAMMY Awards, including a Lifetime Achievement Award in 1978, as well as the National Medal of Arts, the NAACP’s inaugural President’s Award and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Selected GRAMMY wins (year‑by‑year)
- 1957 – Best Jazz Performance, Soloist – Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Duke Ellington Songbook
- 1958 – Best Female Pop Vocal Performance – Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Irving Berlin Songbook
- 1959 – Best Female Pop Vocal Performance – “But Not for Me” (from Ella Fitzgerald Sings the George and Ira Gershwin Songbook)
- 1959 – Best Jazz Performance, Soloist – Ella Swings Lightly
- 1959 – Best Female Pop Vocal Performance – “Mack the Knife” (from Ella in Berlin: Mack the Knife)
- 1960 – Best Female Pop Vocal Performance – Ella in Berlin: Mack the Knife
- 1962 – Best Female Pop Vocal Performance – Ella Swings Brightly with Nelson
- 1976 – Best Jazz Vocal – Fitzgerald and Pass... Again
- 1979 – Best Jazz Vocal – Fine and Mellow
- 1980 – Best Jazz Vocal Performance, Female – A Perfect Match
- 1981 – Best Jazz Vocal Performance, Female – Digital III at Montreux
- 1983 – Best Jazz Vocal Performance, Female – The Best Is Yet to Come
- 1990 – Best Jazz Vocal Performance, Female – All That Jazz
- 1995 – Best Historical Album – The Complete Ella Fitzgerald Songbooks
Career overview
Emmylou Harris (born April 2nd 1947) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, bandleader and activist.
She is considered one of the key artists behind the country rock movement of the 1970s and the Americana genre of the 1990s, and is estimated to have sold over 15 million records worldwide.
Harris has earned 13 GRAMMY Awards, placed 27 singles in the top ten of the US country chart and seen several of her albums certified gold in the United States.
She was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2008, ranked among Rolling Stone’s 200 Greatest Singers of All Time in 2022 and received the GRAMMY Lifetime Achievement Award in 2018.
Selected GRAMMY wins (year‑by‑year)
- 1977 – Best Female Country Vocal Performance – Elite Hotel
- 1980 – Best Female Country Vocal Performance – Blue Kentucky Girl
- 1981 – Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal – “That Lovin’ You Feelin’ Again” (with Roy Orbison)
- 1985 – Best Female Country Vocal Performance – “In My Dreams”
- 1988 – Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal – Trio (with Dolly Parton and Linda Ronstadt)
- 1993 – Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal – At the Ryman (with The Nash Ramblers)
- 1996 – Best Contemporary Folk Album – Wrecking Ball
- 1999 – Best Country Collaboration with Vocals – “Same Old Train” (with various artists)
- 2000 – Best Country Collaboration with Vocals – “After the Gold Rush” (with Dolly Parton and Linda Ronstadt)
- 2001 – Best Contemporary Folk Album – Red Dirt Girl
- 2002 – Album of the Year – O Brother, Where Art Thou? (with various artists)
- 2006 – Best Female Country Vocal Performance – “The Connection”
- 2014 – Best Americana Album – Old Yellow Moon (with Rodney Crowell)
Career overview
Bonnie Lynn Raitt (born November 8th 1949) is an American singer, guitarist and songwriter.
After releasing her self‑titled debut album in 1971, she built a catalogue of critically acclaimed, roots‑influenced records that blended blues, rock, folk and country.
As of 2023, Raitt has received 13 competitive GRAMMY Awards from 30 nominations, along with a GRAMMY Lifetime Achievement Award in 2022.
She ranked 50th on Rolling Stone’s list of the “100 Greatest Singers of All Time” and 89th on its “100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time”. Australian country artist Graeme Connors remarked that “Bonnie Raitt does something with a lyric no one else can do; she bends it and twists it right into your heart.”
Raitt was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000 and has received the Icon Award from the Billboard Women in Music Awards and the MusiCares Person of the Year Award. In 2024 she was honoured by the Kennedy Center.
Selected GRAMMY wins (year‑by‑year)
- 1990 – Album of the Year; Best Female Rock Vocal Performance; Best Female Pop Vocal Performance – Nick of Time
- 1990 – Best Traditional Blues Recording – “I’m in the Mood” (with John Lee Hooker)
- 1992 – Best Rock Vocal Solo Performance – Luck of the Draw
- 1992 – Best Female Pop Vocal Performance – “Something to Talk About”
- 1992 – Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal – “Good Man, Good Woman”
- 1995 – Best Pop Vocal Album – Longing in Their Hearts
- 1997 – Best Rock Instrumental Performance – “SRV Shuffle”
- 2013 – Best Americana Album – Slipstream
- 2023 – Song of the Year; Best American Roots Song – “Just Like That”
- 2023 – Best Americana Performance – “Made Up Mind”
Career overview
Shirley Ann Caesar‑Williams (born October 13th 1938), known professionally as Shirley Caesar, is an American gospel singer.
Her career began in 1951 when, at the age of 12, she signed to Federal Records. Across seven decades she has been celebrated as both the “First Lady of Gospel Music” and “The Queen of Gospel Music”.
Caesar has won 11 GRAMMY Awards, 15 Dove Awards and 14 Stellar Awards, and has released more than 40 albums, in addition to over 16 compilations and three gospel musicals.
She was inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 2000 and the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame in 2010, and in 2015 performed at the White House for President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama alongside Aretha Franklin. In 2017 she received the GRAMMY Lifetime Achievement Award.
Selected GRAMMY wins (year‑by‑year)
- 1972 – Best Soul Gospel Performance – “Put Your Hand in the Hand of the Man from Galilee”
- 1981 – Best Soul Gospel Performance, Contemporary – “Rejoice”
- 1985 – Best Soul Gospel Performance, Female – “Sailin’”
- 1985 – Best Soul Gospel Performance by a Duo or Group – “Sailin’ on the Sea of Your Love”
- 1986 – Best Soul Gospel Performance, Female – “Martin”
- 1993 – Best Traditional Soul Gospel Album – He’s Working It Out for You
- 1994 – Best Traditional Soul Gospel Album – Stand Still
- 1996 – Best Traditional Soul Gospel Album – Shirley Caesar Live – He Will Come
- 1997 – Best Gospel Album by a Choir or Chorus – Just a Word (Shirley Caesar’s Outreach Convention Choir)
- 2000 – Best Traditional Soul Gospel Album – Christmas with Shirley Caesar
- 2001 – Best Traditional Soul Gospel Album – You Can Make It
Career overview
Linda Maria Ronstadt (born July 15th 1946) is an American singer whose work spans rock, country, light opera, the Great American Songbook and Latin music.
Ronstadt has earned 11 GRAMMY Awards, three American Music Awards, two Academy of Country Music Awards, an Emmy Award and an ALMA Award, with many of her albums certified gold, platinum or multi‑platinum in the United States and abroad.
She received the Latin GRAMMY Lifetime Achievement Award from the Latin Recording Academy in 2011 and the GRAMMY Lifetime Achievement Award from the Recording Academy in 2016. She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014 and later that year was awarded the National Medal of Arts and Humanities.
Selected GRAMMY wins (year‑by‑year)
- 1976 – Best Country Vocal Performance, Female – “I Can’t Help It (If I’m Still in Love with You)”
- 1977 – Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female – Hasten Down the Wind
- 1988 – Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal – Trio (with Dolly Parton and Emmylou Harris)
- 1989 – Best Mexican‑American Performance – Canciones de Mi Padre
- 1990 – Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal – “Don’t Know Much” (with Aaron Neville)
- 1991 – Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal – “All My Life” (with Aaron Neville)
- 1993 – Best Tropical Latin Album – Frenesí
- 1993 – Best Mexican‑American Album – Más Canciones
- 1997 – Best Musical Album for Children – Dedicated to the One I Love (with George Massenburg)
- 2000 – Best Country Collaboration with Vocals – “After the Gold Rush” (with Emmylou Harris and Dolly Parton)
- 2021 – Best Music Film – Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice
Career overview
Brandi Marie Carlile (born June 1st 1981) is an American singer‑songwriter and producer whose music spans folk rock, alternative country, Americana and classic rock.
Across her career she has received 11 GRAMMY Awards and two Emmy Awards and has been nominated for an Academy Award. She has also earned three GRAMMYs for her songwriting and production work on Tanya Tucker’s album While I’m Livin’ (2019).
Carlile was the most‑nominated woman at the 61st Annual GRAMMY Awards, picking up six nominations including Album of the Year for By the Way, I Forgive You and Record and Song of the Year for “The Joke”.
As a member of The Highwomen, she released their self‑titled debut album in 2019 to critical and commercial success, winning the GRAMMY Award for Best Country Song in 2021 for “Crowded Table”.
Selected GRAMMY wins (year‑by‑year)
- 2019 – Best American Roots Song – “The Joke” (artist: Brandi Carlile)
- 2019 – Best American Roots Performance – “The Joke”
- 2019 – Best Americana Album – By the Way, I Forgive You
- 2020 – Best Country Song – “Bring My Flowers Now” (artist: Tanya Tucker)
- 2020 – Best Country Album (as producer) – While I’m Livin’
- 2021 – Best Country Song – “Crowded Table” (artist: The Highwomen)
- 2023 – Best Americana Album – In These Silent Days
- 2023 – Best Rock Performance – “Broken Horses”
- 2023 – Best Rock Song – “Broken Horses”
- 2024 – Best Americana Performance – “Dear Insecurity”
- 2024 – Best Folk Album (as producer) – Joni Mitchell at Newport
Career overview
Norah Jones (born March 30th 1979) is an American singer‑songwriter and musician.
She has won numerous awards for her music and, as of 2023, had sold more than 53 million records worldwide.
Billboard named her the top jazz artist of the 2000s decade, and she ranked 60th on the magazine’s Artists of the 2000s chart.
Jones is the daughter of Indian sitarist and composer Ravi Shankar and the half‑sister of fellow musicians Anoushka Shankar and Shubhendra Shankar.
Selected GRAMMY wins (year‑by‑year)
- 2003 – Best New Artist – Norah Jones
- 2003 – Album of the Year; Best Pop Vocal Album – Come Away with Me
- 2003 – Record of the Year; Best Female Pop Vocal Performance – “Don’t Know Why”
- 2005 – Record of the Year; Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals – “Here We Go Again” (with Ray Charles)
- 2005 – Best Female Pop Vocal Performance – “Sunrise”
- 2008 – Album of the Year – River: The Joni Letters (featured artist)
- 2025 – Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album – Visions
Career overview
Yvette Marie Stevens (born March 23rd 1953), better known by her stage name Chaka Khan, is an American singer.
Known as the “Queen of Funk”, her career has spanned more than five decades, beginning in the early 1970s as lead vocalist of the funk band Rufus.
Khan has won 10 GRAMMY Awards. With Rufus she achieved three gold singles, one platinum single, four gold albums and two platinum albums.
In December 2016, Billboard ranked her the 65th most successful dance club artist of all time, and she placed 17th on VH1’s original list of the 100 Greatest Women of Rock & Roll. Khan has been nominated for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame three times as a solo artist and four times as a member of Rufus featuring Chaka Khan.
Selected GRAMMY wins (year‑by‑year)
- 1975 – Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Duo, Group or Chorus – “Tell Me Something Good” (as Rufus)
- 1984 – Best R&B Vocal Performance, Female – Chaka Khan
- 1984 – Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal – “Ain’t Nobody” (as Rufus)
- 1984 – Best Vocal Arrangement for Two or More Voices – “Be Bop Medley” (with Arif Mardin)
- 1985 – Best R&B Vocal Performance, Female – “I Feel for You”
- 1991 – Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal – “I’ll Be Good to You” (with Ray Charles)
- 1993 – Best R&B Vocal Performance, Female – The Woman I Am
- 2003 – Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance – “What’s Going On” (with The Funk Brothers)
- 2008 – Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals – “Disrespectful” (with Mary J. Blige)
- 2008 – Best R&B Album – Funk This
Career overview
Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19th 1946) is an American singer, songwriter, actress and philanthropist, known primarily for her work in country music.
After first finding success as a songwriter for others, she released her debut album Hello, I’m Dolly in 1967, beginning a career that now spans more than 60 years and 49 studio albums, including 2023’s Rockstar, her highest‑charting Billboard 200 release.
Parton has received 11 GRAMMY Awards from 50 nominations, along with ten Country Music Association Awards (including Entertainer of the Year), five Academy of Country Music Awards, four People’s Choice Awards and three American Music Awards.
She received the National Medal of Arts in 2005, has been inducted into both the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and was honoured with the GRAMMY Lifetime Achievement Award in 2011.
Selected GRAMMY wins (year‑by‑year)
- 1979 – Best Country Vocal Performance, Female – Here You Come Again
- 1982 – Best Country Vocal Performance, Female – “9 to 5”
- 1982 – Best Country Song – “9 to 5”
- 1988 – Best Country Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group – Trio (with Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt)
- 2000 – Best Country Vocal Collaboration – “After the Gold Rush” (with Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt)
- 2001 – Best Bluegrass Album – The Grass Is Blue
- 2002 – Best Female Country Vocal Performance – “Shine”
- 2017 – Best Country Duo/Group Performance – “Jolene” (with Pentatonix)
- 2020 – Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song – “God Only Knows” (with for KING & COUNTRY)
- 2021 – Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song – “There Was Jesus” (with Zach Williams)
Career overview
Roberta Joan “Joni” Mitchell (born November 7th 1943) is a Canadian‑American singer‑songwriter, multi‑instrumentalist and painter.
One of the most influential singer‑songwriters to emerge from the 1960s, she became known for personal, introspective lyrics and unconventional compositions that increasingly incorporated elements of pop, jazz and other styles.
Her honours include 11 GRAMMY Awards and induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997. Rolling Stone has called her “one of the greatest songwriters ever”, while AllMusic notes that she may stand as the most important and influential female recording artist of the late 20th century.
Mitchell received the GRAMMY Lifetime Achievement Award in 2002.
Selected GRAMMY wins (year‑by‑year)
- 1969 – Best Folk Performance – Clouds
- 1974 – Best Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s) – “Down to You”
- 1995 – Best Pop Album – Turbulent Indigo
- 1995 – Best Album Package – Turbulent Indigo
- 2000 – Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album – Both Sides Now
- 2008 – Album of the Year – River: The Joni Letters (featured artist)
- 2008 – Best Pop Instrumental Performance – “One Week Last Summer”
- 2016 – Best Album Notes – Love Has Many Faces: A Quartet, a Ballet, Waiting to Be Danced
- 2022 – Best Historical Album – Joni Mitchell Archives – Vol. 1: The Early Years (1963–1967)
- 2024 – Best Folk Album – Joni Mitchell at Newport
Career overview
Billie Eilish Pirate Baird O’Connell (born December 18th 2001) is an American singer‑songwriter and musician.
She first gained public attention in 2015 with her debut single “Ocean Eyes”, written and produced by her brother Finneas O’Connell, with whom she collaborates on most of her music and live shows.
Eilish’s honours include two Academy Awards, nine GRAMMY Awards, two American Music Awards, twenty Guinness World Records, seven MTV Video Music Awards, four BRIT Awards and two Golden Globe Awards.
She is the second artist in GRAMMY history to win all four general‑field categories — Record of the Year, Album of the Year, Song of the Year and Best New Artist — in the same year, and the first person born in the 21st century to win an Academy Award, as well as the youngest two‑time Oscar winner.
Eilish appeared on Time magazine’s inaugural Time 100 Next list in 2019 and the Time 100 in 2021, and was named one of the BBC 100 Women in 2022.
Selected GRAMMY wins (year‑by‑year)
- 2020 – Best New Artist – Billie Eilish
- 2020 – Album of the Year; Best Pop Vocal Album – When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?
- 2020 – Record of the Year; Song of the Year – “Bad Guy”
- 2021 – Record of the Year – “Everything I Wanted”
- 2021 – Best Song Written for Visual Media – “No Time to Die”
- 2024 – Record of the Year; Song of the Year – “What Was I Made For?”
Career overview
Mary Jane Blige (born January 11th 1971) is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, actress and entrepreneur.
Often referred to as the “Queen of Hip‑Hop Soul” and the “Queen of R&B”, her honours include nine GRAMMY Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, four American Music Awards, twelve NAACP Image Awards and twelve Billboard Music Awards, including the Billboard Icon Award.
Blige received a Legends Award at the World Music Awards in 2006, the Voice of Music Award from ASCAP in 2007 and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2018. In 2010, Billboard ranked her the most successful female R&B/Hip‑Hop artist of the previous 25 years.
Selected GRAMMY wins (year‑by‑year)
- 1996 – Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group – “I’ll Be There for You/You’re All I Need to Get By” (with Method Man)
- 2003 – Best Female R&B Vocal Performance – “He Think I Don’t Know”
- 2004 – Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals – “Whenever I Say Your Name” (with Sting)
- 2007 – Best Female R&B Vocal Performance; Best R&B Song – “Be Without You”
- 2007 – Best R&B Album – The Breakthrough
- 2008 – Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals – “Disrespectful” (with Chaka Khan)
- 2008 – Best Gospel Performance – “Never Gonna Break My Faith” (with Aretha Franklin)
- 2009 – Best Contemporary R&B Album – Growing Pains
Career overview
Robyn Rihanna Fenty (born February 20th 1988) is a Barbadian singer, businesswoman and actress.
She is the best‑selling female recording artist of the 21st century according to Guinness World Records, and the highest‑certified female digital singles artist by the RIAA. As of 2024 she is the third‑wealthiest musician in the world, with seven US diamond‑certified singles and 14 Billboard Hot 100 number‑ones.
One of the best‑selling recording artists of all time, Rihanna has sold an estimated 250 million units globally. Her honours include nine GRAMMY Awards, 12 Billboard Music Awards, 13 American Music Awards and eight People’s Choice Awards, among many others.
She received the Icon Award at the 2013 American Music Awards and the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award at the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards, and she holds six Guinness World Records.
Selected GRAMMY wins (year‑by‑year)
- 2008 – Best Rap/Sung Collaboration – “Umbrella” (featuring Jay‑Z)
- 2010 – Best Rap Song; Best Rap/Sung Collaboration – “Run This Town” (with Jay‑Z and Kanye West)
- 2011 – Best Dance Recording – “Only Girl (In the World)”
- 2012 – Best Rap/Sung Collaboration – “All of the Lights” (with Kanye West, Kid Cudi and Fergie)
- 2013 – Best Short Form Music Video – “We Found Love” (featuring Calvin Harris)
- 2014 – Best Urban Contemporary Album – Unapologetic
- 2015 – Best Rap/Sung Collaboration – “The Monster” (with Eminem)
- 2018 – Best Rap/Sung Performance – “LOYALTY.” (with Kendrick Lamar)
Career overview
Sheryl Suzanne Crow (born February 11th 1962) is an American singer, musician, songwriter and actress.
Known for her optimistic, idealistic songwriting and blend of rock, pop, country, folk and blues, she has released twelve studio albums, five compilations and three live albums, and contributed to numerous film soundtracks.
Crow has sold more than 50 million albums worldwide and won nine GRAMMY Awards from 32 nominations. She has also taken on acting roles on television and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2023.
Selected GRAMMY wins (year‑by‑year)
- 1995 – Best New Artist – Sheryl Crow
- 1995 – Best Female Pop Vocal Performance; Record of the Year – “All I Wanna Do”
- 1997 – Best Rock Album – Sheryl Crow
- 1997 – Best Female Rock Vocal Performance – “If It Makes You Happy”
- 1999 – Best Rock Album – The Globe Sessions
- 2000 – Best Female Rock Vocal Performance – “Sweet Child O’ Mine”
- 2001 – Best Female Rock Vocal Performance – “There Goes the Neighborhood” (live)
- 2003 – Best Female Rock Vocal Performance – “Steve McQueen”
Career overview
Natalie Maria Cole (February 6th 1950 – December 31st 2015) was an American singer, songwriter and actress, and the daughter of singer and jazz pianist Nat King Cole.
She rose to prominence in the mid‑1970s with her debut album Inseparable (1975) and its hit “This Will Be (An Everlasting Love)” and title track. The project earned her the GRAMMY Award for Best New Artist at the 18th Annual GRAMMY Awards, making her the first African‑American and the first R&B act to win that category.
Across her career she received nine GRAMMY Awards, a Primetime Emmy nomination and sold more than 30 million records worldwide. She was honoured with the Howie Richmond Hitmaker Award by the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1999, posthumously inducted into the National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame in 2021 and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Selected GRAMMY wins (year‑by‑year)
- 1976 – Best New Artist – Natalie Cole
- 1976 – Best R&B Vocal Performance, Female – “This Will Be (An Everlasting Love)”
- 1978 – Best R&B Vocal Performance, Female – “Sophisticated Lady (She’s a Different Lady)”
- 1992 – Album of the Year – Unforgettable... with Love
- 1992 – Record of the Year; Best Traditional Pop Performance – “Unforgettable” (with Nat King Cole)
- 1994 – Best Jazz Vocal Performance – Take a Look
- 1997 – Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals – “When I Fall in Love” (with Nat King Cole)
- 2009 – Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album – Still Unforgettable
Career overview
Hillary Dawn Scott‑Tyrrell (born April 1st 1986) is an American singer and songwriter best known as the co‑lead vocalist of the country group Lady A, signed to Big Machine Records.
Alongside her work with Lady A, she released the gospel album Love Remains with her family in 2016, which reached number 7 on the Billboard 200.
Her accolades include nine GRAMMY Awards, seven ACM Awards, six CMA Awards, one Billboard Music Award and recognition as a CMT Artists of the Year honouree in 2010, 2011 and 2018. Scott was also named SESAC Songwriter of the Year in 2008, 2010 and 2011.
Selected GRAMMY wins (year‑by‑year)
- 2010 – Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals – “I Run to You” (with Lady A)
- 2011 – Record of the Year; Song of the Year; Best Country Song – “Need You Now”
- 2011 – Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals – “Need You Now”
- 2011 – Best Country Album – Need You Now
- 2012 – Best Country Album – Own the Night
- 2017 – Best Contemporary Christian Music Album – Love Remains (with The Scott Family and Linda Davis)
- 2017 – Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song – “Thy Will”
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Looked at together, these 25 careers show how different the paths to GRAMMY dominance can be. Some artists, like Beyoncé, Taylor Swift and Adele, have broken records in mainstream pop while others, such as Alison Krauss, Leontyne Price, CeCe Winans and Emmylou Harris, built their legacies in more specialised fields like bluegrass, classical and gospel.
These records also tell a larger story about the Recording Academy itself – which genres it has prioritised over time, how it has responded to changing ideas about gender and race, and when it has chosen to reward commercial impact versus artistic experimentation.
For awards historians, this kind of list becomes a roadmap: it highlights who dominated particular eras, which collaborators and producers turn up again and again, and how often lifetime‑achievement style honours sit alongside hard‑won competitive victories.
If you prefer this kind of deep dive in video form, you can watch the full episode covering these record‑breaking female GRAMMY winners on my YouTube channel Cinema Awards Archive. The video includes clips, extra context and a few chart breakdowns that go beyond what fits on the page.
If you enjoy award‑season history, all‑time leaderboards and rare milestones like EGOT, PEGOT and multi‑decade GRAMMY streaks, subscribing really helps the channel grow.
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