Top 10 Women Who Have Won The Most Grammy Awards
For many musicians, winning an award is proof that their talent and hard work has come around full circle. Even though being recognized by music institutions is not something that musicians necessarily strive to accomplish, when it happens it’s often a pleasant surprise.
Among the many music award institutions there are the Grammy Awards, the American Music Awards, the Billboard Music Awards, the Brit Awards, and the list goes on… but perhaps the most prestigious is the Grammy, which is also known as the Gramophone Award.
Grammy Awards are presented by the Recording Academy every year to recognize artists with outstanding achievement in the music industry.
Although there have been many winners of this award, below are the Top 10 Women Who Have Won The Most Grammys.
10. Leontyne Price – 13
Leontyne Price is an opera singer known for being the first African-American woman to gain international success. Born in Laurel, Mississippi in 1927, Price studied music education at Central State University and then later at Julliard. At Julliard she began singing and was discovered to have a beautiful soprano voice. She made her operatic debut singing as Mistress Ford in a production of Verdi’s Falstaff.
With 13 Grammy Awards under her belt, Price is 10th on the list for most Grammys won by a woman.
She won her first Grammy in 1960 for Best Classical Performance, Vocal Soloist for “A Program Of Song.”
9. Emmylou Harris – 13
Harris started her award collection by playing country music. Born in Birmingham, Alabama in 1947, Harris won a scholarship to the University of North Carolina at Greensboro where she studied music and learned many classic Americana songs on guitar. She soon dropped out of school and moved to New York City where she played at various cafes while she supported herself working as a waitress.
She won her first Grammy Award in 1976 for ‘Best Country Vocal Performance, Female’ for her song “Elite Hotel.”
8. Lady Gaga – 13
Born Stefani Germanotta in New York City in 1986, Lady Gaga is known for her eccentric and bright public persona as well as her many musical hits that we’ve all heard on the radio. Lady Gaga started playing piano at age four after her mother insisted that she become cultured. Years later and many art camps and schools attended, she began getting recording gigs contributing to other artists’ work. Although she struggled with many rejections, it’s amazing how the fire in her kept her pursuing her dream until she actually became one of the county’s biggest stars.
Lady Gaga is known for her energetic and upbeat music, as well as her ability to play many styles and setting new trends.
She won her first two Grammys in 2010 for ‘Best Dance Recording’ for her song “Poker Face” and ‘Best Dance/Electronic Album’ for The Fame.
7. Ella Fitzgerald – 13
Often referred to as the Queen of Jazz, Ella Fitzgerald was born in Newport News, Virginia in 1917 and made herself one of the most distinguishable jazz voices of all time. She performed with many jazz heavy-hitters such as Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie and Oscar Peterson, adding haunting vocals to the already timeless music. She made her debut playing at an open-mic at the Apollo Theater in Harlem, NY in 1934.
She won her first two Grammys at the 1st Annual Grammy Awards in 1959 for ‘Best Vocal Performance, Female’ for Ella Fitzgerald Sings The Irving Berlin Songbook and ‘Best Jazz Vocal Performance, Individual’ for Ella Fitzgerald Sings The Duke Ellington Songbook.
6. CeCe Winans – 15
CeCe Winans is a gospel singer hailing from Detroit, Michigan. Born in 1964, Winans gained fame as a member of the duo BeBe & CeCe Winans. Although she may not be the most famous singer and gospel may not be the most popular genre of music, it is a relief to know that the Recording Academy recognizes raw talent even when there’s not a lot of hype behind it.
Her vocals are powerful and uplifting as she sings about her religious beliefs.
She won her first Grammy in 1987 for ‘Best Soul Gospel Performance, Female’ for her song “For Always.”
5. Alicia Keys – 15
It seems Alicia Keys is often forgotten because she’s not a real fan of being in the spotlight. Born in New York City in 1981, Keys started playing music at a very young age. At only 15 year old, she was signed to a major record label and released her first album, Songs in A Minor, not long after. She plays the piano very well and sings with a very lonely and controlled voice.
She won her first five Grammys in 2002, including ‘Best New Artist’ and ‘Song Of The Year’ for her song “Fallin’.”
4. Adele – 15
The only one on this list who wasn’t born in the United States, Adele was born in London in 1988. She started singing at age four and as she grew older she became obsessed with voices. A few months after graduating high school she published a couple of songs to an online arts magazine and gave a few friends some physical copies of a demo. One friend uploaded the songs to Myspace and from there Adele was discovered.
Adele’s voice is very strong and conveys emotion very easily. Often, her lyrics are sad, being about lost friendships and broken relationships.
She won her first two Grammys in 2009 for ‘Best New Artist’ and ‘Best Female Pop Vocal Performance’ for her song “Chasing Pavements”
3. Aretha Franklin – 18
Often referred to as the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin was born in Memphis, Tennessee in 1942. In almost every list there is ranking singers, Franklin is usually high up there; Rolling Stone magazine ranked her #9 twice in their list of “100 Greatest Artists of All Time.”
Franklin started her music journey singing gospel at various churches while on tour with her father as manager. Although she didn’t gain fame quickly, after the world caught on to a couple of her hits, fame was imminent.
She won her first two Grammys in 1967 for ‘Best Rhythm & Blue Recording’ and ‘Rhythm & Blues Solo Vocal Performance, Female’ for her song “Respect.”
2. Alison Krauss – 27
Born in Decatur, Illinois in 1971, Alison Krauss is a bluegrass-country musician that dominated her local music competitions as a child. With her fiddle and band, Krauss and Union Station, she released album after album of great music. Up until 2021, Krauss was the most decorated female Grammy Award winner. Today she is often playing with rock and roll legend, Robert Plant.
When she was 13 years old the Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass in America named her “Most Promising Fiddler in the Midwest.”
She won her first Grammy in 1990 for ‘Best Bluegrass Recording’ for her song “I’ve Got That Old Feeling.”
1. Beyoncé – 28
It may be no surprise that Beyoncé is the woman with the most Grammy Awards, when after all she is known as the Queen of Music. Born in Houston, Texas in 1981, she started her musical journey singing in her church and then schools. Upon being recognized for her singing abilities, she was put in a musical group with other girls called Girl’s Tyme. That group later went on to be known as Destiny’s Child and from there, Beyonce Knowles started shining.
With 28 Grammy Awards, not only is she the woman with the most, when you include everyone else who’s won the prestigious award, she tied with Quincy Jones at #2, behind Georg Solti who is a Hungarian-British orchestral conductor who has 31.
She won her first five Grammys in 2003, including ‘Best Contemporary R&B Album’ for Dangerously In Love.
Final Words
Like I said in the beginning of this blog, Academy Awards are not something that musicians necessarily strive for. Afterall, we’d like to believe that they make music for the sake of making music, not for accolades. But, it must be a wonderful feeling to be recognized for things like talent, creativity, best voice, best album, most impact, etc. While not every talented musician will win these awards, the ones that do, for the most part, are widely accepted as being good. Not to say that those that haven’t won are not, but at the end of the day, these awards are given to people by institutions who go based on their own agenda. Needless to say, it must be great to win even just 1 Grammy.