Grammy Award for Song of the Year

History and description

The Song of the Year awards have been awarded since 1959. It is one of the four most prestigious Grammy Awards. Despite both the Record of the Year award and Song of the Year being awarded for a single or for one track from an album, this award goes only to the composer(s) of the song whereas the Record of the Year award goes to the performer(s) and production team for a particular recording of the song. According to the 54th Grammy Awards description guide, the award is given to the songwriter(s) of a song that "must contain melody and lyrics and must be either a new song or a song first achieving prominence during the eligibility year. Songs containing prominent samples or interpolations are not eligible".

The award has not always been restricted to new or newly prominent songs; for instance, in 1992, when the winner was Natalie Cole's cover of "Unforgettable" (a song that had first been recorded by Nat King Cole and achieved prominence in the 1950s), the rule was merely that the song had to have been recorded during the eligibility year and not previously nominated for the award.

Since the late 1960s other songwriter's awards have been presented for genre-specific categories, including Grammy Award for Best Country Song (since 1965), Grammy Award for Best R&B Song (since 1969), Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media (since 1988), Grammy Award for Best Rock Song (since 1992), and most recently Grammy Award for Best Rap Song (since 2004), Grammy Award for Best Gospel Song (from 2006 to 2014), Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Christian Music Song (from 2012 to 2014), Grammy Award for Best American Roots Song (since 2014), Grammy Award for Best Gospel Performance/Song (since 2015), and Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song (since 2015).

The category was expanded to include eight nominees in 2019 and 10 nominees in 2022. The number of nominees was reverted to eight starting with the 2024 ceremony.

As of 2023, a distinct category to honor songwriters was established: Songwriter of the Year, Non-Classical.

Achievements

In many cases, the winning songwriters were also the performers (Domenico Modugno, Henry Mancini, John Lennon & Paul McCartney, Joe South, Paul Simon, Carole King, Barbra Streisand, Billy Joel, Michael McDonald, Christopher Cross, Sting, Michael Jackson & Lionel Richie, Bobby McFerrin, Eric Clapton, Bruce Springsteen, Seal, Shawn Colvin, Rob Thomas, U2, Alicia Keys, Luther Vandross, John Mayer, Dixie Chicks, Amy Winehouse, Coldplay, Beyoncé, Lady Antebellum, Adele, Fun, Lorde, Sam Smith, Ed Sheeran, Bruno Mars, Childish Gambino, Billie Eilish, H.E.R., Anderson .Paak, Bonnie Raitt and Kendrick Lamar).

Dernst "D'Mile" Emile II is the only songwriter to win Song of the Year in two consecutive years: in 2021 ("I Can't Breathe") and 2022 ("Leave the Door Open"). Other multiple winners in this category include Henry Mancini ("Moon River" and "Days of Wine and Roses"); Johnny Mercer ("Moon River" and "Days of Wine and Roses"); James Horner ("Somewhere Out There" and "My Heart Will Go On"); Will Jennings ("Tears in Heaven" and "My Heart Will Go On"); U2 ("Beautiful Day" and "Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own"); Adele ("Rolling in the Deep" and "Hello"); Christopher Brody Brown ("That's What I Like" and "Leave the Door Open"); Bruno Mars ("That's What I Like" and "Leave the Door Open"); Billie Eilish ("Bad Guy" and "What Was I Made For?"); and Finneas O'Connell ("Bad Guy" and "What Was I Made For?"), winning two times each. However, songs written for Andy Williams, Roberta Flack, Barbra Streisand and Bette Midler have received this award twice.

Taylor Swift and Jack Antonoff are the most nominated songwriters in this category with eight nominations each, with Antonoff winning in 2013 for “We Are Young”; while Swift has never won the award. Bruno Mars follows with seven nominations, and Beyoncé, Paul McCartney, Lionel Richie, Billie Eilish and Finneas O’ Connell have six nominations each.

Johnny Mercer, Jimmy Webb, Bobby Russell, Burt Bacharach, Hal David, Kris Kristofferson, Michael McDonald, Michael Jackson, Elton John, Tim Rice, Brandi Carlile, Dernst Emile II, Jack Antonoff, Amy Allen and Henry Walter are the only songwriters with multiple nominations in the same year, with Antonoff achieving it in three consecutive years; while Carlile and Emile in 2022, and Allen, Antonoff and Walter in 2026 achieved it in the same ceremony.

The first woman to win the award was Carole King in 1972, for "You've Got a Friend". Adele was the first female songwriter to win the award twice, winning for "Rolling in the Deep" and "Hello". Doja Cat and Doechii are the only female rappers to be nominated for the award with “Kiss Me More” in 2022 and "Anxiety" in 2026.

Lorde is the youngest songwriter to win in the category, winning for "Royals" in 2014 at the age of 17; while Irving Gordon is the oldest songwriter to win the award, winning for "Unforgettable" in 1992 at age 77.

Christopher Cross and Billie Eilish are the only artists to receive the Grammys for Song of the Year as well as Record of the Year, Album of the Year, and Best New Artist in a single ceremony. Adele was the first artist to win the awards for Song of the Year, Record of the Year, Album of the Year, and Best New Artist on separate occasions. Only six artists have won the Song of the Year and Best New Artist awards the same year: Christopher Cross ("Sailing" in 1981), Alicia Keys ("Fallin'" in 2002), Amy Winehouse ("Rehab" in 2008), Fun ("We Are Young" in 2013), Sam Smith ("Stay with Me (Darkchild Version)" in 2015) and Billie Eilish ("Bad Guy" in 2020); Marvin Hamlisch is the only composer to win the Song of the Year and Best New Artist awards the same year in 1975, for "The Way We Were".

John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Lionel Richie, Diane Warren, Max Martin, Billie Eilish, H.E.R, Finneas O'Connell, Taylor Swift, and Jack Antonoff are the only songwriters to receive nominations for Song of the Year in three consecutive years, with Eilish and O’Connell achieving it twice.

The song "Nel blu, dipinto di blu (Volare)", winner in 1959, written by Domenico Modugno and performed in Italian, is the only foreign-language song to win this award, although the 1967 winner "Michelle" penned by Lennon–McCartney for The Beatles to perform, has a critical part of its lyrics in French. “Despacito” and “DTMF” are the only primarily spanish language songs to be nominated.

The Ernest Gold song "Theme of Exodus", which won in 1961, is the only instrumental song to ever receive this award. "Lose Yourself" by Eminem was the first rap song to be nominated while "This is America" by Childish Gambino and "Not Like Us" by Kendrick Lamar are the only ones to ever win the award. “Poker Face” by Lady Gaga, “Break My Soul” by Beyoncé and “Abracadabra” by Gaga are the only dance songs to be nominated. “A&W” by Lana Del Rey was the first alternative song to be nominated.

The first and only tie in this category in Grammy history took place in 1978, when both Barbra Streisand's & Paul Williams' "Evergreen (Love Theme from A Star Is Born)" and Joe Brooks' "You Light Up My Life" won the award.

The first time in Grammy history that two different songs with the same title have been nominated in this category happened with "Hello" written by Lionel Richie in 1985 and "Hello" by Adele & Greg Kurstin in 2017.

The song with the most writers to win this award is "That's What I Like", which won in 2018 with eight writers. The song with the most writers nominated in this category is "Peaches", which had 11 co-writers nominated for the 2022 ceremony.

Thirty-two of the winning songs have also won the award for Record of the Year. 27 of the winning songs were written by solo songwriters. 9 of the winning songs also won the Academy Award for Best Original Song.

Process

From 1995 to 2018, members of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences nominated their choices for song of the year. A list of the top twenty records was given to the Nominations Review Committee, a specially selected group of anonymous members, who then selected the top five records to gain a nomination in the category in a special ballot. The rest of the members then vote a winner from the five nominees. In 2018, it was announced the number of nominated tracks would be increased to eight. In 2021, it was announced that the Nomination Review Committees would be disbanded, and the final nominees for song of the year would be decided by votes from members. Starting in 2022, the number of nominees in the category increased to 10. However, the decision to expand the number of nominees in this category was made 24 hours before the nominees were announced after an early version of the nominations list had already been circulated. This allowed "Kiss Me More" by Doja Cat featuring SZA and "Right on Time" by Brandi Carlile to be nominated as they were the songs that received the most votes besides the other eight nominees. As of the 2024 ceremony, the number of nominees has been reduced back to eight.

Recipients

:An asterisk (*) indicates this recording also won Record of the Year.

1960s

1970s

1980s

1990s

2000s

2010s

2020s

• Each year is linked to the article about the Grammy Awards held that year.
• The performing artist is only listed but does not receive the award.

Songwriters with multiple awards

;Two awards

• Adele
• Bono
• Brody Brown
• Adam Clayton
• D'Mile (consecutive)
• The Edge
• Billie Eilish
• James Horner
• Will Jennings
• Henry Mancini
• Bruno Mars
• Johnny Mercer
• Larry Mullen Jr.
• Finneas O'Connell

Songwriters with multiple nominations

;8 nominations

• Jack Antonoff
• Taylor Swift

;7 nominations

• Bruno Mars

;6 nominations

• Beyoncé
• Billie Eilish
• Paul McCartney
• Finneas O'Connell
• Lionel Richie

;5 nominations

• Burt Bacharach
• Lady Gaga
• Kendrick Lamar
• Philip Lawrence
• John Lennon

;4 nominations

• Adele
• Alan Bergman
• Marilyn Bergman
• Bono
• Brody Brown
• Sammy Cahn
• Brandi Carlile
• Adam Clayton
• The Edge
• Jay-Z
• Will Jennings
• Billy Joel
• Hillary Lindsey
• Max Martin
• Larry Mullen Jr.
• Ed Sheeran
• SZA
• Sting
• Jimmy Van Heusen ;3 nominations
• Amy Allen
• Carole Bayer Sager
• Jeff Bhasker
• Justin Bieber
• Christopher Brody Brown
• Cirkut
• Hal David
• D'Mile
• Phil Hanseroth
• Tim Hanseroth
• Don Henley
• H.E.R.
• Michael Jackson
• Alicia Keys
• Greg Kurstin
• Robert John "Mutt" Lange
• John Legend
• Ari Levine
• Henry Mancini
• Lori McKenna
• Johnny Mercer
• Dan Nigro
• Tim Rice
• Liz Rose
• Paul Simon
• Sounwave
• Bruce Springsteen
• Tricky Stewart
• Jule Styne
• Diane Warren
• Paul Francis Webster
• Kanye West
• Paul Williams
• Andrew Wyatt

;2 nominations

• Caroline Ailin
• Peter Allen
• Ruby Amanfu
• Johntá Austin
• Corinne Bailey Rae
• Glen Ballard
• Louis Bell
• Benny Blanco
• Leslie Bricusse
• Mariah Carey
• Sabrina Carpenter
• Rogét Chahayed
• Tracy Chapman
• Lauren Christy
• Dave Cobb
• Phil Collins
• Christopher Cross
• Lana Del Rey
• Sam Dew
• Neil Diamond
• Dr. Luke
• The-Dream
• Fred Ebb
• Graham Edwards
• Eminem
• Omer Fedi
• Dino Fekaris
• Eric Fredericks
• Barry Gibb
• Robin Gibb
• Norman Gimbel
• Howard Greenfield
• Marvin Hamlisch
• Kuk Harrell
• James Horner
• Rodney Jerkins
• Elton John
• John Kander
• Josh Kear
• R. Kelly
• Kris Kristofferson
• Carter Lang
• Avril Lavigne
• Michel Legrand
• Dua Lipa
• Lizzo
• Post Malone
• Barry Mann
• Michael McDonald
• Alan Menken
• Julia Michaels
• Anthony Newley
• Freddie Perren
• Linda Perry
• Ricky Reed
• Olivia Rodrigo
• Mark Ronson
• Nate Ruess
• Bobby Russell
• Neil Sedaka
• Shellback
• Eddie Snyder
• Stephen Sondheim
• Sounwave
• Joe South
• Scott Spock
• Tiara Thomas
• Justin Tranter
• Shania Twain
• Andrew Watt
• Jimmy Webb
• Cynthia Weil
• will.i.am
• Dan Wilson
• Stevie Wonder

References

;General

• Note: User must select the "General" category as the genre under the search feature.

;Specific

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