The Grammy Big 4

14 min readJan 29, 2020

by Sheldon Rocha Leal

The Grammy Awards are one of the world’s most prestigious awards. Although it is a US award, administered and controlled by NARAS (National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences), it is a prize coveted by musicians worldwide. The awards have been conferred on musicians, songwriters, producers and music technicians since 1959. It all started when a sub-committee tasked with selecting music candidates for inclusion on the Hollywood Walk Fame determined that some shortlisted individuals were not eligible for the walk but deserved recognition. It was therefore decided to establish an award to celebrate these individuals. The result was NARAS and the Grammy Award.

Currently 84 awards are issued in 32 fields, excluding the special awards which include: Lifetime Achievement, Trustees, Technical, Legend, Hall of Fame, and MusicCares. A field is a broad category which consists of various awards, e.g. Pop. The categories and awards have varied over the years, new categories have been included and others have been discontinued. At the first Grammy ceremony in 1959 only 28 awards were handed out. It just goes to show that the awards have evolved to meet the needs of the music business.

The most prestigious Grammy awards and the oldest categories in the history of the ceremony are the Big 4, which form part of the General Field. Awards in the General Field are not limited to a genre, which means anyone nominated for a Grammy is eligible to be nominated in the General Field. The 4 awards are: Record, Album and Song of the Year and Best New Artist. These four awards have been handed out annually since the first ceremony in 1959. The Best New Artist Award was, however, not handed out in 1967, the only time in Grammy history in which the award was not handed out. It is also only the only category, in Grammy history, in which an award was rescinded, after it was discovered that the 1990 recipients, Milli Vanilli, were a front. This is possibly why there is a perceived curse over the award.

Record of the Year is awarded to a song and is conferred on the artist(s), producer(s), recording engineer(s) and/or mixer(s) (if other than the artist). Song of the year, on the other hand, is awarded to a song and is conferred on the songwriter(s) only. Album of the year is awarded to an album and is conferred on the artist(s), producer(s), recording engineer(s), mixer(s) and mastering engineer(s).

The Best New Artist Grammy has always been very contentious and there is even a disputed curse over the award.

Although the latter 4 awards are the oldest, unchanged categories at the Grammies, it is interesting to note that only 3 people in the 62 year history of the ceremony have won all 4 and only two have won it in one evening. The reality is that only an artist (not a songwriter, producer or engineer) can win all 4 categories and they are only able to so in one evening once, as they can only be Best New Artist once. There is, however, an exception to this rule for example Lauryn Hill who won Best New Artist (as a solo artist) 3 years after winning her first Grammy award as part of The Fugees.

In the history of the Grammies only 36 artists have been nominated in all 4 categories in the General Field and only 12 have been nominated in one night. In the ensuing article I’m going to be ventilating the latter statement and delving into the artists nominated and who have won the 4 awards. I have decided to split my findings as follows:

Winners of the Big 4.
Winners of 3 of the Big 4.
Artists nominated in all 4 of the Big 4 in one night.
Artists nominated in all of the Big 4 in their lifetime.
Artists nominated in the Big 3 and their song nominated in Song of the Year.

The King, Queen and Princess of the Big Four

The following three artists are the only acts in history to win all four of the Big Four, whether in one night or in a lifetime:

Christopher Cross

He is the only artist in history to be nominated and win all 4 categories in one night. In 1979 Christopher Cross released his eponymously titled debut album, but because of Grammy eligibility rules, he was only nominated for the 1981 ceremony. At the 22nd Grammy ceremony he won Best New Artist, Album of the Year for “Christopher Cross” and Record and Song of the year for “Sailing”. He also won Best Arrangement Accompanying Vocals for “Sailing” in the same year. Christopher Cross was nominated an additional 4 times, but never won again.

Billie Eilish

When the teenager won the Big 4 in 2020 for her song “Bad Guy” and album “When We Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?” she broke a few records. She became the youngest person, first female and only the second person in history to accomplish the feat in one night. As with Christopher Cross, 39 years earlier, she walked away with 5 Grammy Awards at the end of the evening. Let’s hope that she has a little more luck than her predecessor.

Adele

As opposed to Christopher Cross and Billie Eilish, Adele did not win her Big Four in one ceremony. When she released her debut album, “19”, in 2008 she was nominated and later won Best New Artist in 2009. In 2011 when she released her sophomore album, “21”, she was nominated and later won the remaining Big Three: Record and Song for “Rolling In The Deep” and Album of the Year. In 2017 she repeated the latter achievement: Song and Record for “Hello” and Album of the Year for “25”.

3 X Winners

The following 11 acts have won three of the Big Four, but only 5 have been nominated in all four categories and only 2 have been nominated in all 4 in one night. Additionally 10 of the following artists won the Big 3 in one evening (in whatever configuration):

John Lennon

The former Beatle was nominated in all four categories, but not on the same night. The Beatles won the Best New Artist Grammy in 1965 and were nominated for Record of the Year for “I Want To Hold Your Hand”. In 1966 they were nominated for Album of the Year for “Help!” and John Lennon and Paul McCartney were nominated for Song of the Year for “Yesterday”. A year later John and Paul won Song of the Year for the Beatles’ song “Michelle”, followed by Album of the Year in 1968 for “Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”. In 1969 John and Paul were nominated in the Big 3 categories: Record and Song of the Year for the Beatles’ song “Hey Jude” and Album for “Magical Mystery Tour”. This was followed by another Album of the Year nomination for the Beatles’ album “Abbey Road in 1970. An additional 2 nominations followed in 1971 for Song and Record of the Year for the Beatles’s composition “Let It Be”. In 1982 John Lennon was nominated as a solo artist for Record of the Year for “(Just Like) Starting Over” and won Album of the Year for “Double Fantasy”.

Paul McCartney

McCartney won the Big Three in the same way as Lennon. Additionally he was nominated for Album of the Year in 1975 for “Band On The Run”, 1983 for “Tug Of War”, 1998 for “Flaming Pie” and 2006 for “Chaos And Creation In The Backyard”. In 1983 he was nominated for his duet with Stevie Wonder “Ebony and Ivory” in the categories Record and Song of the Year. He has to date never won Record, Song or Album of the Year as a solo artist. The only award he is missing is Record of the Year, which may be something he still achieves at some point in the future.

Paul Simon

Although Paul Simon has never been nominated in the Best New Artist category he was nominated in the remaining Big 3 for the first time in 1969 as a member of Simon & Garfunkel. “Mrs Robinson” was nominated for Song and Record of the Year and the album “Bookends” for Album of the Year. In that year Simon & Garfunkel won Record of the Year. In 1971 Paul Simon (as a member of Simon & Garfunkel) won Record, Song and Album of the Year for “Bridge Over Troubled Water”.

Carole King

Although Carole King was not nominated for the Best New Artist Grammy at her inaugural ceremony in 1972, she was nominated and won the remaining three categories with her iconic album “Tapestry”. Her song “It’s Too Late” won Record of the Year and “You’ve Got A Friend” won Song of the Year. At one stage “Tapestry” was the biggest selling album by a solo artist in history. Michael Jackson took the record 10 years laters with “Thriller”.

Eric Clapton

The legendary Slowhand was nominated in the Big Three categories in 1993 after the release of his legendary “Unplugged” album. He was nominated in 10 categories that night, and went on to win 6 awards, including the Big Three for his song “Tears In Heaven” and album “Unplugged”. This was a bittersweet victory considering the song “Tears In Heaven” is about the untimely demise of his 4 year old son Conor, who had passed away in 1991.

Amy Winehouse

Amy Winehouse was nominated for The Big 4 in one night, one of only 12 artists in history to achieve this feat. Although “Back To Black” was her second studio offering, it was the album that brought her international acclaim. Out of the 4 categories for which she was nominated in 2008 she won Best New Artist as well as Record and Song of the Year for “Rehab”. The only category that eluded her was Album of the Year.

Sam Smith

Sam Smith and Amy Winehouse have a few things in common, both are British artists, both were nominated in all 4 of the awards in the General Field in one night and both missed out on the Album of the Year Award. In 2015 Sam Smith won the same three of the Big 4 as Amy had in 2008: Best New Artist, Song and Record of the Year for “Stay With Me” from his debut album “In The Lonely Hour”. He may still be able to collect the 4th award sometime in the future, and complete his collection, as he has previously won the Best New Artist.

Natalie Cole

Natalie Cole was only ever nominated in three of the Big 4 categories, yet one of the songs she performed was nominated for the Song of the Year. She originally won the Best New Artist category in 1976 and 16 years later with the release of her “Unforgettable…With Love” album (a tribute to her legendary dad) she won the remaining awards. The album and track “Unforgettable” won 6 Grammy Awards in 1992 including Album, Song and Record of the Year. Because Natalie Cole did not write “Unforgettable” she was not recognized for the Song of the Year award, even though it was her performance that won the award.

Dixie Chicks

The country band holds the distinction of being the all-girl group with the most Grammy Awards in history, 13. They have been nominated in all four of the Big 4, but not in one night. The were originally nominated in the Best New Artist category in 1999 and in 2000 for Album of the Year for the first time for “Fly” and in 2003 for “Home”. Finally in 2007 they were nominated and won the Big 3 in one night for their album “Taking The Long Way” and song “Not Ready To Make Nice”. The latter song’s victory was sweet vindication for the band who’s music was shunned in the USA after comments made by Natalie Maines about George W Bush in 2003.

Norah Jones

As with Natalie Cole, Norah Jones has only been nominated for three of the Big 4, yet one of the songs she performed won the Song of the Year award in 2003. In that year her debut album, “Come Away With Me” and track “Don’t Know Why” were nominated for the Big 3 and she was nominated for Best New Artist. She won three of the big 4 that night and her song won Song of the Year. It’s was the first time since Christopher Cross’ success in 1981 that an artist had a clean sweep of the Big 4, but because she didn’t write “Don’t Know Why” she was not credited with the Song of the Year award. In 2005 she won the Record of the Year award for her song “Here We Go Again” and in 2008 she won Album of the Year for “River: The Joni Letters”. It is still a possibility that she could collect Song of the Year, at some point in the future, to complete her Big 4 collection.

Bruno Mars

The American singer has been nominated in the Big 3 multiple times. The nomination that eluded him was Best New Artist. In 2011 he was nominated twice for Record of the Year for “Fuck You” performed by Cee-Lo Green and “Nothin’ On You” performed by B.O.B. “Fuck You” was also nominated for Song of the Year in 2011. The following year he was nominated for the Big 3 in one night: Song and Record of the Year for “Grenade” and Album of the Year for “Doo-Wops & Hooligans”. In 2017 he won Album of the Year for production work completed on Adele’s “25”. His big pay load arrived in 2018 when he won the Big 3 in one night: Song of the Year for “That’s What I Like” and Record and Album of the Year for “24K Magic”.

One Night Stands

In the history of the Grammy Awards there have only been 12 artists who have been nominated in all 4 of the Big 4 in one evening. Christopher Cross, Billie Eilish, Amy Winehouse and Sam Smith have already been discussed, the remaining 8 artists are:

Bobbie Gentry

She was the first artist in history to be nominated in all 4 categories in one evening. The country singer released her debut album and single, “Ode To Billie Joe” in 1967 to critical acclaim and went on to win the Best New Artist in 1968. She, however, missed out on the remaining three awards, possibly reinforcing the legend of the Grammy Curse. It would take 13 years for someone to repeat Bobbie’s feat of 4 nominations in the Big 4 in one night.

Cyndi Lauper

The Pop singer was nominated for the Big 4 after releasing her debut album “She’s So Unusual” and single “Girls Just Want To Have Fun” in 1983. She went on to win the Best New Artist Grammy in 1984 and it took her 30 years to win another Grammy Award, this time for Best Musical Theater album for “Kinky Boots”, reinforcing the Grammy Curse.

Tracy Chapman

Mariah Carey

The 5 time Grammy Award winning Queen of Christmas was nominated for the Big 4 in 1991 for her eponymously titled debut album and song “Vision Of Love”. She went on to win Best New Artist and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. She was again nominated for Album of the Year in 1996 for “Daydream” and “The Emancipation of Mimi” in 2006, Record of the Year in 1996 for “One Sweet Day” featuring Boyz II Men and Song and Record of the Year in 2006 for “We Belong Together”.

Paula Cole

The folk singer was nominated for 7 Grammy Awards at her inaugural ceremony in 1998, including the Big 4 for her album “This Fire” and single “Where Have All The Cowboys Gone?”. She went on to win one of the 7 categories in which she was nominated: Best New Artist. To date she has never been nominated for another Grammy (there’s that curse once more).

India.Arie

The 4 time Grammy Award winning, ethereal soul songstress was nominated in the Big 4 at her inaugural ceremony in 2002 for her album “Acoustic Soul” and song “Video” along with 3 other nominations for a total of 7. India.Arie used to hold the dubious record for being the female artist to attain the most nominations in one night without winning. The record is now held by Rihanna (8 Grammy nominations). Fortunately she went on to win 2 Grammy Awards in 2003, one in 2010 and one in 2011.

Fun.

The trio were nominated in the Big 4 in 2013 along with 2 other nominations for their sophomore album “Some Nights” and single “We Were Young” featuring Janelle Monáe. They landed up winning 2 of the Big 4, Best New Artist and Song of the Year. Since 2013 they have never again been nominated again. It may still be a possibility, however, that they accumulate the last 2 of the Big 4 as they have won Best New Artist.

Lizzo

And The Nominees Are…

The following 20 artists have all been nominated in all four of the Big 4, but not in one evening. It goes to show how difficult it is to accumulate nominations in all 4 of the categories.

Elton John

Glenn Frey and Don Henley (The Eagles)

The two members of The Eagles have been nominated in all 4 of the Big 4, mainly as members of the band. In 1972 the band was nominated in the Best New Artist category. Three years later they were nominated in the categories Album and Record of the Year for the album “One Of These Nights” and single “Lyin’ Eyes”. “Hotel California” the album and song were nominated for Album and Song of the Year and won Record of the Year in 1977. After the band broke up Don Henley was further nominated for Song and Record of the Year in 1985 for “Boys of Summer” and in 1989 for Song, Record and Album of the Year for “The End of Innocence”. Although as part of the Eagles the two men accumulated 6 Grammy Awards, they only ever won one of the Big 4. As solo artists Don Henley accumulated 3 extra awards (but none of the Big 4), whilst Glen Frey accumulated no additional awards.

Mark Knopfler (Dire Straits)

The lead vocalist, songwriter and guitarist of the iconic band Dire Straits has won 6 Grammy Awards, including nominations in all the categories of the Big 4. In 1980 Dire Straits was nominated in the Best New Artist category, which they lost to Folk singer Rickie Lee Jones. Six year later Mark Knopfler and his band were nominated in the remaining three of the Big 4: Album of the Year for “Brothers In Arms” and Record and Song of the Year for “Money For Nothing”. Unfortunately Mark Knopfler has never secured any of the Big 4.

Seal

Sheryl Crow

The 9 time Grammy Award winner won the Best New Artist and Record of the Year categories at her inaugural ceremony in 1994 and was also nominated for Song of the Year for “All I Wanna Do”. In 1998 she was nominated for Record of the Year for a second time, this time for the song “Every Day Is A Winding Road”. She accumulated an Album of the Year nomination for “The Globe Sessions” in 1999, completing her collection nominations in each one of the Big 4.

Shania Twain

The Canadian singer was nominated in all 4 categories over two ceremonies. In 1996 she was nominated for Best New Artist and in 1999 for Song and Record of the Year for “You’re Still The One” and Album of the Year for “Come On Over”, the biggest selling album by a female artist in history. Although she has never won any of the Big 4, she is a 5 time Grammy Award winner.

Alanis Morissette

Alanis, like her fellow country mate Shania, was nominated in all of the Big 4 over 2 ceremonies. In 1996 she was nominated for Best New Artist and Song of the Year for “You Oughta Know” and won Album of the Year for “Jagged Little Pill”, the biggest selling debut album in music history. She was nominated in the final category in 1997 (Record of the Year) for “Ironic”. Although she won only one of the Big 4, she is a 7 time Grammy winner.

Gwen Stefani (No Doubt)

Gwen Stefani was originally a member of the Ska/Rock band No Doubt and has accumulated her 4 Big 4 nominations as a solo artist and as member of the band. No Doubt was nominated for Best New Artist in 1997. In 1998 No Doubt and Gwen Stefani, the band’s songwriter, were nominated for Song of the Year for “Don’t Speak”. Gwen Stefani accumulated her last two nominations as a solo artist in 2006 for Record of the Year for the song “Hollarback Girl” and Album of the Year for “Love. Angel. Music. Baby”. Although she has never won any Grammies as part of No Doubt, she does have 3 Grammy Awards as a solo artist, none of them, however, in the Big 4.

Alicia Keys

The 15 Grammy Award winning musical protégée has been nominated 29 times, including the Big 4. In 2002 she won 2 of the Big 4, Best New Artist and Song of the Year for “Fallin’”, which was also nominated for Record of the Year. In 2005 she was nominated for Album of the Year for “The Diary of Alicia Keys” and Song of the Year for “If I Ain’t Got You”. The last time she was nominated in one of the Big 4 was in 2011 with Jay-Z in the category Record of the Year for “Empire State of Mind”. It is still a possibility that she may win in the two remaining categories, Album and Record of the Year, as she has already won Best New Artist.

Kanye West

In 2005 Kanye was nominated in three of the Big 4, four times: Best New Artist, Song of the Year for “Jesus Walks” and Album of the Year for “The College Dropout” and Alicia Keys’ “The Diary of Alicia Keys”. A year later he was nominated three times in 2 of the Big 4: Record of the Year for “Gold Digger” and Album of the Year for “Late Registration” and Mariah Carey’s “The Emancipation of Mimi”. He was nominated four more times in the Album of the Year category “Graduation” (2008), “The Carter III” by Lil’ Wayne (2009), “Beauty Behind The Madness” (2016) and Drake’s “Views” (2017) and twice in the Song of the Year category for Estelle’s “American Boy” (2009) and Rihanna’s “All Of The Lights” (2012).

Taylor Swift

The country singer, as with Kanye West, has been nominated in the Big 4 various times, but has only ever won one of the awards. She was initially nominated for Best New Artist in 2008, which she lost to Amy Winehouse. In 2010 she was nominated in the remaining Big 3, Record and Song of the Year for “You Belong To Me” and won Album of the Year for “Fearless”. She was nominated an additional 3 times in the Record of the Year category for “We Were Never Ever Getting Back Together” (2013), “Shake It Off” (2015) and “Blank Space” (2016). Additionally she has been nominated 3 more times in the Song of the Year category for “Shake It Off” (2015), “Blank Space” (2016) and “Lover” (2020). Finally she has been nominated for an additional time in the Album of the Year category for “1989” (2016).

Lady Antebellum

The country trio are a 7 time Grammy award winning act, who possess 2 of the Big 4. In 2009 they were nominated in 2 categories one of which was a Best New Artist, which they lost to Adele. In 2011 they were nominated in 6 categories, including the Big 3 and won 5 awards including Record and Song of the Year for “Need You Now”.

Mumford & Sons

The Brit Folk Band was nominated for Best New Artist at their inaugural ceremony in 2011, which they lost to Esperanza Spalding. In 2012 they were nominated in Song and Record of the Year for “The Cave”. I guess third time was lucky for them when they won Album of the Year at their third ceremony in 2013 for “Babel”.

Drake

Justin Bieber

The Pop singer has also never won any of the Big 4, but has been nominated in all 4. In 2011 he was nominated in the Best New Artist category, but lost to Esperanza Spalding. In 2017 he accumulated nominations in the Album of the Year category for “Purpose” and Song of the Year for “Love Yourself”. A year later he was nominated for Song and Record of the Year for “Despacito” featuring Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee.

Bon Iver

Ed Sheeran

The Brit Folk singer has been nominated in the Big 4 multiple times. He was nominated for Song of the Year at his inaugural ceremony in 2013 for “The A Team”. In 2014 he was nominated for Best New Artist and Album of the Year for Taylor Swift’s “Red”. He followed this with another Album of the Year nomination in 2015 for “X”. He was nominated in the Big 3 in 2016, Album of the Year for “Beauty Behind The Madness” by The Weeknd, Record of the Year for “Thinking Out Loud” and won Song of the Year for the latter song. His final nomination in the Big 4 came in 2017 for Song of the Year for “Love Yourself” by Justin Bieber.

Kendrick Lamar

The Hip-Hop star has been nominated multiple times in the Big 4. In 2014 he was nominated for Best New Artist and Album of the Year for “good kid, m.A.A.d city”. Two years later he was nominated for Album of the Year for “To Pimp A Butterfly” and Song of the Year for “Alright”. He followed this up with another Album of the Year nomination for “Lemonade” by Beyoncé in 2017. In 2018 he was nominated for Record of the Year for “Humble” and Album of the Year for “Damn.”. This was followed by 2 nominations in 2019, one for Album of the Year for the “Black Panther” soundtrack and Record of the Year for “All The Stars”. Although he has been nominated so many times he has never won an award in the Big 4 categories.

H.E.R.

Although H.E.R. has been nominated in all of the Big 4 categories she has never won any awards in the general field. In 2019 she was nominated for Best New Artist and Album of the Year for “H.E.R.” and followed these nominations with Record and Song of the Year for “Hard Place” and Album of the Year for “I Used To Know H.E.R.” in 2020.

The Rest

Although the focus of this article has been artists nominated in all the Big 4 categories, I decided to include this group of acts who have been nominated in all but one of the categories and have had one of the songs, which they have performed, nominated in Song of the Year. There are only 2:

Bette Midler

The singer won Best New Artist in 1974 and was nominated for Album of the Year for “The Divine Miss M”. In 1981 she was nominated for Record of the Year and Amanda McBroom was nominated for Song of the Year for “The Rose”. “The Wind Beneath My Wings” won Record and Song of the Year in 1990, but because she did not write the song she only received the former, accumulating her second Big 4 win. Finally in 1991 “From A Distance” won Song of the Year and was nominated for Record of the Year. Once again, because she didn’t write the song, she was not recognized as the winner.

The Carpenters

In 1971 the brother/sister duo were nominated in three of the Big 4, Album of the Year “Close To You”, Record of the Year “They Long To Be (Close To You)” and Song of the Year “We’ve Only Just Begun” written by Paul Williams and Roger Nichols. The band went on to win Best New Artist. A year later they were nominated for Album of the Year for their eponymously titled album.

According to my research only 3 artists have accumulated all of the awards listed in the General Field and out of these three only 2 have done it in one night: Christopher Cross and Billie Eilish. Adele is the third artist, but she did not do it in one night. Additionally only 11 artists have ever won 3 of the Big 4 and only 36 artists have ever been nominated in all four awards in their lifetime, of which only 12 have received all 4 nominations in one night. This is quite an accomplishment and to think that an 18 year old achieved this gargantuan feat in 2020 is mind blowing. Hopefully she will be do better than her predecessor who never won another Grammy after his big night. The 2020 ceremony was quite a thing and it was amazing to experience the whole thing unfold before my very eyes, I look forward to future developments and whatever the future may bring at the Grammies…