Grammy Awards

Considered the most prestigious honor bestowed on musicians and songwriters. African Americans have won relatively few Grammys in most of the major categories. Despite the contributions of black musicians to the early history of rock ‘n’ roll and pop music, it took many years for the recording industry to recognize the achievements of African American artists. The number of Grammys bestowed on blacks has [Page 377]increased in recent years, but there is still a perception among many African Americans that Grammy nominators and voters do not give them the same consideration as white musicians.

The first Grammy Awards were presented in 1959 by the Recording Academy, an industry group that represents musical artists, songwriters, producers, and engineers. At first, there were only a few award categories, and artists from many different genres of music competed against one another to be honored with the “Best Album,” “Best Record,” and “Best Song” awards. Black artists such as Chuck Berry, Fats Domino, and Little Richard were extremely popular in the late 1950s and early 1960s. However, no African American won in these major categories until 1973, when Roberta Flack won the Best Record award for her recording of “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face.” Before that time, the only black Grammy winners were in the rhythm and blues category, which was created in 1967.

Flack's win seemed to open the door for more African American artists. The following year, Stevie Wonder became the first black to win a Best Album award for Innervisions. He followed that success with another Grammy the following year for his album Fulfillingness' First Finale. The victory made Wonder the only artist besides Frank Sinatra to win two consecutive Best Album awards. Wonder took a third Best Album just two years later for Songs in the Key of Life. Since that time, however, African American artists have won just six of twenty-eight Best Album honors. The most recent black winner was Outkast for the 2004 album Speakerboxxx: The Love Below.

African Americans were also late in breaking through in other major Grammy categories. In 1976, Natalie Cole became the first black musician to win the Best New Artist award. The first black songwriter to receive the Best Song award was Lionel Richie for his 1986 song “We Are the World.” Only two African American males—Michael Jackson and Lenny Kravitz—have ever taken home the Grammy for Best Male Rock Vocalist. Tina Turner has won the Best Female Rick Vocalist four times, the only African American female besides Donna Summer to be so honored.

In 1989, the Grammys created a separate award for rap performances, and within a few years, a total of four rap categories had been established. The rap awards, along with those for rhythm and blues, have been among the few categories that have featured more than a handful of black honorees. Nevertheless, three of the nine Grammys awarded for Best Rap Album have gone to the white artist Eminem. Black artists have also won many awards for reggae music, which was only recently established as a separate category.

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