History was made at the 67th annual Grammys, which were held on Sunday, February 2 2025 at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.
Black artists won both album and record of the year; Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter won album of the year, and Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” won record of the year.
This was the ninth time in the history of the Grammys that Black artists or a co-lead artist have won in both of the most contested categories.
Therefore, in this article, Afrobeatzplus takes a look at all the times Black lead artists or co-lead artists won both album and record of the year at the Grammys in the same year.
2025: Beyoncé & Kendrick Lamar
Beyoncé won Album of the Year for her eighth studio album, Cowboy Carter, while Kendrick Lamar won Record of the Year for his track “Not Like Us.”
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2022: Jon Batiste & Silk Sonic’s Anderson.Paak
Jon Batiste won the Album of the Year award for his sixth studio album, We Are, with Anderson.Paak and Silk Sonic, while Bruno Mars won the record of the year with Anderson.Paak and Silk Sonic, for their plush, retro-R&B smash “Leave the Door Open.”
2005: Ray Charles (both awards)
Ray Charles won the awards for Album of the Year for Genius Loves Company and Record of the Year for a Norah Jones-assisted remake of his 1967 hit Here We Go Again posthumously.
1994: Whitney Houston won both awards.
Whitney Houston won both Album of the Year for the soundtrack to The Bodyguard movie and Record of the Year for her reinvention of Dolly Parton’s I Will Always Love You.
1992: Natalie Cole won both awards.
Natalie Cole won Album of the Year for Unforgettable With Love, a song she wrote as a tribute to her father, the late Nat “King” Cole.
She also won the record of the year for her silky version of her dad’s 1951 hit “Unforgettable.”
1985: Lionel Richie & Tina Turner
Lionel Richie won Album of the Year for his second solo album, Can’t Slow Down, and Tina Turner won Record of the Year for her hit song “What’s Love Got to Do With It.”
1984: Michael Jackson wins both awards.
The King of Pop became the first Black artiste to win both of the top awards in the same year with his album Thriller and his smash hit Beat It.
1977: Stevie Wonder & George Benson
Stevie Wonder took home the Album of the Year with his double album Key of Life, while George Benson took home the Record of the Year for his jazzy take on Leon Russell’s “This Masquerade.”
1974: Stevie Wonder & Roberta Flack
Stevie Wonder became the first Black artiste to win Album of the Year as a lead artiste with his Innervisions album, and Roberta Flack took home the Record of the Year for the second year in a row with the sublime Killing Me Softly With His Song after winning the category the previous year with her “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” song, which made her the first artiste to win back-to-back awards in this category.
