You may have heard that women won Big Four awards at the 2023 Latin Grammys for the first time in the show’s 24-year history. The show was held in Seville, Spain on 16 November.
Colombian singer Karol G wins album of the year tomorrow will be betterwhich made history as the first all-Spanish language album by a woman to reach No. 1 Board 200. Mexican singer Natalia Lafourcade won Record of the Year for “De Todos las Flores”. Colombian superstar Shakira won Song of the Year for “BJRP Music Sessions, Vol. 53”, which was a top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100. (Shakira wrote the song with a male collaborator, Bizarrap.) Venezuelan singer Joaquina, at just 19, took best new artist.
Female artists – whether solo artists or group members – have won each of the Big Four awards at the Grammy Awards six times. We’ll take a closer look at those six occasions, but first we’ll discuss one situation that came close, but didn’t quite match the others.
In 2008, Amy Winehouse won Record of the Year and Song of the Year for “Rehab”, a top 10 hit on the Hot 100. He also won the Best New Artist award. Herbie Hancock wins Album of the Year River: The Joni Letters, Five women – Norah Jones, Joni Mitchell, Corinne Bailey Rae, Luciana Souza and Tina Turner – won Grammys as featured artists on that album, but Hancock was the lead artist.
Here are the six times female artists – either solo artists or full group members – have won each of the Big Four Awards at the Grammy Awards.
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14th Annual Grammy Awards
date: 14 March 1972
notes: Carole King became the first woman to win album, record and song of the year awards on the same night. she won tapestry, “It’s too late” and “You’ve got a friend,” respectively. Carly Simon won Best New Artist on the strength of her eponymous debut album, which included the top 10 hit “That’s the Way I’ve Always Heard It Should Be” on the Hot 100.
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24th Annual Grammy Awards
date: February 24, 1982
notes: John Lennon and Yoko Ono double fantasy Won Album of the Year. Kim Carnes’ “Bette Davis Eyes” won record of the year. That song, written by Jackie DeShannon and Donna Weiss, won Song of the Year in 1974. Scottish singer Sheena Easton won best new artist.
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49th Annual Grammy Awards
date: February 11, 2007
notes: The Chicks – then known as the Dixie Chicks – won Album of the Year take the long route and Record and Song of the Year for “Not Ready to Make Nice”, in which he discussed his still-tender feelings amid the heated backlash following Natalie Maines’ comment that the band was “embarrassed” that President George W. Bush is from Texas. The trio – Mains and sisters Martie Maguire and Emily Robison (now Strayer) – co-wrote the song with Dan Wilson. Carrie Underwood won the Best New Artist award and became the only American Idol The winner will also receive the Best New Artist Award.
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52nd Annual Grammy Awards
date: January 31, 2010
notes: Lady A – then known as Lady Antebellum – won record and song of the year for her country/pop crossover smash “Need You Now”. Arcade Fire wins Album of the Year Suburb, Jazz bassist and singer Esperanza Spalding was the upset winner of Best New Artist. Hilary Scott is a member of Lady A (with Dave Haywood and Charles Kelly). The group members co-wrote the song with Josh Care. At the time, Régine Chassagne and Sarah Neufeld were members of Arcade Fire (along with Will Butler, Win Butler, Jeremy Gara, Tim Kingsbury and Richard Reed Parry). Neufeld and Will Butler have since parted ways with the group.
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62nd Annual Grammy Awards
date: January 26, 2020
notes: Teenage genius Billie Eilish rocks the Big Four categories, taking home Album of the Year for her debut album When we all fall asleep, where do we go?, Record and Song of the Year for “Bad Guy” (which he co-wrote with his brother and collaborator Finneas) and Best New Artist.
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63rd Annual Grammy Awards
date: 14 March 2021
notes: Taylor Swift wins album of the year folk literature, becoming the first woman to win three times. Billie Eilish won Record of the Year for “Everything I Wanted”, becoming the first woman to win in the category two years in a row since Roberta Flack in 1973–74. HER and Tiara Thomas won Song of the Year for the BLM anthem “I Can’t Breathe” (which they co-wrote with Durst Emile II, better known as D’Emile). Megan Thee Stallion won Best New Artist.