The Grammys’ Most Decorated Artist Is Still Gunning For Album Of The Year…As She Should
“You gotta keep showing up until they give you all those accolades you feel you deserve. Until they call you chairman, until they call you genius, until they call you the greatest of all time, you feel me?”
– Shawn “JAY-Z” Carter
Beyoncé, with 32 wins, is the most decorated Grammy-winner of all time. This year’s announcement of the 2025 nominees yielded 11 nods for Cowboy Carter. That’s one more than Michael Jackson’s iconic 1984 album, Thriller, making it the single most Grammy-nominated body of work of all time. The Houston diva also has the record for most nominations ever at a staggering 99.
With these kinds of numbers on the board, it is easy for critics to roll their eyes at the idea of Bey being dissatisfied with a lack of major award recognition. There are artists who’ve been out just as long – or longer – than Bey who would kill for the kind of accolades she’s already received from the Recording Academy, and in the eyes of some pop/R&B peers who’ve lost to her repeatedly, she is definitely a Grammy-darling. So what the hell is the problem?
To be fair, it isn’t Beyoncé – or even her Parkwood collective – publicizing her dissatisfaction with constantly losing the Album of the Year (AOTY) category to her pop, rock, and usually white colleagues. Whenever this happens, however, you can expect a think piece or five on exactly why she has no chance against the Taylors, Adeles, and Harrys of the world. And yes, it often comes down to not only race, but genre.
Out of her 32 Grammys, Beyoncé only has one Big Four (Best New Artist, Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Album of the Year) win under her belt, as her undeniable smash “Single Ladies” earned her the Song of the Year trophy in 2010. She also has two Best Music Video wins (“Formation,” “Brown Skin Girl”), one Best Music Film win (Homecoming: A Film By Beyoncé), one engineering win for Best Surround Sound Album (Beyoncé), and one Best Female Pop Vocal Performance win (“Halo”). She also earned two Dance/Electronic awards for her 2022 album, Renaissance.
Beyoncé’s remaining 24 Grammys all fall under various R&B and (a sprinkling of) Hip-Hop categories, and while she is an R&B girlie at heart, Bey’s artistry, influence, and popularity place her among the pop/rock superstars who regularly pick up Song and Record of the Year trophies while beating her out for AOTY – an award she’s lost a total of four times (Renaissance, Lemonade, Beyonce?, and I Am… Sasha Fierce).
It just doesn’t feel coincidental that, while she will likely win over her R&B contemporaries, she is rarely acknowledged by The Recording Academy with big wins, wins that would stamp her as an overall force within music. Instead, she has been relegated to being deemed “the best” of a certain genre, no doubt one factor in Bey venturing outside of R&B, forcing Academy voters to see her as more than a soulful songstress with the aforementioned Renaissance and Cowboy Carter albums.
During his 2024 Dr. Dre Global Impact Award acceptance speech, husband JAY-Z advocated for his partner to receive an AOTY trophy, comparing her repeatedly being snubbed to the Grammys treating Hip-Hop with little respect over the years, arguing, “We love y’all. We want y’all to get it right, at least get it close to right.” He went on to acknowledge that art is subjective before essentially adding, “but let’s be f**kin’ for real, here.”
“I don’t want to embarrass this young lady, but she has more Grammys than anyone and never won album of the year. So even by your own metrics, that doesn’t work,” Hov suggested before telling the crowd you have to “keep showing up” if you want the recognition you feel you deserve (Perhaps a subtle message to the Mrs?).
Either way, there seem to be a significant amount of Academy members who feel Bey has simply won too many awards to deserve more, as evidenced by anonymous voters who shared their reasoning with Variety following the 2023 Grammys. One even acknowledged their irritation at Beyoncé album drops becoming events within themselves that the public is expected to fawn over, voting against her perceived pomposity in an act of rebellion. While the specific example is anecdotal, it signals the general thought process of voters who feel Bey is too self-obsessed and needs to be knocked down a peg, a pretty standard script when attempting to keep Black women in check.
Some question this need for AOTY Grammy validation at all, with the most cynical observers chalking it up to the star’s “ego” needing to be stroked every awards season. While it would be na?ve to say an AOTY win wouldn’t have her bursting with pride, those who’ve been paying close attention know there’s a deeper significance for Bey, both professionally and personally.
The Grammys are the most respected record of musical excellence in existence, whether we like it or not. These are the records that future generations will look back upon to determine the best of the absolute best. For an artist like Beyoncé, who weaves history, politics, trauma, sensuality, and more into complex sonic tapestries, recognition is more than an ego play. It signals a desire for the depths of one’s work to truly be heard. Processed. Analyzed. Studied. VALUED. There are no accidents when it comes to what she offers the general public, particularly because she’s been intentional in leaving behind a legacy that cannot be denied, and with women’s accomplishments often subject to erasure, winning AOTY solidifies that legacy for posterity, which she most recently examined on Grammy-nominated single “16 Carriages.”
“For legacy, if it’s the last thing I do, you’ll remember me, ’cause we got somethin’ to prove.”
Beyoncé
The fact that she still feels as if she has something to prove within music speaks to this desire to show, beyond a doubt, that she is one of the greatest artists of all time. I truly believe this is why she’s all Virgo about earning that AOTY accolade, perhaps even next spring when Cowboy Carter goes up against Andre 3000’s Jazzy-flute project New Blue Sun and – surprise, surprise – six white pop stars.
Even if she doesn’t take home the show’s biggest prize, you better believe she’ll be back with another phenomenal body of work up for consideration, because if it’s one thing Bey gon’ do, it’s show up until they call her the GOAT, you feel me?
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