These are recognized as the four major categories in which a musician can receive an award at the Grammys. The criteria for two of these—Song of the Year & Record of the Year—often gets mixed up. Here is how those work:

— Song of the Year
** The award goes to the songwriter(s). It does not go to the singer (unless they wrote it), the producers, or the engineers.

— Record of the Year
** The award goes to the recording artist (the singer), the producers, the recording engineers, the mixing engineers, and the mastering engineers. It does not go to the songwriter unless they also performed or worked on the recording.

Here are the lists of winners in R&B music for the Grammy Award categories of “Best New Artist”, “Album of the Year”, “Song of the Year”, and “Record of the Year”:

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Best New Artist

Natalie Cole

1996 (first R&B artist, first African-American artist)

Sade (BAND)

1986

Jody Watley

1988

Milli Vanilli

1990
❌ — LATER RESCINDED

Mariah Carey

1991

Toni Braxton

1994

Lauryn Hill

1999

Alicia Keys

2002

John Legend

2006

Amy Winehouse

2008

Victoria Monét

2024

Album of the Year

Innervisions (Stevie Wonder)

1974

Fulfillingness’ First Finale (Stevie Wonder)

1975

Songs In The Key Of Life (Stevie Wonder)

1977

Thriller (Michael Jackson)

1984

Can’t Slow Down (Lionel Richie)

1985

Back On The Block (Quincy Jones)

1991

Unforgettable… With Love (Natalie Cole)

1992

*The Bodyguard (Original Soundtrack Album) (Whitney Houston & Various Artists)

1994

The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (Lauryn Hill)

1999

Genius Loves Company (Ray Charles & Various Artists)

2005

**24K Magic (Bruno Mars)

2018

WE ARE (Jon Batiste)

2022

COWBOY CARTER (Beyoncé)

2025

Song of the Year

An asterisk (*) indicates that the respective song also won “Record of the Year”, and will therefore be recognized in the next list (with a second asterisk that traces it back to this list).

Roberta Flack - The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face *
🏆 Written by Ewan MacColl
~ 1973

Roberta Flack - Killing Me Softly With His Song *
🏆 Written by Norman Gimbel & Charles Fox
~ 1974

Tina Turner - What’s Love Got To Do With It *
🏆 Written by Graham Lyle & Terry Britten
~ 1985

USA for Africa - We Are the World *
🏆 Written by Michael Jackson & Lionel Richie
~ 1986

Dionne Warwick, Elton John, Gladys Knight, Stevie Wonder - That’s What Friends Are For
🏆 Written by Burt Bacharach & Carole Bayer Sager
~ 1987

Natalie Cole (with Nat King Cole) - Unforgettable *
🏆 Written by Irving Gordon
~ 1992

Peabo Bryson & Regina Belle - A Whole New World
🏆 Written by Alan Menken & Tim Rice
~ 1994

Alicia Keys - Fallin’
🏆 Written by Alicia Keys
~ 2002

Luther Vandross - Dance With My Father
🏆 Written by Richard Marx & Luther Vandross
~ 2004

Amy Winehouse - Rehab *
🏆 Written by Amy Winehouse
~ 2008

Beyoncé - Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)
🏆 Written by Thaddis Harrell, Beyoncé Knowles, Terius Nash, Christopher Stewart
~ 2010

Bruno Mars - That’s What I Like
🏆 Written by Christopher Brody Brown, James Fauntleroy, Philip Lawrence, Bruno Mars, Ray Charles McCullough II, Jeremy Reeves, Ray Romulus, Jonathan Yip
~ 2018

H.E.R. - I Can’t Breathe
🏆 Written by Dernst Emile II, H.E.R., Tiara Thomas
~ 2021

Silk Sonic - Leave The Door Open *
🏆 Written by Brandon Anderson, Christopher Brody Brown, Dernst Emile II, Bruno Mars
~ 2022

Record of the Year

An asterisk (*) indicates that the respective song also won “Song of the Year” and was therefore marked as such in the respective list above. The asterisk here is so that the respective song can be traced back to the previous “Song of the Year” winners list.

Roberta Flack - The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face *
🏆 Performer: Roberta Flack
🏆 Producer: Joel Dorn
~ 1973

Roberta Flack - Killing Me Softly With His Song *
🏆 Performer: Roberta Flack
🏆 Producer: Joel Dorn
~ 1974

George Benson - This Masquerade
🏆 Performer: George Benson
🏆 Producer: Tommy LiPuma
~ 1977

Michael Jackson - Beat It
🏆 Performer: Michael Jackson
🏆 Producers: Michael Jackson, Quincy Jones
~ 1984

Tina Turner - What’s Love Got To Do With It *
🏆 Performer: Tina Turner
🏆 Producer: Terry Britten
~ 1985

USA for Africa - We Are the World *
🏆 Performer: USA for Africa
🏆 Producer: Quincy Jones
~ 1986

Natalie Cole (with Nat King Cole) - Unforgettable *
🏆 Performers: Natalie Cole, Nat King Cole
🏆 Producer: David Foster
~ 1992

Whitney Houston - I Will Always Love You
🏆 Performer: Whitney Houston
🏆 Producer: David Foster
~ 1994

Ray Charles (ft. Norah Jones) - Here We Go Again
🏆 Performers: Ray Charles & Norah Jones
🏆 Producer: John Burk
🏆 Engineers: Mark Fleming, Terry Howard
🏆 Mixer: Al Schmitt
~ 2005

Amy Winehouse - Rehab *
🏆 Performer: Amy Winehouse
🏆 Producer: Mark Ronson
🏆 Engineers: Tom Elmhirst, Mark Ronson, Dom Morley, Vaughan Merrick, Gabriel Roth
~ 2008

Mark Ronson (ft. Bruno Mars) - Uptown Funk
🏆 Performers: Mark Ronson & Bruno Mars
🏆 Producers: Jeff Bhasker, Bruno Mars, Mark Ronson
🏆 Engineers: Josh Blair, Wayne Gordon, Inaam Haq, Boo Mitchell, Charles Moniz, Mark Ronson, Tom Coyne
🏆 Mixers: Serban Ghenea, John Hanes
~ 2016

Bruno Mars - 24K Magic
🏆 Performer: Bruno Mars
🏆 Producers: Shampoo Press & Curl
🏆 Engineers: Charles Moniz, Tom Coyne
🏆 Mixers: Serban Ghenea, John Hanes

Silk Sonic - Leave The Door Open *
🏆 Performer: Silk Sonic
🏆 Producers: Dernst “D’Mile” Emile II, Bruno Mars
🏆 Engineers: Charles Moniz, Randy Merrill 🏆 Mixers: Serban Ghenea, John Hanes