Grammy Award for Song of the Year


The Grammy Award for Song of the Year is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards. The Song of the Year award is one of the four most prestigious categories at the awards presented annually since the 1st Grammy Awards in 1959. According to the 54th Grammy Awards description guide, the award is presented:
If a winning song contains samples or interpolations of existing material, the publisher and songwriter of the original song can apply for a Winners Certificate.
Song of the Year is related to but is conceptually different from Record of the Year or Album of the Year:
The Song of the Year awards have been awarded since 1959. It is one of the four most prestigious Grammy Awards. Despite both the Record of the Year award and Song of the Year being awarded for a single or for one track from an album, this award goes only to the composer of the song whereas the Record of the Year award goes to the performer and production team of the song. According to the 54th Grammy Awards description guide, the award is given to the songwriter of a song that "must contain melody and lyrics and must be either a new song or a song first achieving prominence during the eligibility year. Songs containing prominent samples or interpolations are not eligible".
Since the late 1960s other songwriter's awards have been presented for genre-specific categories including Grammy Award for Best Country Song, Grammy Award for Best R&B Song, Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media, Grammy Award for Best Rock Song, and most recently Grammy Award for Best Rap Song, Grammy Award for Best Gospel Song, Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Christian Music Song, Grammy Award for Best American Roots Song, Grammy Award for Best Gospel Performance/Song, and Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song.
Thirty-one of the winning songs have also won the award for Record of the Year.
The category was expanded to include eight nominees in 2019.

Achievements

In many cases, the songwriters were also the performers.
Multiple winners in this category include Henry Mancini, Johnny Mercer, James Horner, Will Jennings, U2, and Adele, winning two times each. However, songs written for Andy Williams, Barbra Streisand, Bette Midler, and Roberta Flack have received this award twice.
Paul McCartney and Lionel Richie have the most Song of the Year nominations amongst songwriters with six each. Both won once, McCartney for "Michelle" and Richie for "We Are the World". With four nominations, Marilyn Bergman and Taylor Swift are the most nominated female songwriters in the history of the award. Bergman won for "The Way We Were".
The first woman to win the award was Carole King in 1972, for "You've Got a Friend". Adele was the first female songwriter to win the award twice, winning for "Rolling in the Deep" and "Hello".
Lorde is the youngest songwriter to win in the category, winning for "Royals" in 2014 at the age of 17.
Christopher Cross and Billie Eilish are the only artists to receive the Grammys for Song of the Year as well as Record of the Year, Album of the Year, and Best New Artist in a single ceremony. Adele is the first artist to receive the award for Song of the Year, Record of the Year, Best New Artist, and Album of the Year, nonconsecutively, and first woman to accomplish this feat. Only six artists have won the Song of the Year and Best New Artist awards the same year: Christopher Cross, Alicia Keys, Amy Winehouse, Fun, Sam Smith and Billie Eilish ; Marvin Hamlisch is only composer to win the Song of the Year and Best New Artist awards the same year in 1975 for "The Way We Were".
The song "Nel blu, dipinto di blu ", winner in 1959, written by Domenico Modugno and performed in Italian, is the only foreign-language song to win this award, although the 1967 winner "Michelle" penned by Lennon–McCartney for The Beatles to perform, has a critical part of its lyrics in French.
The first and only tie in this category in Grammy history took place in 1978, when both Barbra Streisand's & Paul Williams' "Evergreen " and Joe Brooks' "You Light Up My Life" win the award.
The Ernest Gold's song "Theme of Exodus", which won in 1961, is the only instrumental song to ever receive this award.
The first time in Grammy history that two different songs with the same title have been nominated in this category happened with "Hello" written by Lionel Richie in 1985 and "Hello" by Adele & Greg Kurstin in 2017.
Since creation of this category, no songwriter has won Song of the Year twice in a row.

Process

Members of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences nominate their choices for song of the year. A list of the top twenty records is given to the Nominations Review Committee, a specially selected group of anonymous members, who then select the top eight records to gain a nomination in the category in a special ballot. The rest of the members then vote a winner from the five nominees. In 2018, it was announced the number of nominated tracks will be increased to eight

Recipients

YearWinnerNationalityWorkPerforming artistNomineesRef.
1959Domenico ModugnoItaly"Nel blu, dipinto di blu " *Domenico Modugno
1960Jimmy DriftwoodUnited States"The Battle of New Orleans"Johnny Horton
1961Ernest GoldUnited States
Austria
"Theme of Exodus"Instrumental
1962Henry Mancini
Johnny Mercer
United States"Moon River" *Henry Mancini
1963Leslie Bricusse
Anthony Newley
United Kingdom"What Kind of Fool Am I?"Sammy Davis Jr.
1964Henry Mancini
Johnny Mercer
United States"Days of Wine and Roses" *Henry Mancini
1965Jerry HermanUnited States"Hello, Dolly!"Louis Armstrong
1966Paul Francis Webster
Johnny Mandel
United States"The Shadow of Your Smile"Tony Bennett
1967John Lennon
Paul McCartney
United Kingdom"Michelle"The Beatles
1968Jimmy WebbUnited States"Up, Up, and Away" *The 5th Dimension
1969Bobby RussellUnited States"Little Green Apples"O. C. Smith
1970Joe SouthUnited States"Games People Play"Joe South
1971Paul SimonUnited States"Bridge over Troubled Water" *Simon & Garfunkel
1972Carole KingUnited States"You've Got a Friend"James Taylor & Carole King
1973Ewan MacCollUnited Kingdom"The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" *Roberta Flack
1974Norman Gimbel
Charles Fox
United States"Killing Me Softly with His Song" *Roberta Flack
1975Alan and Marilyn Bergman
Marvin Hamlisch
United States"The Way We Were"Barbra Streisand
1976Stephen SondheimUnited States"Send in the Clowns"Judy Collins
1977Bruce JohnstonUnited States"I Write the Songs"Barry Manilow
1978Barbra Streisand
Paul Williams
United States"Evergreen "Barbra Streisand
1978Joe BrooksUnited States"You Light Up My Life"Debby Boone-
1979Billy JoelUnited States"Just the Way You Are" *Billy Joel
1980Kenny Loggins
Michael McDonald
United States"What a Fool Believes" *The Doobie Brothers
1981Christopher CrossUnited States"Sailing" *Christopher Cross
1982Donna Weiss
Jackie DeShannon
United States"Bette Davis Eyes" *Kim Carnes
1983Johnny Christopher
Mark James
Wayne Carson
United States"Always on My Mind"Willie Nelson
1984StingUnited Kingdom"Every Breath You Take"The Police
1985Graham Lyle
Terry Britten
United Kingdom
Australia
"What's Love Got to Do with It" *Tina Turner
1986Michael Jackson
Lionel Richie
United States"We Are the World" *USA for Africa
1987Burt Bacharach
Carole Bayer Sager
United States"That's What Friends Are For"Dionne Warwick & Friends
1988James Horner
Barry Mann
Cynthia Weil
United States"Somewhere Out There"Linda Ronstadt & James Ingram
1989Bobby McFerrinUnited States"Don't Worry, Be Happy" *Bobby McFerrin
1990Larry Henley
Jeff Silbar
United States"Wind Beneath My Wings" *Bette Midler
1991Julie GoldUnited States"From a Distance"Bette Midler
1992Irving GordonUnited States"Unforgettable" *Natalie Cole with Nat King Cole
1993Eric Clapton
Will Jennings
United Kingdom
United States
"Tears in Heaven" *Eric Clapton
1994Alan Menken
Tim Rice
United States
United Kingdom
"A Whole New World"Peabo Bryson & Regina Belle
1995Bruce SpringsteenUnited States"Streets of Philadelphia"Bruce Springsteen
1996SealUnited Kingdom"Kiss from a Rose" *Seal
1997Gordon Kennedy
Wayne Kirkpatrick
Tommy Sims
United States"Change the World" *Eric Clapton
1998Shawn Colvin
John Leventhal
United States"Sunny Came Home" *Shawn Colvin
1999James Horner
Will Jennings
United States"My Heart Will Go On" *Celine Dion
2000Itaal Shur
Rob Thomas
United States"Smooth" *Santana featuring Rob Thomas
2001Adam Clayton
David Evans
Larry Mullen Jr.
Paul Hewson
Ireland"Beautiful Day" *U2
2002Alicia KeysUnited States"Fallin'"Alicia Keys
2003Jesse HarrisUnited States"Don't Know Why" *Norah Jones
2004Richard Marx
Luther Vandross
United States"Dance with My Father"Luther Vandross
2005John MayerUnited States"Daughters"John Mayer
2006Adam Clayton
David Evans
Larry Mullen Jr.
Paul Hewson
Ireland"Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own"U2
2007Emily Robison
Martie Maguire
Natalie Maines
Dan Wilson
United States"Not Ready to Make Nice" *Dixie Chicks
2008Amy WinehouseUnited Kingdom"Rehab" *Amy Winehouse
2009Guy Berryman
Jonny Buckland
Will Champion
Chris Martin
United Kingdom"Viva la Vida"Coldplay
2010Thaddis Harrell
Beyoncé Knowles
Terius Nash
Christopher Stewart
United States"Single Ladies "Beyoncé
2011Dave Haywood
Josh Kear
Charles Kelley
Hillary Scott
United States"Need You Now" *Lady Antebellum
2012Adele Adkins
Paul Epworth
United Kingdom"Rolling in the Deep" *Adele
2013Nate Ruess
Jack Antonoff
Jeff Bhasker
Andrew Dost
United States"We Are Young"Fun featuring Janelle Monáe
2014Joel Little
Ella Yelich-O'Connor
New Zealand"Royals"Lorde
2015James Napier
William Phillips
Sam Smith
United Kingdom"Stay with Me" *Sam Smith
2016Ed Sheeran
Amy Wadge
United Kingdom"Thinking Out Loud"Ed Sheeran
2017Adele Adkins
Greg Kurstin
United Kingdom
United States
"Hello" *Adele
2018Christopher Brody Brown
James Fauntleroy
Philip Lawrence
Bruno Mars
Ray Charles McCullough II
Jeremy Reeves
Ray Romulus
Jonathan Yip
United States"That's What I Like"Bruno Mars
2019Donald Glover
Ludwig Göransson
Jeffery Lamar Williams
United States
Sweden
"This Is America" *Childish Gambino
2020Billie Eilish O'Connell & Finneas O'ConnellUnited States"Bad Guy" *Billie Eilish