Grammy Award for Best Bluegrass Album

The Grammy Award for Best Bluegrass Album is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards,^[1] to recording artists for quality works (songs or albums) in the bluegrass music genre. Honors in several categories are presented at the ceremony annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without regard to album sales or chart position".^[2]

Grammy Award for Best Bluegrass Album
Awarded for	Quality works in the bluegrass music genre
Country	United States
Presented by	National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences
First award	1989
Currently held by	Billy Strings – Live Vol. 1 (2025)
Website	grammy.com

Originally called the Grammy Award for Best Bluegrass Recording (Vocal or Instrumental),^[3] the award was first presented in 1989. In 1990 and 1991, the category was renamed Best Bluegrass Recording, and in 1990, the award was reserved for singles rather than albums. Since 1992, the award has been presented under the category Best Bluegrass Album. Beginning in 1993, award recipients often included the producers, engineers, and/or mixers associated with the nominated work in addition to the recording artists.^[4] In 1995 and 1997, producers of compilation albums were the only award recipients.

The inaugural recipient of the award was Bill Monroe, widely considered to be the founder of the genre. Alison Krauss has the most wins in the category, with six, including five with her band Union Station who are tied with Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder for second most wins. Jim Lauderdale, Nashville Bluegrass Band, and Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway are the only other acts to have won more than once, with two awards each. Del McCoury holds the record for most nominations, with ten, while Doyle Lawson, Noam Pickelny, Peter Rowan, and The Seldom Scene have the most nominations without a win, with four. In 2018, the first tie in the history of the category occurred, with the award being presented to both Rhonda Vincent and The Infamous Stringdusters. The current recipient of the award is Billy Strings, who won at the 67th Annual Grammy Awards.

Recipients

Six-time award winner Alison Krauss, performing in 2007

Five-time award winner Ricky Skaggs (along with Kentucky Thunder), performing in 2007

2001 award winner Dolly Parton

Two-time award winner Jim Lauderdale

2003 award winner Ralph Stanley

Four-time recipient Jerry Douglas has won as a member of both Union Station and The Earls of Leicester

Two-time winners The Del McCoury Band

2010 award winner Steve Martin

Rhonda Vincent received the award in 2018 following five previous nominations

2021 and 2025 recipient Billy Strings.

Béla Fleck won in 2022 following two prior nominations.

Two-time winners Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway.

Year[I]	Performing artist(s)	Work	Nominees	Ref.
1989	Bill Monroe	Southern Flavor	Béla Fleck – Drive David Grisman – Home Is Where the Heart Is Peter Rowan and the Nashville Bluegrass Band – New Moon Rising The Seldom Scene – 15th Anniversary Celebration	[3]
1990	Bruce Hornsby and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band	"The Valley Road"	Doug Dillard Band – Heartbreak Hotel Johnson Mountain Boys – At the Old Schoolhouse Alison Krauss and Union Station – Two Highways Bill Monroe and the Bluegrass Boys – Live at the Opry	[5]
1991	Alison Krauss	"I've Got That Old Feeling"	Hot Rize – Take It Home Mac Wiseman – Grassroots to Bluegrass Nashville Bluegrass Band – The Boys Are Back in Town The Dillards – "Darlin' Boys"	[6]
1992	Carl Jackson and John Starling	Spring Training	Alison Brown – Simple Pleasures Jim & Jesse – Music Among Friends Nashville Bluegrass Band – Home of the Blues Osborne Brothers – Hillbilly Fever	[7]
1993	Alison Krauss and Union Station	Every Time You Say Goodbye	Larry Cordle, Glen Duncan and Lonesome Standard Time – Larry Cordle, Glen Duncan & Lonesome Standard Time Jerry Douglas – Slide Rule David Grisman, Herb Pedersen, Red Allen, Jim Buchanan, James Kerwin and Jerry Garcia – Bluegrass Reunion The Seldom Scene – Scene 20: 20th Anniversary Concert	[8]
1994	Nashville Bluegrass Band	Waitin' for the Hard Times to Go	Stuart Duncan – Stuart Duncan Johnson Mountain Boys – Blue Diamond Tony Rice – Tony Rice Plays and Sings Bluegrass Ralph Stanley – Saturday Night & Sunday Morning	[9]
1995	Various artists[II]	The Great Dobro Sessions	J. D. Crowe and the New South – Flashback Del McCoury – A Deeper Shade of Blue Osborne Brothers – When the Roses Bloom in Dixieland The Seldom Scene – Like We Used to Be	[10]
1996	Nashville Bluegrass Band	Unleashed	Byron Berline – Fiddle and a Song The Cox Family – Beyond the City Claire Lynch – Moonlighter Rose Maddox – $35 and a Dream	[11]
1997	Various artists[III]	True Life Blues: The Songs of Bill Monroe	Del McCoury Band – The Cold Hard Facts Tim O'Brien – Red on Blonde Peter Rowan – Bluegrass Boy Various artists – The Stanley Tradition: Tribute to a Bluegrass Legacy	[12]
1998	Alison Krauss and Union Station	So Long So Wrong	Richard Greene and The Grass Is Greener – Sales Tax Toddle Claire Lynch – Silver and Gold Kate MacKenzie – Age of Innocence Ralph Stanley – Short Life of Trouble	[13]
1999	Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder	Bluegrass Rules!	Jim & Jesse – Songs from the Homeplace Nashville Bluegrass Band – American Beauty Ralph Stanley and Friends – Clinch Mountain Country Doc and Merle Watson – Home Sweet Home	[14]
2000		Ancient Tones	Steve Earle and the Del McCoury Band – The Mountain Béla Fleck – The Bluegrass Sessions David Grisman, Ricky Skaggs, Sam Bush, Jesse McReynolds, and Frank Wakefield – Bluegrass Mandolin Extravaganza Jim Lauderdale, Ralph Stanley, and the Clinch Mountain Boys – I Feel Like Singing Today	[15]
2001	Dolly Parton	The Grass Is Blue	Alison Brown – Fair Weather Larry Cordle and Lonesome Standard Time – Murder On Music Row Nickel Creek – Nickel Creek Ricky Skaggs and Friends – Big Mon: The Songs of Bill Monroe	[16]
2002	Alison Krauss and Union Station	New Favorite	Patty Loveless – Mountain Soul Dolly Parton – Little Sparrow Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder – History of the Future Ralph Stanley and Friends – Clinch Mountain Sweethearts	[17]
2003	Clinch Mountain Boys, Jim Lauderdale, and Ralph Stanley	Lost in the Lonesome Pines	Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver – The Hard Game of Love Ralph Stanley – Ralph Stanley Ralph Stanley II – Stanley Blues Roland White Band – Jelly on My Tofu	[18]
2004	Alison Krauss and Union Station	Live	Del McCoury Band – It's Just the Night Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder – Live at the Charleston Music Hall Various artists – Christmas on the Mountain: A Bluegrass Christmas Rhonda Vincent – One Step Ahead	[19]
2005	Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder	Brand New Strings	Lynn Anderson – The Bluegrass Sessions Nashville Bluegrass Band – Twenty Year Blues Ralph Stanley II – Carrying On Various artists – A Tribute to Jimmy Martin: "The King of Bluegrass"	[20]
2006	Del McCoury Band	The Company We Keep	Blue Highway – Marbletown Cherryholmes – Cherryholmes Rhonda Vincent and The Rage – Ragin' Live The Grascals – The Grascals	[21]
2007	Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder	Instrumentals	Jim Lauderdale – Bluegrass Marty Stuart and His Fabulous Superlatives – Live at the Ryman The Grascals – Long List of Heartaches Rhonda Vincent – All American Bluegrass Girl	[22]
2008	Jim Lauderdale	The Bluegrass Diaries	Cherryholmes – Cherryholmes II: Black and White J. D. Crowe and the New South – Lefty's Old Guitar The Seldom Scene – Scenechronized Tony Trischka – Double Banjo Bluegrass Spectacular	[23]
2009	Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder	Honoring the Fathers of Bluegrass: Tribute to 1946 and 1947	Cherryholmes – Cherryholmes III: Don't Believe Del McCoury Band – Live at the 2008 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival Earl Scruggs with Family and Friends – The Ultimate Collection: Live at the Ryman Dan Tyminski – Wheels	[24]
2010	Steve Martin	The Crow: New Songs for the 5-String Banjo	Jim Lauderdale – Could We Get Any Closer? Michael Martin Murphey – Buckaroo Blue Grass Bryan Sutton and Friends – Almost Live Rhonda Vincent – Destination Life	[25]
2011	Patty Loveless	Mountain Soul II	Sam Bush – Circles Around Me Del McCoury Band – Family Circle Peter Rowan Bluegrass Band – Legacy The SteelDrivers – Reckless	[26]
2012	Alison Krauss and Union Station	Paper Airplane	Jim Lauderdale – Reason and Rhyme: Bluegrass Songs by Robert Hunter and Jim Lauderdale Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers – Rare Bird Alert Del McCoury Band – Old Memories: The Songs of Bill Monroe Ralph Stanley – A Mother's Prayer Chris Thile and Michael Daves – Sleep with One Eye Open
2013	Steep Canyon Rangers	Nobody Knows You	Dailey & Vincent – The Gospel Side Of... The Grascals – Life Finds a Way Noam Pikelny – Beat the Devil and Carry a Rail The Special Consensus – Scratch Gravel Road	[27]
2014	Del McCoury Band	The Streets of Baltimore	The Boxcars – It's Just a Road Dailey & Vincent – Brothers of the Highway Della Mae – This World Oft Can Be James King – Three Chords and the Truth
2015	The Earls of Leicester	The Earls of Leicester	Noam Pikelny – Noam Pikelny Plays Kenny Baker Plays Bill Monroe Frank Solivan and Dirty Kitchen – Cold Spell Bryan Sutton – Into My Own Rhonda Vincent – Only Me	[28]
2016	The SteelDrivers	The Muscle Shoals Recordings	Dale Ann Bradley – Pocket Full of Keys Rob Ickes and Trey Hensley – Before the Sun Goes Down Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver – In Session Ralph Stanley and Friends – Man of Constant Sorrow
2017	O'Connor Band with Mark O'Connor	Coming Home	Blue Highway – Original Traditional Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver – Burden Bearer Laurie Lewis & The Right Hands – The Hazel and Alice Sessions Claire Lynch – North by South	[29]
2018	Rhonda Vincent and the Rage	All the Rage	Michael Cleveland – Fiddler's Dream Bobby Osborne – Original Noam Pikelny – Universal Favorite	[30]
	The Infamous Stringdusters	Laws of Gravity
2019	The Travelin' McCourys	The Travelin' McCourys	Mike Barnett — Portraits in Fiddles Sister Sadie — II The Special Consensus — Rivers and Roads Wood & Wire — North of Despair	[31]
2020	Michael Cleveland	Tall Fiddler	Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver - Live in Prague, Czech Republic The Po'Ramblin' Boys - Toil, Tears & Trouble Missy Raines - Royal Traveller Frank Solivan & Dirty Kitchen - If You Can't Stand the Heat
2021	Billy Strings	Home	Danny Barnes - Man on Fire Thomm Jutz - To Live In Two Worlds, Vol. 1 Steep Canyon Rangers - North Carolina Songbook Various Artists - The John Hartford Fiddle Tune Project, Vol. 1	[32]
2022	Béla Fleck	My Bluegrass Heart	Billy Strings - Renewal The Infamous Stringdusters - A Tribute To Bill Monroe Sturgill Simpson - Cuttin' Grass Vol. 1 (Butcher Shoppe Sessions) Rhonda Vincent - Music Is What I See	[33]
2023	Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway	Crooked Tree	The Infamous Stringdusters – Toward the Fray Del McCoury Band – Almost Proud Peter Rowan – Calling You from My Mountain Yonder Mountain String Band – Get Yourself Outside	[34]
2024		City of Gold	Sam Bush - Radio John: Songs of John Hartford Michael Cleveland - Lovin' of the Game Mighty Poplar - Mighty Poplar Willie Nelson - Bluegrass Billy Strings - Me/And/Dad	[35]
2025	Billy Strings	Live Vol. 1	Bronwyn Keith-Hynes - I Built a World The Del McCoury Band - Songs of Love and Life Sister Sadie - No Fear Tony Trischka - Earl Jam Dan Tyminski - Live From The Ryman	[36]

^{^[I]} Each year is linked to the article about the Grammy Awards held that year.
^{^[II]} Awards were presented to Jerry Douglas and Tut Taylor as the producers of the album.
^{^[III]} An award was presented to Todd Phillips as the producer of the album.

Artists with multiple wins

6 wins

• Alison Krauss

5 wins

• Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder
• Union Station

2 wins

• Jim Lauderdale
• Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway
• Nashville Bluegrass Band
• Billy Strings

Artists with multiple nominations

10 nominations

• Del McCoury^[a]
• Del McCoury Band

9 nominations

• Ralph Stanley
• Ricky Skaggs

8 nominations

• Dan Tyminski^[b]

7 nominations

• Alison Krauss
• Kentucky Thunder
• Nashville Bluegrass Band
• Rhonda Vincent

6 nominations

• Jim Lauderdale
• Union Station

5 nominations

• Jerry Douglas^[c]

4 nominations

• Doyle Lawson
• Noam Pikelny^[d]
• Peter Rowan
• The Seldom Scene

3 nominations

• Béla Fleck
• Billy Strings
• Bobby Osborne^[e]
• Cherryholmes
• Claire Lynch
• David Grisman
• Jesse McReynolds^[f]
• Michael Cleveland
• Sam Bush
• Steep Canyon Rangers
• The Grascals
• The Infamous Stringdusters

2 nominations

• Alison Brown
• Bill Monroe
• Blue Highway
• Bryan Sutton
• Clinch Mountain Boys
• Dailey & Vincent
• Dolly Parton
• Frank Solivan and Dirty Kitchen
• J. D. Crowe and the New South
• Jim & Jesse
• Johnson Mountain Boys
• Larry Cordle and Lonesome Standard Time
• Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway
• Osborne Brothers
• Patty Loveless
• Steve Martin
• The Special Consensus
• The SteelDrivers
• Tony Trischka

Notes

1. Including nine as a member of Del McCoury Band
2. Including six as a member of Union Station
3. Including three as a member of Union Station, and one as a member of Earls of Leicester
4. Including one as a member of Mighty Poplar
5. Including two as a member of Osborne Brothers
6. Including two as a member of Jim & Jesse

See also

• International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame
• List of Grammy Award categories

References

General

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