Grammy Award for Best Blues Album

The Grammy Award for Best Blues Album was 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 releasing albums in the blues 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 Blues Album
Awarded for	quality vocal or instrumental blues albums
Country	United States
Presented by	National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences
First awarded	2012
Last awarded	2016
Website	Grammy.com

According to the 54th Grammy Awards guideline the category was "for albums containing at least 51% playing time of new vocal or instrumental blues recordings".^[3]

This award combined the previous categories for Best Contemporary Blues Album and Best Traditional Blues Album, which both existed between 1983 and 2011. The Recording Academy decided to create this new category for 2012 upon stating there were "challenges in distinguishing between... Contemporary and Traditional Blues".^[4]

In 2017 the distinction between contemporary and traditional blues albums was reinstated. Both categories returned, while the Best Blues Album category was discontinued.^[5]

Recipients

Year[I]	Performing artist(s)	Work	Nominees	Ref.
2012	Tedeschi Trucks Band	Revelator	Gregg Allman – Low Country Blues Marcia Ball – Roadside Attractions Warren Haynes – Man in Motion Keb' Mo' – The Reflection	[6]
2013	Dr. John	Locked Down	Shemekia Copeland – 33⅓ Ruthie Foster – Let It Burn Heritage Blues Orchestra – And Still I Rise Joan Osborne – Bring It On Home	[7]
2014	Ben Harper with Charlie Musselwhite	Get Up!	Billy Boy Arnold, Charlie Musselwhite, Mark Hummel, Sugar Ray Norcia & James Harman - Remembering Little Walter James Cotton - Cotton Mouth Man Beth Hart & Joe Bonamassa - Seesaw Bobby Rush - Down in Louisiana	[8]
2015	Johnny Winter	Step Back	Dave Alvin & Phil Alvin – Common Ground: Dave Alvin & Phil Alvin Play and Sing the Songs of Big Bill Broonzy Ruthie Foster — Promise of a Brand New Day Charlie Musselwhite – Juke Joint Chapel Bobby Rush with Blinddog Smokin' – Decisions	[9]
2016	Buddy Guy	Born to Play Guitar	Cedric Burnside Project - Descendants of Hill Country Shemekia Copeland - Outskirts of Love Bettye LaVette - Worthy John Primer & Various Artists - Muddy Waters 100	[10]

^{^[I]} Each year is linked to the article about the Grammy Awards held that year.

See also

• List of Grammy Award categories

References

1. "Grammy Awards at a Glance". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
2. "Overview". National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on January 3, 2011. Retrieved November 11, 2010.
3. "Category Mapper". National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Retrieved November 25, 2011.^{[permanent dead link‍]}
4. "Explanation For Category Restructuring". National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on December 3, 2011. Retrieved November 25, 2011.
5. "The Recording Academy Announces Rule Amendments and Dates for the 59th Annual Grammy Awards Process". GRAMMY.org. October 1, 2015. Retrieved July 23, 2016.
6. "2011 – 54th Annual Grammy Awards Nominees And Winners: Regional Roots Field". The Recording Academy. November 30, 2011.
7. "Dr. John Wins Grammy Award for Best Blues Album" Archived May 4, 2014, at the Wayback Machine, Times-Picayune, February 10, 2013. Retrieved February 15, 2016.
8. Appleford, Steve (January 29, 2014). "Ben Harper and Charlie Musselwhite Eager to Record Next Joint Album", Rolling Stone. Retrieved February 15, 2016.
9. Tobias, Mike (February 8, 2015). "Winter's Step Back Wins Grammy for Best Blues Album", Beaumont Enterprise. Retrieved February 15, 2016.
10. Brasted, Chelsea (February 15, 2016). "Jon Cleary, Buddy Guy Win at Grammys" Archived August 24, 2017, at the Wayback Machine, Times-Picayune. Retrieved February 15, 2016.

External links

• Official Site of the Grammy Awards