These three years of widely dispersed awards have been inconsistent in recent decades. In general, we are seeing more scans, or at least mini scans in the Big Four categories than before. If you feel that a statistic is coming, you are right: in the 31 years between the second year of the Grammy, 1959 (when the category of best new artist was introduced, completing the four awards) and 1989, no artist, composer The producer won more than one Big Four award a total of 15 times – almost half the time.
But in the 31 years between 1990 and 2020, the Four Grand Prizes took place in four different ways only six times. Such a result is becoming a rarity.
Here are the six times since 1990 that no artist has won more than one of the Big Four awards:
1990 (filed on February 20, 1991): Album: Quincy Jones’ Back to the block; record: “Another Day in Paradise” by Phil Collins; music: “From a Distance”, Julie Gold, composer; new artist: Mariah Carey.
1996 (filed on February 26, 1997): Album: Celine Dion’s Falling on you; album: “Change the World” by Eric Clapton; music: “Change the World” (Gordon Kennedy, Wayne Kirkpatrick and Tommy Sims, composers); new artist: LeAnn Rimes.
2003 (filed on February 8, 2004): Album: OutKast’s Speakerboxxx / The Love Below; record: Coldplay’s “Clocks”; music: “Dance With My Father” (Richard Marx and Luther Vandross, composers); new artist: Evanescence.
2009 (filed on January 31, 2010): Album: Swift’s Fearless; record: “Use Somebody” by Kings of Leon; music: “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)” (Kuk Harrell, Beyoncé, Terius “Dream” Nash and Chris “Tricky” Stewart, composers); new artist: Zac Brown Band.
2015 (filed on February 15, 2016): Album: Swift’s 1989; album: “Uptown Funk!” Mark Ronson / Bruno Mars; music: “Thinking Out Loud” (Ed Sheeran and Amy Wadge, composers); new artist: Meghan Trainor.
2020 (filed March 14, 2021): Album: Swift’s Folklore; album: “Everything I Wanted” by Eilish; music: “I Can’t Breathe” (Dernst Emile II, HER and Tiara Thomas, composers); new artist: Megan Thee Stallion.
Post-script: As you probably know, the only artist to win the Grand Prix before Eilish was Christopher Cross, at the 1980 Grammy. The following year (as it did this year, after Eilish’s scan), no artist won more than one of the Big Four awards. John Lennon and Yoko Ono won the album of the year in Double fantasy. “Bette Davis Eyes”, by Kim Carnes, won the record of the year. That success, written by Jackie DeShannon and Donna Weiss, won the song of the year. Sheena Easton won the award for best new artist.