Escuchar artículo

As we all know, Bad Bunny made Grammy history on Sunday Feb. 1, when Debí Tirar Más Fotos became the first Spanish-language album, and more broadly, the first album not recorded in English, to win album of the year. But artists have been making history in that category for decades.

We have rounded up a compendium of albums that broke barriers in that category. But first, here’s a little Grammy album of the year trivia, this time focusing on artists.

First artist to win album of the year twice: Frank Sinatra. He was also the first artist to win it three times.

First artist to win album of the year four times: Taylor Swift.

First artist to win album of the year with back-to-back studio albums: Stevie Wonder. He is also the only artist to win with three consecutive studio albums – Innervisions, Fulfillingness’ First Finale and Songs in the Key of Life. Adele equaled that first achievement (winning with back-to-back studio albums 21 and 25) but failed to equal the second when 30 lost to Harry Styles’ Harry’s House.

First artist to win both as part of a group/duo and solo: George Harrison. He won as part of The Beatles and again when he headlined The Concert for Bangla Desh, a triple-disk album which featured Ravi Shankar, Bob Dylan, Leon Russell, Ringo Starr, Billy Preston, Eric Clapton and Klaus Voormann.

First artist to win whose parent had been nominated in this category: Natalie Cole, who won for Unforgettable With Love in 1992. The album was a tribute to Cole’s father, Nat King Cole, who was nominated in this category with Wild Is Love in 1961 and The Nat King Cole Story in 1962.

First artist to win whose parent had won in this category: Norah Jones, who won for Come Away With Mein2003. Jones’ father, Indian sitarist and composer Ravi Shankar, won in this category in 1972 as a featured artist on The Concert for Bangla Desh.

Now that you are sufficiently primed, here’s a list of albums that established Grammy precedents with their album of the year wins. The achievements are listed in chronological order.