Beyonce Becomes Top Grammy Winner of All Time
Beyoncé has made history at the 65th annual Grammy Awards, presented on Feb. 5 in Los Angeles. She has won four awards so far, which brings her career total to 32 awards. That tops the late classical conductor Sir Georg Solti for the most wins by anyone in Grammy history.
The superstar won best dance/electronic recording for “Break My Soul,” best traditional R&B performance for “Plastic Off the Sofa,” best R&B song for “Cuff It” and best dance/electronic album for Renaissance. Beyonce is nominated for three more awards – album, record and song of the year.
Beyonce is nominated for three more awards tonight – album, record and song of the year.
Her only losses so far at this year’s ceremony came when Muni Long’s “Hrs and Hrs” won best R&B performance over Bey’s “Virgo’s Groove,” and Lin-Manuel Miranda’s “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” won best song written for visual media over Bey’s “Be Alive.”
The superstar has been setting records at the Grammys for years. In 2010, she became the first female artist to win six Grammys in one night. In 2020, she became the woman with the most career Grammy wins (28), surpassing Alison Krauss.
Beyoncé won her first two Grammys with Destiny’s Child in 2001 for “Say My Name.” The classic took best R&B song and best R&B performance by a duo or group with vocal.
Beyoncé has received a record-tying 88 nominations, including nine this year.
Solti amassed his 31 Grammys between 1963 and 1998. The Hungarian-British orchestral and operatic conductor won best opera recording in 1963 for Verdi: Aida. Solti won in that same category posthumously in 1998 for conducting Wagner: Die Meistersinger Von Nurnberg.
Solti’s biggest night at the Grammys came in 1984, when he won four awards, including two for Mahler: Symphony No. 9 in D, which was voted best classical album and best orchestral recording. Solti was one of the night’s biggest winners, along with Michael Jackson, who took a record-setting eight awards, and Quincy Jones, who also won four. That was the highest-rated Grammy telecast in history.
Even though Beyoncé has taken the overall title, Solti remains the person born outside the U.S. with the most Grammys. Solti was born in Hungary. Solti received a trustees award in 1967 and a lifetime achievement award in 1996. He died in September 1997 at age 84.
Paul Grein
Billboard