1. Georg Solti
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With a total of 31 Grammy award wins, the late orchestral and operatic conductor holds the record for the most Grammy awards won in any genre. He also holds the record for the most wins in the Classical Field. His last win occurred in 1997, when he took home a prize for Best Opera Recording for Wagner: Die Meistersinger Von Nurnberg.
2. Quincy Jones
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Of a whopping 79 Grammy nominations, Jones has won a total of 27 Grammy Awards. In addition to making him one of the top three artists with the most Grammy wins ever, that also makes him the record holder for the most Grammy Awards won by a producer (11 of the 27 wins were awarded for production duties). Jones also received Grammys as an arranger and a performing artist. His most recent win came in 2002 for best Spoken Word Album for Q: The Autobiography of Quincy Jones.
3. Alison Krauss
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Over the course of her decades-spanning career, the bluegrass country singer-songwriter has won 27 Grammy Awards out of 41 total nominations. That ties her with Jones as the most awarded living recipient. She is also the most awarded singer and the most awarded female artist in Grammy history. But it’s no surprise that Krauss has so many wins, considering she started so young. At the time of her first win, the 1991 Grammy Awards, she was the second youngest winner at 19 (she is now currently tied as the ninth youngest Grammy winner).
4. Pierre Boulez
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The late composer, conductor, writer, and pianist won a total of 26 Grammy Awards throughout the length of his career. The artist won most of the prizes for his work conducting renowned 20th century composers such as Bela Bartók, Alban Berg and Claude Debussy. In 2015, he also received The Recording Academy’s Lifetime Achievement Award.
5. Vladimir Horowitz
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Throughout his musical career, the late virtuoso pianist and composer earned a total of 25 Grammy Awards. He won awards in every decade from the 1960s to the 1990s and was also awarded a Recording Academy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1990. He has five recordings in the Grammy Hall Of Fame.
6. Stevie Wonder
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The iconic musician has earned a total of 22 Grammy Awards throughout his lengthy acclaimed career, with four of those wins — including Album of the Year — taking place in 1973 alone. That total makes him the one of the most awarded male solo artists in history. In addition to his many individual accolades, he also earned a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1996.
7. Chick Corea
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The jazz and fusion pianist, keyboardist, and composer has brought home prizes for 22 out of 63 Grammy Award nominations. His first win happened in 1976 for Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Group (for the album No Mystery with the group Return to Forever) and his most recent win occurred only last year for Best Jazz Instrumental Album (for Trilogy, an album with Christian McBride and Brian Blade). He’s also won two Latin Grammy Awards for Best Instrumental Album and his 1968 album Now He Sings, Now He Sobs was inducted in the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999.
8. U2
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With a total of 22 Grammy award wins out of 47 total nominations, U2 is the most awarded of any group in history. They have won Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group seven times and have won Album of the Year, Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Rock Album all twice. Their most recent wins were in 2006, the year that the band took home a total of five awards.
9. John Williams
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The composer, conductor, and pianist has won a total of 22 Grammy Awards, his first was in 1976 for Best Album of Original Score for Jaws, while his most recent win occurred in 2014 for Best Instrumental Composition for The Book Thief. Of all of his wins, 11 were in the Music For Visual Media field.
10. Kanye West
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With a total of 21 Grammy wins to date, West is tied with Jay-Z for the most awarded rapper to date. West has been nominated 57 times, taking home his first Grammy in 2005 for Best Rap Album for The College Dropout. His most recent win was in 2013 for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration for “No Church in the Wild,” also featuring Jay-Z, Frank Ocean and The Dream. Even though he hasn’t taken home an award in the last couple of years, he’s still managed to find a way to take over the stage.
11. Jay-Z
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Out of 60 nominations, Jay-Z has won 21 Grammy awards, tying him with West as the most rewarded rapper of all time. His first win was in 1999 for Best Rap Album for Vol 2…Hard Knock Life. He most recently took home two Grammy Awards last year with wife Beyonce, for their collaboration “Drunk In Love” (which won Best R&B Performance and Best R&B Song).
Beyoncé, 20
Who run the world? Beyoncé. The 20-time GRAMMY winner holds the second most wins by a female artist and is tied with Adele at six for most GRAMMY wins in one night by a female. Aside from her wins, Queen Bey has amassed 53 GRAMMY nominations, more than any other female artist.
Vince Gill, 20
Singer/songwriter Vince Gill has earned each of his GRAMMY wins in the Country Field, the most of any male artist. He also holds the distinction of garnering the most GRAMMYs in the 1990s (14), winning one or more GRAMMYs in every year of the decade.
Henry Mancini, 20
The composer behind TV and film themes such as “Peter Gunn” and “The Pink Panther Theme,” the late Henry Mancini made early GRAMMY history with a then-record five wins in one night in 1961. Mancini’s popular “Moon River” and later “Days Of Wine And Roses” each won both Record and Song Of The Year.
Pat Metheny, 20
Pat Metheny is all that jazz. The guitarist earned his first GRAMMY for Best Jazz Fusion Performance, Vocal Or Instrumental for Offramp for 1982. He has earned GRAMMYs in four consecutive decades since, most recently in 2012 as the Pat Metheny Unity Band for Unity Band for Best New Age Album.
Al Schmitt, 20
Working on projects by artists Ray Charles, Natalie Cole, Chick Corea, and Paul McCartney, among others, Al Schmitt won his 20 GRAMMYs as an engineer/mixer. Schmitt has also earned two Latin GRAMMYs and he received the Recording Academy Trustees Award in 2006.
Bruce Springsteen, 20
In addition to GRAMMY wins in every decade from the ’80s through ’00s, Bruce Springsteen has seen his albums Born To Run and Born In The U.S.A. inducted into the GRAMMY Hall Of Fame. In 2013 the quintessential rocker was honored as the MusiCares Person of the Year.
Tony Bennett, 18
An artist who truly seems to get better with age, Tony Bennett has won nine of his 18 career GRAMMYs since 2002. Including his 2015 win with Bill Charlap for The Silver Lining: The Songs Of Jerome Kern, Bennett has earned Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album honors seven times, the most in the category’s history.
Aretha Franklin, 18
Aretha Franklin reigns as the queen of R&B. She has 18 GRAMMY wins to date, five recordings in the GRAMMY Hall Of Fame, a Recording Academy Lifetime Achievement Award (1994) and a GRAMMY Legend Award (1991).
Paul McCartney, 18
Winning Best New Artist with the Beatles for 1964, Paul McCartney has gone on to earn 18 career GRAMMYs as an artist, composer and arranger. While most of McCartney’s GRAMMY history lies in pop and rock, he earned two 58th GRAMMY nominations for Best Rap Song and Best Rap Performance for Kanye West’s “All Day” with Theophilus London and Allan Kingdom.
Jimmy Sturr, 18
Out of the 25 GRAMMYs ever awarded for polka, Jimmy Sturr earned 18 of them, including 13 wins for Best Polka Album. He will likely remain the highest GRAMMY-winning polka artist in history (given the discontinuation of the category), and was “Born To Polka.”