The Grammy Award – Best Classical Vocal Solo has been awarded since 1959. There have been several minor changes to the name of the award over this time:
From 1959 to 1960 and from 1962 to 1964 the award was known as Best Classical Performance - Vocal Soloist (with or without orchestra) In 1961 it was awarded as Best Classical Performance - Vocal Soloist In 1965 it was awarded as Best Vocal Soloist Performance (with or without orchestra) In 1966, 1968 and from 1971 to 1990 it was awarded as Best Classical Vocal Soloist Performance In 1967 it was awarded as Best Classical Vocal Soloist Performance (with or without orchestra) In 1969 it was awarded as Best Vocal Soloist Performance In 1970 it was awarded as Best Vocal Soloist Performance, Classical In 1991 it was awarded as Best Classical Vocal Performance In 1992 it was awarded as Best Classical Vocal Soloist From 1993 to 2011 it returned to being awarded as Best Classical Vocal Performance From 2012 to 2014 it was awarded as Best Classical Vocal Solo From 2015 the award has been known as Best Classical Solo Vocal Album and is open for albums only (in previous years single tracks were also eligible for the award, although in most cases the awards and nominations went to albums)
Up to and including 2015, the Grammy was awarded to one or more vocal soloist(s). Accompanying musicians, orchestras and/or conductors were not eligible for the award. From 2016, "collaborative artists" (such as solo accompanists, conductors or chamber groups) have also been included. Accompanying large orchestras or multiple instrumentalists, however, remain ineligible.List of Nominees, 7 December 2015 Producer(s) and engineer(s)/mixers of over 50% of playing time on the recording also receive an award.
Years reflect the year in which the Grammy Awards were presented, for works released in the previous year.
Recipients
Year Recipient(s) WorkNomineesRef.1959 Renata Tebaldi Operatic Recital 1960 Jussi Björling Bjoerling in Opera 1961 Leontyne Price A Program of Song - Leontyne Price Recital 1962 Joan Sutherland The Art of the Prima Donna 1963 Eileen Farrell Götterdämmerung - Brünnhilde's Immolation Scene/Wesendonck Songs 1964 Leontyne Price Great Scenes From Gershwin's Porgy and Bess 1965 Leontyne Price Berlioz: Nuits d'Ete (Song Cycle)/Falla: El Amor Brujo 1966 Leontyne Price Strauss: Salome (Dance of the Seven Veils, Interlude, Final Scene)/The Egyptian Helen (Awakening Scene) 1967 Leontyne Price Prima Donna (Works of Barber, Purcell, etc.) 1968 Leontyne Price Prima Donna, Volume 2 1969 Montserrat Caballé Rossini: Rarities 1970 Leontyne Price Barber: Two Scenes From "Antony and Cleopatra"/Knoxville, Summer of 1915 1971 Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau Schubert: Lieder 1972 Leontyne Price Leontyne Price Sings Robert Schumann 1973 Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau Brahms: Die Schone Magelone 1974 Leontyne Price Puccini: Heroines 1975 Leontyne Price Leontyne Price Sings Richard Strauss 1976 Janet Baker Mahler: Kindertotenlieder 1977 Beverly Sills Herbert: Music of Victor Herbert 1978 Janet Baker Bach: Arias 1979 Luciano Pavarotti Luciano Pavarotti - Hits From Lincoln Center 1980 Luciano Pavarotti O Sole Mio - Favorite Neapolitan Songs 1981 Leontyne Price Prima Donna, Vol. 5 - Great Soprano Arias From Handel to Britten 1982 Marilyn Horne, Luciano Pavarotti, Joan Sutherland Live From Lincoln Center - Sutherland/Horne/Pavarotti 1983 Leontyne Price Verdi: Arias (Leontyne Price Sings Verdi) 1984 Marilyn Horne and Leontyne Price Leontyne Price & Marilyn Horne in Concert at the Met 1985 Heather Harper, Jessye Norman & José van Dam Ravel: Songs of Maurice Ravel 1986 John Aler Berlioz: Requiem 1987 Kathleen Battle Kathleen Battle Sings Mozart 1988 Kathleen Battle Kathleen Battle - Salzburg Recital 1989 Luciano Pavarotti Luciano Pavarotti in Concert 1990 Dawn Upshaw Knoxville - Summer of 1915 (Music of Barber, Menotti, Harbison, Stravinsky) 1991 José Carreras, Plácido Domingo, Luciano Pavarotti Carreras, Domingo, Pavarotti in Concert 1992 Dawn Upshaw The Girl With Orange Lips (Falla, Ravel, etc.) 1993 Kathleen Battle & Margo Garrett Kathleen Battle at Carnegie Hall (Handel, Mozart, Liszt, Strauss, etc.) 1994 Arleen Auger The Art of Arleen Auger (Works of Larsen, Purcell, Schumann, Mozart) 1995 Cecilia Bartoli The Impatient Lover - Italian Songs by Beethoven, Schubert, Mozart 1996 Sylvia McNair The Echoing Air - The Music of Henry Purcell 1997 Bryn Terfel Opera Arias - Works of Mozart, Wagner, Borodin 1998 Cecilia Bartoli An Italian Songbook (Works of Bellini, Donizetti, Rossini) 1999 Renée Fleming The Beautiful Voice (Works of Charpentier, Gounod etc.) 2000 Anne Sofie von Otter & Thomas Quasthoff Mahler: Des Knaben Wunderhorn 2001 Cecilia Bartoli (artist), Jonathan Stokes (engineer), Christopher Raeburn (producer) The Vivaldi Album (Dell'aura al sussurrar; Alma oppressa, etc.) 2002 Cecilia Bartoli (artist), Jonathan Stokes (engineer), Christopher Raeburn (producer) Dreams & Fables - Gluck Italian Arias (Tremo Gra' Fubbi Miei; Die Questa Cetra In Seno, etc.) 2003 Renée Fleming (artist), Jonathan Stokes, Neil Hutchinson & Tom Lazarus (engineers), Erik Smith (producer) Bel Canto (Bellini, Donizetti, Rossini, etc.) 2004 Thomas Quasthoff & Anne Sofie von Otter (soloists), Jürgen Bulgrin & Oliver Rogalla Von Heyden (engineers), Christopher Alder (producer) Schubert: Lieder with Orchestra 2005 Susan Graham Ives: Songs (The Things Our Fathers Loved; the Housatonic at Stockbridge, etc.) 2006 Thomas Quasthoff (soloist), Jürgen Bulgrin & Rainer Maillard (engineers), Christopher Alder (producer) Bach: Cantatas 2007 Lorraine Hunt Lieberson Rilke Songs 2008 Lorraine Hunt Lieberson (soloist), John Newton & Mark Donahue (engineers), Dirk Sobotka (producer) Lorraine Hunt Lieberson Sings Peter Lieberson: Neruda Songs 2009 Hila Plitmann (soloist), John Corigliano, Tim Handley & Tom Lazarus (engineers), John Corigliano & Tim Handley (producers) Corigliano: Mr. Tambourine Man: Seven Poems of Bob Dylan 2010 Renee Fleming Verismo 2011 Cecilia Bartoli Sacrificium 2012 Joyce DiDonato Diva Divo 2013 Renee Fleming Poèmes 2014 Dawn Upshaw Winter Morning Walks 2015 Anne Sofie von Otter Douce France 2016 Joyce DiDonato (soloist), Antonio Pappano (accompanist) Joyce & Tony - Live From Wigmore Hall 2017 Dorothea Röschmann (soloist), Mitsuko Uchida (accompanist) Schumann & Berg Ian Bostridge (soloist), Antonio Pappano (accompanist) Shakespeare Songs 2018 Barbara Hannigan Crazy Girl Crazy - Music by Gershwin, Berg & Berio 2019 Karim Sulayman (soloist); Apollo's Fire (ensemble) Songs of Orpheus - Monteverdi, Caccini, D'India & Landi 2020 Joyce DiDonato (soloist); Chuck Israels, Jimmy Madison, Charlie Porter & Craig Terry (accompanists) Songplay 2021 Sarah Brailey & Dashon Burton (soloists); James Blachly (conductor) Smyth: The Prison(Experiential Chorus & Experiential Orchestra) 2022 Sangeeta Kaur & Hilla Plitmann (soloists); Danae Xanthe Vlasse (piano) Mythologies 2023Renée Fleming (soloist) & Yannick Nézet-Séguin (accompanist) Voice of Nature - The Anthropocene 2024Julia Bullock (soloist); Christian Reif (conductor)Walking in the Dark Reginald Mobley (soloist); Baptiste Trotignon (accompanist) - Because Karim Sulayman (soloist); Sean Shibe (accompanist) - Broken Branches Laura Strickling (soloist); Daniel Schlosberg (accompanist) - 40@40 Lawrence Brownlee (soloist); Kevin J. Miller (accompanist) - Rising2025Karen Slack (soloist); Michelle Cann (pianist)Beyond the Years - Unpublished Songs of Florence Price Nicholas Phan (soloist); Palaver Strings (ensemble) - A Change Is Gonna Come Fotina Naumenko (soloist); Marika Bournaki (pianist) - Newman: Bespoke Songs Will Liverman (soloist); Jonathan King (pianist) - Show Me The Way Joyce DiDonato (soloist); Maxim Emelyanychev (conductor of Il Pomo d'Oro) - Wagner: Wesendonck Lieder2026Amanda Forsythe (soloist); Robert Mealy, Paul O'Dette & Stephen Stubbs (conductors, Boston Early Music Festival)Telemann: Ino - Opera Arias For Soprano Alison Charney (soloist); Benjamin Loeb (conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra) - Alike - My Mother's Dream Sidney Outlaw (soloist); Warren Jones (pianist) - Black Pierrot Devony Smith (soloist); Danny Zelibor (pianist); Michael Nicolas (accompanist) - In This Short Life Susan Narucki (soloist); Curtis Macomber (accompanist) - Kurtág: Kafka Fragments Theo Hoffman (soloist); Steven Blier (pianist) (Rupert Boyd, Julia Bullock, Alex Levine, Andrew Owens, Rubén Rengel & Sam Weber - additional vocalists and accompanists) - Schubert Beatles
References