Artists Who Landed Grammy Nods for Album of the Year 2 Years in a Row

David Crosby, Stephen Stills and Graham Nash were nominated at the 1970 ceremony for their debut album Crosby, Stills & Nash. They were nominated the following year, this time joined by Neil Young, for that quartet’s first album, Déjà Vu.

Crosby, Stills & Nash spawned the singles “Marrakesh Express” and “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes.” Déjà Vu gave us “Woodstock,” “Teach Your Children,” “Our House” and “Carry On.”

Karen and Richard were nominated at the 1971 ceremony for their sophomore album, Close to You. They were nominated the following year for their third set, Carpenters, known by fans as The Tan Album, in a nod to The Beatles’ The White Album.

Close to You spawned the singles “(They Long to Be) Close to You” and “We’ve Only Just Begun.” Carpenters begat “For All We Know,” “Rainy Days and Mondays” and “Superstar.”

The composers of Jesus Christ Superstar were nominated at the 1972 ceremony as producers of the London production of the famed rock opera, and at the 1973 ceremony as co-producers (with Tom Morgan) of the Broadway cast album.

The London production was the No. 1 album of 1971 on Billboard’s Year in Music charts. It spawned the hit singles “Superstar” and “I Don’t Know How to Love Him.”

Harrison was nominated at the 1972 ceremony for the triple-disk album All Things Must Pass and the following year as the lead artist on The Concert for Bangla Desh, which featured Ravi Shankar, Bob Dylan, Billy Preston, Leon Russell, Ringo Starr, Eric Clapton and Klaus Voormann.

Harrison co-produced both albums with Phil Spector, who achieved fame in the 1960s as the architect of the Wall of Sound and infamy in the 2000s.

All Things Must Pass was Harrison’s third solo album, but his first following The Beatles’ break-up. It contained the singles “My Sweet Lord”/“Isn’t It a Pity” and “What Is Life.”

Wonder won at the 1974 ceremony for Innervisions and won again the following year for Fulfillingness’ First Finale. These were his 16th and 17th studio albums, a reflection of the fact that he started so young.

Innervisions spawned the singles “Higher Ground,” “Living for the City” and “Don’t You Worry ‘Bout a Thing.” Fulfillingness’ gave us “You Haven’t Done Nothin’” and “Boogie on Reggae Woman.”

John’s eighth studio album, Caribou, was nominated at the 1975 ceremony; his ninth, Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy, was nominated the following year. Gus Dudgeon produced both albums.

Caribou gave us the stately “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me” and the jolt of electricity that was “The Bitch Is Back.” Captain Fantastic spawned just one single, “Someone Saved My Life Tonight.”

John was so hot at the time that, in between these two albums, he managed to squeeze in Greatest Hits, which topped the Billboard 200 for 10 consecutive weeks, and two non-album singles that both topped the Hot 100: “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds” and “Philadelphia Freedom.”

Joel’s sixth studio album, 52nd Street, won at the 1980 ceremony. His seventh, Glass Houses, was nominated the following year. After a one-year break, The Nylon Curtain was nominated at the 1983 ceremony. The more upbeat An Innocent Man competed at the 1984 event. The late, great Phil Ramone produced all four albums.

52nd Street spawned the singles “My Life,” “Big Shot” and “Honesty.” Glass Houses gave us “You May Be Right,” “It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me,” “Don’t Ask Me Why” and “Sometimes a Fantasy.” The Nylon Curtain spawned “Pressure,” “Allentown” and “Goodnight Saigon.” An Innocent Man spun off no fewer than six hit singles: “Tell Her About It,” “Uptown Girl,” “An Innocent Man,” “The Longest Time,” “Leave a Tender Moment Alone” and “Keeping the Faith.”

Steely Dan, the duo consisting of Donald Fagen and Walter Becker, was nominated at the 1982 ceremony with their seventh studio album, Gaucho. Fagen was nominated the following year with his first solo album, The Nightfly. Gary Katz produced both albums.

Gaucho spawned the singles “Hey Nineteen” and “Time Out of Mind.” The Nightfly gave us “I.G.Y. (What a Beautiful World),” “New Frontier” and a cover of The Drifters’ 1956 hit “Ruby Baby.”

The rapper was nominated at the 2005 ceremony with his debut studio album, The College Dropout, and the following year with his sophomore set, Late Registration.

The College Dropout spawned the singles “Through the Wire,” “Slow Jamz,” “All Falls Down,” “Jesus Walks” and “The New Workout Plan.” Late Registration yielded “Diamonds From Sierra Leone,” “Gold Digger,” “Heard ‘Em Say,” “Touch the Sky” and “Drive Slow.”

Gaga was nominated three years running, becoming the first artist to achieve that feat since The Beatles, who were nominated five years in a row (the all-time Grammy record), from 1966-70.

Gaga was nominated at the 2010 ceremony with her debut studio album, The Fame; the following year with the EP The Fame Monster; and at the 2012 event with her second full-length, Born This Way. RedOne received Grammy nods as a producer of all three albums.

Singles from The Fame were “Just Dance,” “Poker Face,” “LoveGame” and “Paparazzi.” Singles from The Fame Monster were “Bad Romance,” “Telephone,” “Alejandro” and “Dance in the Dark.” Singles from Born This Way were the anthemic title track, “Judas,” “The Edge of Glory,” “You and I,” “Marry the Night” and “Bloody Mary.” 

H.E.R.’s first compilation album, H.E.R., was nominated in 2019. Her second, I Used to Know Her, followed suit the following year.

H.E.R. co-produced both albums. The first album spawned the single “Focus.” The singles from I Used to Know Her were “Could’ve Been” and “Hard Place.”

Like Joel, Swift has accomplished this feat twice. She won with her eighth studio album, Folklore, at the 2021 ceremony and was nominated in 2022 with her ninth, Evermore. After a one-year gap, she won at the 2024 ceremony with Midnights (becoming the first four-time winner in the category) and was nominated the following year with The Tortured Poets Department. Antonoff and Swift were nominated as producers of all four albums.

Folklore spawned the hits “Cardigan,” “Exile” and “Betty.” Evermore yielded “Willow,” “No Body, No Crime” and “Coney Island.” Midnights spawned the singles “Anti-Hero,” “Lavender Haze” and “Karma.” The Tortured Poets Department gave us “Fortnight” and “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart.”

Amid this run, Swift also released Taylor’s Versions of earlier albums Fearless, Red, Speak Now and 1989, and went on the wildly successful Eras Tour.

Carpenter was nominated with her sixth studio album, Short n’ Sweet, at the 2025 ceremony and is nominated with her seventh, Man’s Best Friend, at the Feb. 2 event. Jack Antonoff and John Ryan were nominated as producers of both albums.

Short n’ Sweet spawned “Espresso,” “Please Please Please,” “Taste,” Bed Chem” and “Juno.” Man’s Best Friend has so far given us “Manchild,” “Tears” and “When Did You Get Hot?”