Beyoncé Ties Record for Most Grammy Wins of All Time

Beyoncé has tied the record for the most Grammy Award wins of all time with 31, having won four awards in the 2023 proceedings. Three were given out during the non-televised Premiere ceremony in the afternoon, and she subsequently has picked up one more during the prime-time telecast for “Cuff It” for best R&B song.

She will break the all-time record should she win just one more award during the broadcast, which would push her tally to 32 — a definite possibility, given that the “Cuff It” win left her with four more nominations still to go during the evening.

“Beyoncé is on her way,” said host Trevor Noah, making a crack about L.A. traffic as the R&B song award was presented without the honoree yet in attendance, a half-hour into the telecast. The-Dream, a co-writer and co-producer, came to the podium and made a quip about “CP time,” cut out as it went out over the air. Nile Rodgers, who played on the track, also briefly spoke, unbleeped, at the podium.

The three awards announced for Beyoncé in the pre-telecast proceedings were for best song written for visual media for “Be Alive” (from the 2021 movie “King Richard”), best dance/electronic recording for “Break My Soul” and best traditional R&B performance for “Plastic Off the Sofa” (the last two both tracks from her “Renaissance” album).

She lost in two of the five categories she was up for during the Premiere ceremony. Newcomer Muni Long prevailed in the best R&B performance category with her song “Hrs & Hrs,” beating Beyoncé’s “Virgo’s Groove” in that category. And she was beaten in the best song written for visual media category, where XX was nominated, to “Encanto’s” “We Don’t Talk About Bruno.”

Awards still to be decided that could push her over the top include record of the year, song of the year, album of the year and best dance album.

Read Related Also: “God abeg” – Reactions as Burna Boy ‘kicks’ fan who tried to climb the stage at his Lagos show

Before the 2023 Grammys, the record for most Grammy wins was held by the 31 claimed by classical music figure Georg Solti — a benchmark set all the way back in 1997 when he earned his final prize, for best opera recording. Solti died that same year.  

Beyonce led the 2023 nominations with nine, putting her in a tie for all-time Grammy nominations with her husband, Jay-Z — 88 each. Beyoncé’s tally includes her pre-solo work as a member of Destiny’s Child. Coming into Sunday’s awards, she had won 28 Grammys, already making her the most awarded female artist in the awards’ history.

Jay has won 24 Grammys. He previously held the most-nominated title, with 83 nominations prior to 2023.

This year marked Beyoncé’s first nominations in the dance/electronic categories, along with her R&B and general-field nods. Her “Renaissance” release was submitted in the best dance/electronic album rather than contending for best R&B album.

Credited as a songwriter on “Renaissance,” Jay-Z is nominated alongside Beyoncé for album of the year and song of the year. His work on DJ Khaled’s “God Did” is also up for song of the year, rap song and rap performance.

If Jay-Z wins even one Grammy during the nighttime telecast, he will break a record himself, for the most all-time wins for a rapper. He came into the 2023 ceremony tied for that record with Kanye West, with 24 wins prior to this year.