Most global music album awards won at the Grammys

Vocalist Angélique Kidjo (Republic of Dahomey, now Benin) has won Best Global Music Album (1992–2003; 2012–) at the Grammy Awards on four occasions: in 2015–16, 2020 and 2022. In 2008, she also won the short-lived Best Contemporary World Music Album (2004–11), for her eighth studio album Djin Djin (2007). Kidjo’s five awards puts her one ahead of Ladysmith Black Mambazo (South Africa) and the three awards won by both Ali Farka Touré (Mali) and the Soweto Gospel Choir (South Africa) since 1992.

This record combines the Grammy awards won for Best Global Music Album (known as Best World Music Album until 2020), Best Contemporary World Music Album and Best Traditional World Music Album (2004–11). Best World Music Album was split into two categories in 2004, but merged back into one award in 2012.

Kidjo’s Best Global Music Album wins were for Eve (2015), Sings (2016; recorded with the Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra), Celia (2020) and Mother Nature (2022). She received Best Global Music Album nominations in 1999 (Oremi) and 2003 (Black Ivory Soul) and Best Contemporary World Music Album nods in 2005 (Oyaya!) and 2011 (Õÿö).

She has also been Grammy-nominated for Best Global Music Performance (“Blewu”, with Yo-Yo Ma, and “Do Yourself”, with Burna Boy, both in 2022 when the category was first introduced) and Best Music Video, Short Form (“Agolo”, in 1995).

Among other acts to win world/global music honours at the Grammys are: Ry Cooder (Global, 1994–95), Deep Forest (Global, 1996), Ravi Shankar (Global, 2002 and 2013) Youssou N’Dour (Contemporary, 2005), Gilberto Gil (Global, 1999; Contemporary, 2006), Béla Flack (Contemporary, 2010–11), Gipsy Kings (Global, 2014), Burna Boy (Global, 2021) and Arooj Aftab (the inaugural Best Global Music Performance award, for “Mohabbat”, 2022).