The Grammy Award for Best Global Music Album is an honor presented to recording artists for influential music from around the globe at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards. Honors in several categories are presented at the ceremony annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without regard to album sales or chart position".
History The award for Best Global Music Album, reserved for international performers exhibiting "non-European, indigenous traditions", was first presented to Mickey Hart in 1992 for the album Planet Drum. In 1996, Academy trustees attempted to solve the problem of "compressing 75% or more of the world's music into a single award category" by broadening the definition of "world music" to include non-Western classical music. Beginning in 2001, award recipients included the producers, engineers, and/or mixers associated with the nominated work in addition to the recording artists. Following the 45th Grammy Awards (2003), the award was split into two separate categories for Best Traditional World Music Album and Best Contemporary World Music Album. In 2012, the two categories were merged back to Best World Music Album. In 2020, The Recording Academy announced it would be changing the name of the category to Best Global Music Album.
Angelique Kidjo has won the category the most, with five wins (four of which have been since 2016). The second group to win most often is Ladysmith Black Mambazo, who have won four times during the combined history of Global/World categories. Soweto Gospel Choir have three wins in the Global/World categories. In the single merged category, Ravi Shankar and Ry Cooder have both won twice. Angelique Kidjo also has the most nominations in the combined Global/World history with twelve additional nominations. Anoushka Shankar has the second most nominations in the combined categories with nine nominations.
In the single, merged Global category, artists from Brazil have won the most times with five wins, the USA have won four times, Benin has also won on four occasions, India and South Africa each have three wins, Mali and France have both had artists win twice.
Recipients
1990s Year Work Performing artist(s) 1992 Planet Drum Mickey Hart Amen Salif Keita Brazilian Serenata Dori Caymmi Este Mundo Gipsy Kings Txai Milton Nascimento 1993 Brasileiro Sérgio Mendes Américas Strunz & Farah Eyes Open Youssou N'Dour Gipsy Kings Live Gipsy Kings Kirya Ofra Haza 1994 A Meeting by the River Ry Cooder and Vishwa Mohan Bhatt Deep Forest Deep Forest From Bulgaria with Love Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares Heat, Dust and Dreams Johnny Clegg and Savuka A World Out of Time, Vol. 2 Henry Kaiser and David Lindley 1995 Talking Timbuktu Ry Cooder and Ali Farka Touré Angelus Milton Nascimento The Guide (Wommat) Youssou N'Dour Love and Liberté Gipsy Kings Sabsylma Zap Mama 1996 Boheme Deep Forest Cesária Cesária Évora Firin' in Fouta Baaba Maal Raga Aberi Shankar with Zakir Hussain and Vikku Vinayakram The Splendid Master Gnawa Musicians of Morocco The Splendid Master Gnawa Musicians of Morocco featuring Randy Weston 1997 Santiago The Chieftains Legacy Ali Akbar Khan and Asha Bhosle My People Joe Zawinul Night Song Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Michael Brook Tabula Rasā Béla Fleck, V. M. Bhatt and Jiebing Chen Tierra Gitana Gipsy Kings 1998 Nascimento Milton Nascimento Cabo Verde Cesária Évora Compas Gipsy Kings Love Drum Talk Babatunde Olatunji Passing on the Tradition Ali Akbar Khan 1999 Quanta Live Gilberto Gil Contact from the Underworld of Redboy Robbie Robertson Miss Perfumado Cesária Évora Odu King Sunny Adé Oremi Angélique Kidjo
2000s Year Work Performing artist(s) 2000 Livro Caetano Veloso Café Atlantico Cesária Évora Niafunke Ali Farka Touré Papa Salif Keita Volume 2: Release Afro Celt Sound System 2001 João Voz e Violão João Gilberto Homeland Miriam Makeba Joko (The Link) Youssou N'Dour Journey with the Sun Paul Winter Water from the Well The Chieftains 2002 Full Circle: Carnegie Hall 2000 Ravi Shankar Gil and Milton Gilberto Gil and Milton Nascimento São Vicente di Longe Cesária Évora Saturday Night in Bombay: Remember Shakti John McLaughlin and various artists Volume 3: Further in Time Afro Celt Sound System 2003 Mundo Rubén Blades Black Ivory Soul Angélique Kidjo Fight to Win Femi Kuti Live at Carnegie Hall Anoushka Shankar Moffou Salif Keita
2010s Year Work Performing artist(s) 2012 Tassili Tinariwen Africa for Africa Femi Kuti AfroCubism AfroCubism Songs from a Zulu Farm Ladysmith Black Mambazo 2013List of 2013 nominees The Living Room Sessions Part 1 Ravi Shankar On a Gentle Island Breeze Daniel Ho Folila Amadou & Mariam Jabulani Hugh Masekela Traveller Anoushka Shankar 2014 Savor Flamenco Gipsy Kings Live: Singing for Peace Around the World Ladysmith Black Mambazo The Living Room Sessions Part 2 Ravi Shankar No Place for My Dream Femi Kuti 2015 Eve Angelique Kidjo Magic Sérgio Mendes Our World in Song Wu Man, Luis Conte and Daniel Ho Toumani & Sidiki Toumani Diabaté and Sidiki Diabaté Traces of You Anoushka Shankar 2016 Sings Angelique Kidjo Gilbertos Samba Ao Vivo Gilberto Gil Home Anoushka Shankar I Have No Everything Here Zomba Prison Project Music from Inala Ladysmith Black Mambazo with Ella Spira and the Inala Ensemble 2017 Sing Me Home Yo-Yo Ma and The Silk Road Ensemble Destiny Celtic Woman Dois Amigos, Um Século de Música: Multishow Live Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil Land of Gold Anoushka Shankar Walking in the Footsteps of Our Fathers Ladysmith Black Mambazo 2018Grammy.com, 28 November 2017 Shaka Zulu Revisited: 30th Anniversary Celebration Ladysmith Black Mambazo Elwan Tinariwen Memoria de los Sentidos Vicente Amigo Para Mi Buika Rosa Dos Ventos Anat Cohen and Trio Brasileiro 2019 Freedom Soweto Gospel Choir Black Times Seun Kuti and Egypt 80 Deran Bombino Fenfo Fatoumata Diawara Yiddish Glory – The Lost Songs of World War II Various Artists
2020s Year Work Performing artist(s) 2020 Celia Angélique Kidjo African Giant Burna Boy Fanm d'Ayiti Nathalie Joachim and the Spektral Quartet Gece Altin Gün What Heat Bokanté and Metropole Orkest conducted by Jules Buckley 2021 Twice as Tall Burna Boy Agora Bebel Gilberto Amadjar Tinariwen Fu Chronicles Antibalas Love Letters Anoushka Shankar 2022 Mother Nature Angélique Kidjo East West Players Presents: Daniel Ho & Friends Live in Concert Daniel Ho and Friends Legacy+ Femi Kuti and Made Kuti Made in Lagos: Deluxe Edition Wizkid Voice of Bunbon (Vol. 1) Rocky Dawuni 2023 Sakura Masa Takumi Between Us... (Live) Anoushka Shankar, Metropole Orkest and Jules Buckley featuring Manu Delago Love, Damini Burna Boy Queen of Sheba Angélique Kidjo and Ibrahim Maalouf Shuruaat Berklee Indian Ensemble 2024 This Moment Shakti Epifanías Susana Baca History Bokanté I Told Them... Burna Boy Timeless Davido 2025 Alkebulan II Matt B featuring Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Born in the Wild Tems Heis Rema Historias de un Flamenco Antonio Rey Paisajes Ciro Hurtado 2026 Caetano e Bethânia Ao Vivo Caetano Veloso and Maria Bethânia Chapter III: We Return to Light Anoushka Shankar featuring Alam Khan and Sarathy Korwar Eclairer le monde — Light the World Youssou N'Dour Mind Explosion (50th Anniversary Tour Live) Shakti No Sign of Weakness Burna Boy Sounds of Kumbha Siddhant Bhatia
See also
Awards for world music List of cultural and regional genres of music List of Grammy Award categories
References
General Note: User must select the "World" category as the genre under the search feature.
Specific
External links Official site of the Grammy Awards