Grammy Award for Best Global Music Album
Awarded forInfluential music from around the globe
CountryUnited States
Presented byNational Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences
First award1992
Currently held byCaetano Veloso & Maria Bethânia, Caetano e Bethânia Ao Vivo (2026)
Websitegrammy.com

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.[1] 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".[2]

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.[3][4] 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.[5] 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.[6] In 2020, The Recording Academy announced it would be changing the name of the category to Best Global Music Album.[7]

Angelique Kidjo[8] 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,[9] who have won four times during the combined history of Global/World categories. Soweto Gospel Choir have three wins in the Global/World categories.[10] 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.[11]

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

Year[I] Performing artist(s) Nationality Work Nominees Ref.
1992 Mickey Hart United States Planet Drum
  • Dori Caymmi – Brazilian Serenata
  • Gipsy Kings – Este Mundo
  • Salif Keita – Amen
  • Milton Nascimento – Txai
 [12]
1993 Sérgio Mendes Brazil Brasileiro
  • Gipsy Kings – Gipsy Kings Live
  • Ofra Haza – Kirya
  • Youssou N'Dour – Eyes Open
  • Strunz & Farah – Américas
 [13]
1994 Ry Cooder and Vishwa Mohan Bhatt United States
India 		A Meeting by the River
  • Johnny Clegg and Savuka – Heat, Dust and Dreams
  • Deep Forest – Deep Forest
  • Henry Kaiser and David Lindley – A World Out of Time, Vol. 2
  • Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares – From Bulgaria with Love
 [14]
1995 Ry Cooder and Ali Farka Touré United States
Mali 		Talking Timbuktu
  • Gipsy Kings – Love and Liberté
  • Milton Nascimento – Angelus
  • Youssou N'Dour – The Guide (Wommat)
  • Zap Mama – Sabsylma
 [15]
1996 Deep Forest France Boheme
  • Cesária Évora – Cesária
  • Baaba Maal – Firin' in Fouta
  • Shankar with Zakir Hussain and Vikku Vinayakram – Raga Aberi
  • The Splendid Master Gnawa Musicians of Morocco featuring Randy Weston – The Splendid Master Gnawa Musicians of Morocco
 [16]
1997 The Chieftains Ireland Santiago
  • Béla Fleck, V.M. Bhatt and Jiebing Chen – Tabula Rasā
  • Gipsy Kings – Tierra Gitana
  • Ali Akbar Khan – Legacy
  • Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Michael Brook – Night Song
  • Joe Zawinul – My People
 [17]
1998 Milton Nascimento Brazil Nascimento
  • Cesária Évora – Cabo Verde
  • Gipsy Kings – Compas
  • Ali Akbar Khan – Passing on the Tradition
  • Babatunde Olatunji – Love Drum Talk
 [18]
1999 Gilberto Gil Quanta Live [19]
2000 Caetano Veloso Livro
  • Afro Celt Sound System – Volume 2: Release
  • Cesária Évora – Café Atlantico
  • Salif Keita – Papa
  • Ali Farka Touré – Niafunke
 [20]
2001 João Gilberto João Voz e Violão
  • Miriam Makeba – Homeland
  • Youssou N'Dour – Joko (The Link)
  • The Chieftains – Water from the Well
  • Paul Winter and the Earth Band – Journey with the Sun
 [21]
2002 Ravi Shankar India Full Circle: Carnegie Hall 2000
  • Afro Celt Sound System – Volume 3: Further in Time
  • Cesária Évora – São Vicente di Longe
  • Gilberto Gil and Milton Nascimento – Gil and Milton
  • John McLaughlin and various artists – Saturday Night in Bombay: Remember Shakti
 [22]
2003 Rubén Blades Panama Mundo[23]
  • Salif Keita – Moffou
  • Angélique Kidjo – Black Ivory Soul
  • Femi Kuti – Fight to Win
  • Anoushka Shankar – Live at Carnegie Hall
2012 Tinariwen Mali Tassili
  • AfroCubism – AfroCubism
  • Femi Kuti – Africa for Africa
  • Ladysmith Black Mambazo – Songs from a Zulu Farm
 [24]
2013 Ravi Shankar India The Living Room Sessions Part 1
  • Amadou & Mariam – Folila
  • Daniel Ho – On a Gentle Island Breeze
  • Hugh Masekela – Jabulani
  • Anoushka Shankar – Traveller
 [25]
2014 Gipsy Kings France Savor Flamenco[26]
  • Femi Kuti – No Place for My Dream
  • Ravi Shankar – The Living Room Sessions Part 2
Ladysmith Black Mambazo South Africa Live: Singing for Peace Around the World[27]
2015 Angelique Kidjo Benin Eve
  • Toumani Diabaté and Sidiki Diabaté – Toumani & Sidiki
  • Sérgio Mendes – Magic
  • Anoushka Shankar – Traces of You
  • Wu Man, Luis Conte & Daniel Ho – Our World in Song
 [28]
2016 Angelique Kidjo Benin Sings
  • Gilberto Gil – Gilbertos Samba Ao Vivo
  • Ladysmith Black Mambazo with Ella Spira and the Inala Ensemble – Music from Inala
  • Anoushka Shankar – Home
  • Zomba Prison Project – I Have No Everything Here
 [28]
2017 Yo-Yo Ma & The Silk Road Ensemble United States Sing Me Home
  • Celtic Woman – Destiny
  • Ladysmith Black Mambazo – Walking in the Footsteps of Our Fathers
  • Anoushka Shankar – Land of Gold
  • Caetano Veloso & Gilberto Gil – Dois Amigos, Um Século de Música: Multishow Live
 [29]
2018 Ladysmith Black Mambazo South Africa Shaka Zulu Revisited: 30th Anniversary Celebration
  • Vicente Amigo – Memoria de los Sentidos
  • Buika – Para Mi
  • Anat Cohen & Trio Brasileiro – Rosa Dos Ventos
  • Tinariwen – Elwan
 [30]
2019 Soweto Gospel Choir South Africa Freedom
  • Bombino – Deran
  • Fatoumata Diawara – Fenfo
  • Seun Kuti & Egypt 80 – Black Times
  • Yiddish Glory – The Lost Songs of World War II, various artists
 [31]
2020 Angelique Kidjo Benin Celia
  • Altin Gün – Gece
  • Bokanté & Metropole Orkest conducted by Jules Buckley – What Heat
  • Burna Boy – African Giant
  • Nathalie Joachim & the Spektral Quartet – Fanm d'Ayiti
 [32]
2021 Burna Boy Nigeria Twice as Tall
  • Antibalas - Fu Chronicles
  • Bebel Gilberto - Agora
  • Anoushka Shankar - Love Letters
  • Tinariwen - Amadjar
 [33]
2022 Angélique Kidjo Benin Mother Nature
  • Rocky Dawuni – Voice of Bunbon (Vol. 1)
  • Daniel Ho & Friends – East West Players Presents: Daniel Ho & Friends Live in Concert
  • Femi Kuti & Made Kuti – Legacy+
  • Wizkid – Made in Lagos: Deluxe Edition
 [34]
2023 Masa Takumi Japan Sakura
  • Berklee Indian Ensemble – Shuruaat
  • Burna Boy – Love, Damini
  • Angélique Kidjo & Ibrahim Maalouf – Queen of Sheba
  • Anoushka Shankar, Metropole Orkest & Jules Buckley featuring Manu Delago – Between Us... (Live)
 [35]
2024 Shakti India
United Kingdom 		This Moment
  • Susana Baca – Epifanías
  • Bokanté – History
  • Burna Boy – I Told Them...
  • Davido – Timeless
 [36]
2025 Matt B featuring Royal Philharmonic Orchestra United States
United Kingdom 		Alkebulan II
  • Ciro Hurtado – Paisajes
  • Rema – Heis
  • Antonio Rey – Historias de un Flamenco
  • Tems – Born in the Wild
 [37]
2026 Caetano Veloso & Maria Bethânia Brazil Caetano e Bethânia Ao Vivo
  • Siddhant Bhatia – Sounds of Kumbha
  • Burna Boy – No Sign of Weakness
  • Youssou N'Dour – Eclairer le monde - Light the World
  • Shakti – Mind Explosion (50th Anniversary Tour Live)
  • Anoushka Shankar featuring Alam Khan & Sarathy Korwar – Chapter III: We Return to Light
 [38]

^[I] Each year is linked to the article about the Grammy Awards held that year.


See also

References

General
Specific
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