The Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album is an award presented to recording artists for quality albums in the alternative genre 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". In 2023, it was joined by a companion category, Best Alternative Music Performance.
Criteria While the definition of "alternative" has been debated, the award was first presented in 1991 to recognize non-mainstream rock albums "heavily played on college radio stations". After several updates of the category description, the Grammy organisation issued the following statement for the 2019 Grammy season:
Alternative is defined as a genre of music that embraces attributes of progression and innovation in both the music and attitudes associated with it. It is often a less intense version of rock or a more intense version of pop and is typically regarded as more original, eclectic, or musically challenging. It may embrace a variety of subgenres or any hybrids thereof and may include recordings that don't fit into other genre categories.
History In 1991, and from 1994 to 1999, the award was known as Best Alternative Music Performance. The award goes to the artist, producer and engineer/mixer, provided they are credited with more than 50% of playing time on the album. The lead performing artist is the only one who receives an official nomination. A producer or engineer with less than 50% of playing time, as well as the mastering engineer, can apply for a Winners Certificate. Before 2001, only the performing artist received a nomination and an award.
As of 2025, Radiohead, The White Stripes, Beck, and St. Vincent share the record for the most wins in this category, having won three times each, with St. Vincent being the first solo female to win the award thrice. Three female solo artists have won the award, Sinéad O'Connor and Fiona Apple; two bands with female members, The White Stripes and Alabama Shakes, have also won the award, as well as two all-female bands, Wet Leg and Boygenius. With nine nominations to date, Björk holds the record for the most nominations in this category; Radiohead singer Thom Yorke was nominated for the 2007 and 2020 awards for his solo albums, making him the most nominated person in this category with 10 total nominations. Björk holds the record for the most nominations for a solo artist, as well as the record for the most nominations without a win. Vampire Weekend and Coldplay have each received the award twice, and Coldplay are the only group to win two years consecutively. American artists have been presented with the award more than any other nationality, though it has been presented to musicians or groups from the United Kingdom five times, from Ireland twice, and from France and Australia once each. Artists from Canada, Iceland, and Sweden have been nominated for the award, but none have won.
Recipients
1990s Year Work Artist 1991 I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got Sinéad O'Connor All Shook Down The Replacements Goodbye Jumbo World Party The Sensual World Kate Bush Strange Angels Laurie Anderson 1992 Out of Time R.E.M. Doubt Jesus Jones Mighty Like a Rose Elvis Costello Nevermind Nirvana Rumor and Sigh Richard Thompson 1993 Bone Machine Tom Waits Good Stuff The B-52s Nonsuch XTC Wish The Cure Your Arsenal Morrissey 1994 Zooropa U2 Automatic for the People R.E.M. In Utero Nirvana Siamese Dream The Smashing Pumpkins Star Belly 1995 Dookie Green Day The Downward Spiral Nine Inch Nails Fumbling Towards Ecstasy Sarah McLachlan God Shuffled His Feet Crash Test Dummies Under the Pink Tori Amos 1996 MTV Unplugged in New York Nirvana Foo Fighters Foo Fighters Post Björk The Presidents of the United States of America The Presidents of the United States of America To Bring You My Love PJ Harvey 1997 Odelay Beck Boys for Pele Tori Amos The Burdens of Being Upright Tracy Bonham Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness The Smashing Pumpkins New Adventures in Hi-Fi R.E.M. 1998 OK Computer Radiohead Dig Your Own Hole The Chemical Brothers Earthling David Bowie The Fat of the Land The Prodigy Homogenic Björk 1999 Hello Nasty Beastie Boys Adore The Smashing Pumpkins Airbag/How Am I Driving? Radiohead From the Choirgirl Hotel Tori Amos Is This Desire? PJ Harvey
2000s Year Work Artist 2000 Mutations Beck The Fragile Nine Inch Nails Play Moby To Venus and Back Tori Amos You've Come a Long Way, Baby Fatboy Slim 2001 Kid A Radiohead Bloodflowers The Cure Liverpool Sound Collage Paul McCartney Midnite Vultures Beck When the Pawn... Fiona Apple 2002 Parachutes Coldplay Amnesiac Radiohead Halfway Between the Gutter and the Stars Fatboy Slim Strange Little Girls Tori Amos Vespertine Björk 2003 A Rush of Blood to the Head Coldplay Behind the Music The Soundtrack of Our Lives Cruel Smile Elvis Costello and the Imposters Sea Change Beck Walking with Thee Clinic 2004 Elephant The White Stripes ( ) Sigur Rós Fever to Tell Yeah Yeah Yeahs Fight Test The Flaming Lips Hail to the Thief Radiohead 2005 A Ghost Is Born Wilco Franz Ferdinand Franz Ferdinand Good News for People Who Love Bad News Modest Mouse Medúlla Björk Uh Huh Her PJ Harvey 2006 Get Behind Me Satan The White Stripes Funeral Arcade Fire Guero Beck Plans Death Cab for Cutie You Could Have It So Much Better Franz Ferdinand 2007 St. Elsewhere Gnarls Barkley At War with the Mystics The Flaming Lips The Eraser Thom Yorke Show Your Bones Yeah Yeah Yeahs Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not Arctic Monkeys 2008 Icky Thump The White Stripes Alright, Still Lily Allen Neon Bible Arcade Fire Volta Björk Wincing the Night Away The Shins 2009 In Rainbows Radiohead Evil Urges My Morning Jacket Modern Guilt Beck Narrow Stairs Death Cab for Cutie The Odd Couple Gnarls Barkley
2010s Year Work Artist 2010 Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix Phoenix Everything That Happens Will Happen Today David Byrne and Brian Eno It's Blitz! Yeah Yeah Yeahs The Open Door EP Death Cab for Cutie Sounds of the Universe Depeche Mode 2011 Brothers The Black Keys Broken Bells Broken Bells Contra Vampire Weekend Infinite Arms Band of Horses The Suburbs Arcade Fire 2012 Bon Iver Bon Iver Circuital My Morning Jacket Codes and Keys Death Cab for Cutie The King of Limbs Radiohead Torches Foster the People 2013 Making Mirrors Gotye Bad as Me Tom Waits Biophilia Björk Hurry Up, We're Dreaming M83 The Idler Wheel... Fiona Apple 2014 Modern Vampires of the City Vampire Weekend Hesitation Marks Nine Inch Nails Lonerism Tame Impala Trouble Will Find Me The National The Worse Things Get, the Harder I Fight, the Harder I Fight, the More I Love You Neko Case 2015 St. Vincent St. Vincent Lazaretto Jack White Melophobia Cage the Elephant Reflektor Arcade Fire This Is All Yours Alt-J 2016 Sound & Color Alabama Shakes Currents Tame Impala Star Wars Wilco Vulnicura Björk The Waterfall My Morning Jacket 2017 Blackstar David Bowie 22, A Million Bon Iver The Hope Six Demolition Project PJ Harvey A Moon Shaped Pool Radiohead Post Pop Depression Iggy Pop 2018 Sleep Well Beast The National American Dream LCD Soundsystem Everything Now Arcade Fire Humanz Gorillaz Pure Comedy Father John Misty 2019 Colors Beck American Utopia David Byrne Masseduction St. Vincent Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino Arctic Monkeys Utopia Björk
2020s Year Work Artist 2020 62nd Annual GRAMMY Awards (2019) , Grammy.com, 7 December 2018 Father of the Bride Vampire Weekend Anima Thom Yorke Assume Form James Blake I, I Bon Iver U.F.O.F. Big Thief 2021 63rd Annual GRAMMY Awards (2020) , Grammy.com, 24 November 2020 Fetch the Bolt Cutters Fiona Apple Hyperspace Beck Jaime Brittany Howard Punisher Phoebe Bridgers The Slow Rush Tame Impala 2022 2022 GRAMMYs Awards: Complete Nominations List , Grammy.com, 23 November 2020 Daddy's Home St. Vincent Collapsed in Sunbeams Arlo Parks If I Can't Have Love, I Want Power Halsey Jubilee Japanese Breakfast Shore Fleet Foxes 2023 Wet Leg Wet Leg Cool It Down Yeah Yeah Yeahs Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You Big Thief Fossora Björk We Arcade Fire 2024 The Record Boygenius The Car Arctic Monkeys Cracker Island Gorillaz Did You Know That There's a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd Lana Del Rey I Inside the Old Year Dying PJ Harvey 2025 All Born Screaming St. Vincent Charm Clairo The Collective Kim Gordon What Now Brittany Howard Wild God Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds 2026 Songs of a Lost World The Cure Don't Tap the Glass Tyler, the Creator Ego Death at a Bachelorette Party Hayley Williams Moisturizer Wet Leg Sable, Fable Bon Iver
Each year is linked to the article about the Grammy Awards held that year.
Artists with multiple wins
3 wins Beck Radiohead The White Stripes St. Vincent
2 wins Coldplay Vampire Weekend
Artists with multiple nominations
9 nominations Björk
8 nominations Beck Radiohead
6 nominations Arcade Fire
5 nominations Tori Amos PJ Harvey
4 nominations Bon Iver Death Cab for Cutie St. Vincent Yeah Yeah Yeahs
3 nominations Fiona Apple Arctic Monkeys The Cure My Morning Jacket Nine Inch Nails Nirvana R.E.M. The Smashing Pumpkins Tame Impala Vampire Weekend The White Stripes
2 nominations Big Thief David Bowie David Byrne Coldplay Elvis Costello Fatboy Slim The Flaming Lips Franz Ferdinand Gnarls Barkley Gorillaz Brittany Howard The National Thom Yorke Tom Waits Wet Leg Wilco
See also
Independent music List of alternative rock artists
References Specific
General