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This man has more Grammy wins than Rihanna, Taylor Swift, Kanye West, Lady Gaga; even though he never sang in his life

This non-singer beat top music stars like Rihanna, Taylor Swift, Michael Jackson, and Lady Gaga in the list of most Grammy wins. Here's how.

Published on: Nov 12, 2024, 18:19:10 IST
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The Grammy Awards, presented annually by the Recording Academy of the United States, are considered among the most prestigious awards in the field of music in the Western world. Given that American pop culture has dominated the music scene for decades, Grammy wins and nominations are seen worldwide as an important validation for any artiste. So, it's no surprise that the most critically acclaimed and biggest musicians dominate the list of most Grammy nominations. However, one name that has never sung a song or played an instrument is high on the list. (Also read: Quincy Jones, legendary music producer who gave Frank Sinatra and Michael Jackson their biggest hits, dies at 91)

Do you know which artiste has won the most Grammy awards despite never singing? (AFP)
Do you know which artiste has won the most Grammy awards despite never singing? (AFP)

The non-singer with more Grammy wins than top music stars

While Beyonce leads the list of most Grammy wins with 32, at number three is the recently deceased music producer Quincy Jones. Quincy Jones amassed 80 Grammy nominations and 28 wins in a career that spanned six decades. This is more than the 24 wins each for Jay Z and Kanye West, 16 wins for Adele, 15 for Eminem, 14 for Taylor Swift, 13 each for Michael Jackson and Lady Gaga, and 9 for Rihanna.

Quincy Jones had 28 Grammy wins in his career. (AFP)
Quincy Jones had 28 Grammy wins in his career. (AFP)

Among the people with the most wins, only Beyonce (32) and conductor-composer George Solti (31) are ahead of him. Quincy Jones trails only Beyonce, Jay Z, and Paul McCartney in the list of most nominations.

Who was Quincy Jones?

Born in 1933 in Chicago, Quincy Jones began his career as a trumpeter and jazz arranger in the 1950s before moving to produce records for other artists. He worked with Frank Sinatra early in his career but is best remembered for producing Michael Jackson's three most successful albums - Off The Wall, Thriller, and Bad. While he began as a jazz arranger in the 70s, Jones also moved into pop music. Most of his Grammy nominations over the years were as the producer of various singles and albums by other artists.

Jones continued to work into his 80s, appearing in a music video by Travis Scott and Young Thug for the song Out West in 2020 when he was 86. Quincy Jones died last week, November 3, at the age of 91.

  • Abhimanyu Mathur
    ABOUT THE AUTHOR
    Abhimanyu Mathur

    Abhimanyu Mathur is Deputy Editor, Entertainment at Hindustan Times. With almost 15 years of experience in writing about everything from films and TV shows to cricket matches and elections, he inhales and exhales pop culture and news. Currently, he watches movies and TV shows and talks to celebrities for a living, while occasionally writing about them as well. A journalism graduate of Delhi College of Arts and Commerce, Delhi University, Abhimanyu began his career with Hindustan Times at the age of 20, swapping classrooms for newsrooms at an early age. He began his journey in the early days of digital journalism, later switching to the madness of print journalism. Work has led him to far off places like Japan and Jordan, as well as to the interiors of Haryana and the Indo-Pak border. He dabbled in city reporting in places like Meerut, Gurgaon, and Delhi, covered the Olympics and Cricket World Cups, before finding his calling in entertainment and lifestyle during the pandemic. A Rotten Tomatoes Certified Film Critic, he is equally at home covering stories on ground as he is interviewing celebrities and studios, and sometimes prefers to shepherd teams in delivering traffic through the day. Even as his role has evolved from reporter to supervisor over the years, his first love remains writing (and of late, talking on camera). With a good understanding of cinema and its trends, and a keen eye for detail, he continues to spark conversations around showbiz for readers around the world.Read More