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Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album

Music award From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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The Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album has been awarded since 1959. The award is generally given to the album's producers, principal vocalist(s), and the composer and lyricist if they have written a new score which comprises 51% or more playing time of the album, though the number of recipients has varied over the category's tenure.

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The inaugural award was presented at the 1st Grammy Awards to composer Meredith Willson for his work on his 1957 musical The Music Man. Ethel Merman and Gwen Verdon became the first female recipients the in 1960 when they tied for Gypsy and Redhead. Stephen Sondheim and Thomas Z. Shepard hold the record for most nominations in the category, with 25, while Sondheim and Shepard are tied for the record for most wins, with six. Tommy Krasker holds the record for most nominations without a win, with twelve.Micki Grant became the first African-American woman to win this award for Don't Bother Me, I Can't Cope (1973). To date, two-time recipient Phillipa Soo is the only woman to win more than one award (for Hamilton and Into the Woods).

Among shows, cast recordings from Gypsy, West Side Story, Into the Woods, and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street have been nominated four times each respectively, while Gypsy, West Side Story, Into the Woods, and Les Misérables are the only shows to win twice. Anything Goes, Hello, Dolly!, The King and I, and My Fair Lady hold the record for most nominations without a win, with three. The current recipient of the award is Hell's Kitchen, which won at the 67th Annual Grammy Awards in 2025.

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Process

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Over the years, the qualifications for the individual nominees has fluctuated with principal artists, composers, and producers at one point being the sole eligible nominee, to the current (as of the 66th Grammy Awards) standard which is as follows: "For albums containing greater than 51% playing time of new recordings. Award to the principal vocalist(s), and the album producer(s) of 50% or more playing time of the album. The lyricist(s) and composer(s) of 50 % or more of a score of a new recording are eligible for an Award if any previous recording of said score has not been nominated in this category."

Vocalists were first awarded in this category at the 54th Annual Grammy Awards in 2012. When an album does not feature any individual soloists and predominantly features an ensemble cast, no individual award is given to the members of the ensemble, with each member instead receiving a winners certificate. As of the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards, only a maximum of four principal vocalists can be awarded (previously unlimited), in addition to the producer/s and lyricists/composers.[1] The maximum number of eligible principal vocalist(s) was increased to six beginning at the 68th Annual Grammy Awards.[2]

Years reflect the year in which the Grammy Awards were handed out, for music released in the previous year.

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Name changes

This award has had several minor name changes:

  • In 1959 the award was known as Best Original Cast Album (Broadway or TV)
  • In 1960 it was awarded as Best Broadway Show Album
  • In 1961 it was awarded as Best Show Album (Original Cast)
  • From 1962 to 1963 it was awarded as Best Original Cast Show Album
  • From 1964 to 1973 it was awarded as Best Score From an Original Cast Show Album
  • From 1974 to 1975 it was awarded as Best Score From the Original Cast Show Album
  • From 1976 to 1986 it was awarded as Best Cast Show Album
  • From 1987 to 1991 it was awarded as Best Musical Cast Show Album
  • From 1992 to 2011 it was awarded as Best Musical Show Album
  • From 2012 it has been known as Best Musical Theater Album.[3]
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Winners and nominees

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Inaugural recipient Meredith Willson won for The Music Man (1959).
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Ethel Merman won for Gypsy.
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Richard Rodgers[a] won twice for The Sound of Music (1961) and No Strings (1963).
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Oscar Hammerstein II won for The Sound of Music in 1961.
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Frank Loesser won for How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (1962).
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Jule Styne won for Funny Girl (1965).
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Alan Jay Lerner won for On a Clear Day You Can See Forever (1966).
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Jerry Herman won for Mame (1967).
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John Kander won for Cabaret (1968).
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Burt Bacharach won for Promises, Promises (1970)
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Stephen Sondheim[b] won six times for Company (1971), A Little Night Music (1974), Sweeney Todd (1980), Sunday in the Park with George (1985), Into the Woods (1989), and Passion (1995)
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Stephen Schwartz won twice for Godspell (1972) and Wicked (2005)
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Micki Grant won for Don't Bother Me, I Can't Cope (1973), becoming the first African-American woman to win this award.
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Charles Strouse won for Annie (1978).
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Two-time winner Andrew Lloyd Webber received awards in 1981 and 1984 for his hit shows Evita and Cats, respectively.
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Quincy Jones won the award in 1982.
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Claude-Michel Schönberg won for Les Misérables (1988)
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Adolph Green won with his writing partner Betty Comden for The Will Rogers Follies (1992)
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Pete Townshend won for The Who's Tommy (1994).
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EGOT winner Sir Elton John won for Aida (2001).
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Tim Rice won with Sir Elton for Aida (2001).
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Mel Brooks won for The Producers (2002).
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Eric Idle won for Spamalot (2006).
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Marc Shaiman won twice for Hairspray (2003) and Some Like It Hot (2024).
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Alex Lacamoire won thrice for In the Heights (2009), Hamilton (2016) and Dear Evan Hansen (2018).
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Billie Joe Armstrong won twice for American Idiot (2011).
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Trey Parker and Matt Stone won for The Book of Mormon (2012).
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Robert Lopez won for The Book of Mormon (2012).
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Cristin Milioti won as a vocalist for Once (2013).
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Billy Porter won as a vocalist for Kinky Boots (2014)
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Cyndi Lauper[c] won for her show Kinky Boots (2014).
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Lin-Manuel Miranda won twice for In the Heights (2010) and Hamilton (2016).
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Leslie Odom Jr. won as a vocalist for Hamilton (2016).
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Phillipa Soo[d] won for Hamilton (2016), and Into the Woods (2023).
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Renée Elise Goldsberry won as a vocalist for Hamilton (2016).
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Daveed Diggs won as a vocalist for Hamilton (2016).
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Jonathan Groff won as a vocalist for Hamilton (2016).
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Cynthia Erivo won as a vocalist in The Color Purple (2017).
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Jennifer Hudson won as a vocalist in The Color Purple (2017).
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Danielle Brooks won as a vocalist for The Color Purple (2017).
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Benj Pasek & Justin Paul won for Dear Evan Hansen (2018)
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Ben Platt as a vocalist for Dear Evan Hansen (2018).
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Mike Faist won as a vocalist for Dear Evan Hansen (2018).
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Katrina Lenk won as a vocalist for The Band's Visit (2019).
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Andre DeShields won as a vocalist for Hadestown (2020).
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Amber Gray and Patrick Page won as vocalists for Hadestown (2020).
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Anaïs Mitchell won in 2020 for her musical Hadestown.
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Alanis Morissette won for her musical Jagged Little Pill (2021).
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Sara Bareilles[e] won as vocalist in Into the Woods (2023).
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Patina Miller won as a vocalist for Into the Woods (2022).
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Maleah Joi Moon won as a vocalist for Hell's Kitchen (2025).

1950s

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1960s

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1970s

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1980s

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1990s

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2000s

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2010s

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2020s

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Shows with multiple wins and nominations

Shows with multiple wins

2 wins:

Shows with multiple nominations

4 nominations

3 nominations:

2 nominations:

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Individuals with multiple wins and nominations

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Individuals with multiple wins

6 wins:

5 wins:

3 wins:

2 wins:

Individuals with multiple nominations

25 nominations

17 nominations

15 nominations

12 nominations

  • Tommy Krasker

9 nominations

8 nominations

7 nominations

6 nominations

5 nominations

4 nominations

3 nominations

2 nominations

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References

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