NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Song

This article lists the winners and nominees for the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Song. The award was first given in 1972, before being retired until the 1996 ceremony. In 2017 the category was divided, honoring traditional and contemporary songs separately. Since its conception, Alicia Keys holds the record for most wins in this category with five.

Year	Artist	Song	Ref
1972
1972	Isaac Hayes	*"Theme from Shaft"*	^{[citation needed]}
1973 – 79	—

Year	Artist	Song	Ref
1990 – 95	—
1996
	Whitney Houston	"Exhale (Shoop Shoop)"	^[1]^[2]
	D'Angelo	"Brown Sugar"
	Coolio (featuring L.V.)	"Gangsta's Paradise"
	TLC	"Waterfalls"
	Michael Jackson	"You Are Not Alone"
1997
	R. Kelly	"I Believe I Can Fly"	^[3]^[4]
	Tracy Chapman	"Give Me One Reason"
	Fugees	"Killing Me Softly"
	Blackstreet (featuring Dr. Dre and Queen Pen)	"No Diggity"
	Toni Braxton	"Un-Break My Heart"
1998
	Boyz II Men	"A Song for Mama"	^{[citation needed]}
	Babyface	"Every Time I Close My Eyes"
	Erykah Badu	"On & On"
	En Vogue	"Don't Let Go (Love)"
	God's Property (featuring Kirk Franklin and Cheryl James)	"Stomp"
1999
	Kirk Franklin	"Lean on Me"	^[5]
	Aretha Franklin	"A Rose Is Still a Rose"
	K-Ci & JoJo	"All My Life"
	Lauryn Hill	"Doo Wop (That Thing)"
	Whitney Houston & Mariah Carey	"When You Believe"

Year	Artist	Song	Ref
2000
	Eric Benét (featuring Tamia)	"Spend My Life with You"	^{[citation needed]}
	Lauryn Hill	"Everything is Everything"
	Whitney Houston	"My Love Is Your Love"
	Lenny Kravitz	"Fly Away"
	Chanté Moore	"Chanté's Got a Man"
2001
2001	Yolanda Adams	"Open My Heart"	^{[citation needed]}
2002			^{[citation needed]}
	Alicia Keys	"A Woman's Worth"	^[6]
	Alicia Keys	"Fallin'"
	Jill Scott	"He Loves Me (Lyzel In E Flat)"
	Musiq Soulchild	"Love"
	Michael Jackson	"You Rock My World"
2003
	Kirk Franklin	"Brighter Day"	^{[citation needed]}
	India Arie	"Little Things"
	Erykah Badu (featuring Common)	"Love of My Life (An Ode to Hip-Hop)"
	Mary J. Blige	"No More Drama"
	Missy Elliott	"Work It
2004
	Luther Vandross	"Dance with My Father"	^[7]^[8]
	Beyoncé (feat. Jay Z)	"Crazy in Love"
	Outkast	"Hey Ya!"
	Outkast	"The Way You Move"
2005
	Alicia Keys	"If I Ain't Got You"	^{[citation needed]}
	Jill Scott	"Golden"
	Usher (featuring Lil Jon and Ludacris)	"Yeah!"
2006
	Alicia Keys	"Unbreakable"	^{[citation needed]}
	Mariah Carey	"We Belong Together"
	Common	"Testify"
	Destiny's Child	"Stand Up for Love"
	Kanye West	"Diamonds from Sierra Leone"
2007
	India Arie	"I Am Not My Hair"	^{[citation needed]}
	Gnarls Barkley	"Crazy"
	Beyoncé	"Irreplaceable"
	Mary J. Blige	"Be Without You"
	John Legend	"Save Room"
2008
	Alicia Keys	"Like You'll Never See Me Again"	^{[citation needed]}
	India Arie	"Beautiful Flower"
	Mary J. Blige	"Just Fine"
	Rihanna (featuring Jay Z)	"Umbrella"
	Kanye West	"Stronger"
2009
	will.i.am	"Yes We Can"	^{[citation needed]}
	Beyoncé	"Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)"
	Jennifer Hudson	"Spotlight"
	Alicia Keys	"Superwoman"
	John Legend	"Green Light"

Year	Artist	Song	Ref
2010
	Mary Mary	"God in Me"	^{[citation needed]}
	Jamie Foxx (featuring T-Pain)	"Blame It"
	Jay Z (featuring Alicia Keys)	"Empire State of Mind"
	Maxwell	"Bad Habits"
	Maxwell	"Pretty Wings"
2011
	Fantasia	"Bittersweet"	^{[citation needed]}
	CeeLo Green	"Fuck You"
	Alicia Keys	"Un-Thinkable (I'm Ready)"
	Maxwell	"Fistful of Tears"
	Sade	"Soldier of Love"
2012
	Kirk Franklin	"I Smile"	^{[citation needed]}
	Adele	"Someone Like You"
	Beyoncé	"Best Thing I Never Had"
	CeeLo Green (featuring Melanie Fiona)	"Fool for You"
	Jill Scott (featuring Anthony Hamilton)	"So in Love"
2013
	Whitney Houston and R. Kelly	"I Look to You"	^[9]
	Kem	"Be Mine for Christmas"
		"Glorify the King"
		"You're on My Mind"
	Bruno Mars	"Locked Out of Heaven"
2014
	John Legend	"All of Me"	^[10]
	Alicia Keys (featuring Maxwell)	"Fire We Make"
	Bruno Mars	"Treasure"
	Janelle Monáe (featuring Erykah Badu)	"Q.U.E.E.N."
	Robin Thicke (featuring T.I. and Pharrell Williams)	"Blurred Lines"
2015
	Alicia Keys	"We Are Here"	^[11]
	Beyoncé	"Pretty Hurts"
	Aloe Blacc	"The Man"
	Kendrick Lamar	"i"
	Usher	"Good Kisser"
2016
	Jill Scott	"Back Together"	^[12]
	Lauryn Hill	"Feeling Good"
	Seal	"Every Time I'm with You"
	Jazmine Sullivan	"Let It Burn"
	Charlie Wilson	"Goodnight Kisses"
2017
	Kim Burrell and Pharrell Williams	"I See Victory"	^[13]
	Anthony Hamilton	"Amen"
	Tamela Mann	"God Provides"
	Maxwell	"Lake by the Ocean"
	Solange	"Cranes in the Sky"

	Beyoncé (featuring Kendrick Lamar)	"Freedom"
	Common (featuring Bilal)	"Letter to the Free"
	Bruno Mars	"24K Magic"
	Sounds of Blackness (featuring High School for Recording Arts)	"Royalty"
Beyoncé	Formation
2018
	Bruno Mars	"That's What I Like"	^[14]
	Ledisi	"High"
	MAJOR.	"Honest"
	John Legend	"Surefire" (Piano Version)
	Mary J. Blige	"U + Me (Love Lesson)"

	Kendrick Lamar	"HUMBLE."
	JAY-Z	"The Story of O.J."
	Mali Music	"Gonna Be Alright"
	Jazmine Sullivan x Bryson Tiller	"Insecure"
SZA feat. Travis Scott	"Love Galore"
2019
	Ella Mai	"Boo'd Up"
	John Legend feat. BloodPop	"A Good Night"
	Bruno Mars feat. Cardi B	"Finesse (Remix)"
	Childish Gambino	"This Is America"
	H.E.R.	"As I Am"

	Toni Braxton	"Long as I Live"
	Andra Day	"Amen"
	MAJOR.	"Better With You In It"
	Leon Bridges	"Beyond"
Tori Kelly feat. Kirk Franklin	"Never Alone"

Year	Artist	Song	Ref
2020
	Beyoncé	"Before I Let Go"	^[15]
	H.E.R.	"Hard Place"
	Lizzo	"Juice"
	Normani	"Motivation"
	Khalid	"Talk"

	Beyoncé	"Spirit"
	Fantasia	"Enough"
	Lizzo	"Jerome"
	Cynthia Erivo	"Stand Up"
India Arie	"Steady Love"

NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Song

Winners and nominees

1970s

1990s

2000s

2010s

2020s

Multiple wins and nominations

Wins

Nominations

References

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