| Grammy Award for Best Classical Vocal Solo | |
| Awarded For: | quality classic vocal solos |
| Presenter: | National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences |
| Country: | United States |
| Year: | 1959 |
| Holder: | Renée Fleming (soloist) and Yannick Nézet-Séguin (accompanist) - Voice of Nature - The Anthropocene (2023) |
| Website: | grammy.com |
The Grammy Award – Best Classical Vocal Solo has been awarded since 1959. There have been several minor changes to the name of the award over this time:
Up to and including 2015, the Grammy was awarded to one or more vocal soloist(s). Accompanying musicians, orchestras and/or conductors were not eligible for the award. From 2016, "collaborative artists" (such as solo accompanists, conductors or chamber groups) have also been included. Accompanying large orchestras or multiple instrumentalists, however, remain ineligible.[1] Producer(s) and engineer(s) of over 50% of playing time on the recording also receive an award.
Years reflect the year in which the Grammy Awards were presented, for works released in the previous year.
| Year | Recipients(s) | Work | Nominees | Ref. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| scope=row | 1959 | Renata Tebaldi | Operatic Recital | [2] | |
| scope=row | 1960 | Bjoerling in Opera | [3] | ||
| scope=row | 1961 | A Program of Song - Leontyne Price Recital | [4] | ||
| scope=row | 1962 | The Art of the Prima Donna | [5] | ||
| scope=row | 1963 | Eileen Farrell | Götterdämmerung - Brünnhilde's Immolation Scene/Wesendonck Songs | [6] | |
| scope=row | 1964 | Great Scenes From Gershwin's Porgy and Bess | [7] | ||
| scope=row | 1965 | Berlioz Nuits d'Ete (Song Cycle)/Falla: El Amor Brujo | [8] | ||
| scope=row | 1966 | Leontyne Price | Strauss Salome (Dance of the Seven Veils, Interlude, Final Scene)/The Egyptian Helen (Awakening Scene) | [9] | |
| scope=row | 1967 | Prima Donna (Works of Barber, Purcell, etc.) | [10] | ||
| scope=row | 1968 | Leontyne Price | Prima Donna, Volume 2 | [11] | |
| scope=row | 1969 | Montserrat Caballé | Rossini Rarities | [12] | |
| scope=row | 1970 | Barber Two Scenes From "Antony and Cleopatra"/Knoxville, Summer of 1915 | [13] | ||
| scope=row | 1971 | Schubert Lieder | [14] | ||
| scope=row | 1972 | Leontyne Price Sings Robert Schumann | [15] | ||
| scope=row | 1973 | Brahms Die Schone Magelone | [16] | ||
| scope=row | 1974 | Puccini Heroines | [17] | ||
| scope=row | 1975 | Leontyne Price Sings Richard Strauss | [18] | ||
| scope=row | 1976 | Mahler | [19] | ||
| scope=row | 1977 | Herbert Music of Victor Herbert | [20] | ||
| scope=row | 1978 | Bach Arias | [21] | ||
| scope=row | 1979 | Luciano Pavarotti - Hits From Lincoln Center | [22] | ||
| 1980 | O Sole Mio - Favorite Neapolitan Songs | [23] | |||
| 1981 | Leontyne Price | Prima Donna, Vol. 5 - Great Soprano Arias From Handel to Britten | [24] | ||
| 1982 | Marilyn Horne, Luciano Pavarotti, Joan Sutherland | Live From Lincoln Center - Sutherland/Horne/Pavarotti | [25] | ||
| 1983 | Leontyne Price | Verdi Arias (Leontyne Price Sings Verdi) | [26] | ||
| 1984 | Marilyn Horne and Leontyne Price | Leontyne Price & Marilyn Horne in Concert at the Met | [27] | ||
| 1985 | Heather Harper, Jessye Norman & José van Dam | Ravel Songs of Maurice Ravel | [28] | ||
| 1986 | John Aler | Berlioz Requiem | [29] | ||
| 1987 | Kathleen Battle | Kathleen Battle Sings Mozart | [30] | ||
| 1988 | Kathleen Battle | Kathleen Battle - Salzburg Recital | [31] | ||
| 1989 | Luciano Pavarotti | Luciano Pavarotti in Concert | [32] | ||
| 1990 | Dawn Upshaw | Knoxville - Summer of 1915 (Music of Barber, Menotti, Harbison, Stravinsky) | [33] | ||
| 1991 | José Carreras, Plácido Domingo, Luciano Pavarotti | Carreras, Domingo, Pavarotti in Concert | [34] | ||
| 1992 | Dawn Upshaw | The Girl With Orange Lips (Falla, Ravel, etc.) | [35] | ||
| 1993 | Kathleen Battle & Margo Garrett | Kathleen Battle at Carnegie Hall (Handel, Mozart, Liszt, Strauss, etc.) | [36] | ||
| 1994 | Arleen Auger | The Art of Arleen Auger (Works of Larsen, Purcell, Schumann, Mozart) | [37] | ||
| 1995 | Cecilia Bartoli | The Impatient Lover - Italian Songs by Beethoven, Schubert, Mozart | [38] [39] | ||
| 1996 | Sylvia McNair | The Echoing Air - The Music of Henry Purcell | [40] | ||
| 1997 | Bryn Terfel | Opera Arias - Works of Mozart, Wagner, Borodin | [41] | ||
| 1998 | Cecilia Bartoli | An Italian Songbook (Works of Bellini, Donizetti, Rossini) | [42] | ||
| 1999 | Renée Fleming | The Beautiful Voice (Works of Charpentier, Gounod etc.) | [43] | ||
| 2000 | Anne Sofie von Otter & Thomas Quasthoff | Mahler: Des Knaben Wunderhorn | [44] | ||
| 2001 | Cecilia Bartoli (artist), Jonathan Stokes (engineer), Christopher Raeburn (producer) | The Vivaldi Album (Dell'aura al sussurrar; Alma oppressa, etc.) | [45] | ||
| 2002 | Cecilia Bartoli (artist), Jonathan Stokes (engineer), Christopher Raeburn (producer) | Dreams & Fables - Gluck Italian Arias (Tremo Gra' Fubbi Miei; Die Questa Cetra In Seno, etc.) | [46] | ||
| 2003 | Renée Fleming (artist), Jonathan Stokes, Neil Hutchinson & Tom Lazarus (engineers), Erik Smith (producer) | Bel Canto (Bellini, Donizetti, Rossini, etc.) | [47] | ||
| 2004 | Thomas Quasthoff & Anne Sofie von Otter (soloists), Jürgen Bulgrin & Oliver Rogalla Von Heyden (engineers), Christopher Alder (producer) | Schubert Lieder with Orchestra | [48] | ||
| 2005 | Susan Graham | Ives Songs (The Things Our Fathers Loved; the Housatonic at Stockbridge, etc.) | [49] | ||
| 2006 | Thomas Quasthoff (soloist), Jürgen Bulgrin & Rainer Maillard (engineers), Christopher Alder (producer) | Bach Cantatas | [50] | ||
| 2007 | Lorraine Hunt Lieberson | Rilke Songs | [51] | ||
| 2008 | Lorraine Hunt Lieberson (soloist), John Newton & Mark Donahue (engineers), Dirk Sobotka (producer) | Lorraine Hunt Lieberson Sings Peter Lieberson: Neruda Songs | [52] | ||
| 2009 | Hila Plitmann (soloist), John Corigliano, Tim Handley & Tom Lazarus (engineers), John Corigliano & Tim Handley (producers) | Corigliano: Mr. Tambourine Man: Seven Poems of Bob Dylan | [53] | ||
| 2010 | Renee Fleming | Verismo | [54] | ||
| 2011 | Sacrificium | [55] | |||
| 2012 | Joyce DiDonato | Diva Divo | [56] | ||
| 2013 | Poèmes | [57] | |||
| 2014 | Dawn Upshaw | Winter Morning Walks | [58] | ||
| 2015 | Anne Sofie von Otter | Douce France | [59] | ||
| 2016 | Joyce DiDonato (soloist), Antonio Pappano (accompanist) | Joyce & Tony - Live From Wigmore Hall | [60] | ||
| 2017 | Dorothea Röschmann (soloist), Mitsuko Uchida (accompanist) | Schumann & Berg | [61] | ||
| Ian Bostridge (soloist), Antonio Pappano (accompanist) | Shakespeare Songs | ||||
| 2018 | Barbara Hannigan | Crazy Girl Crazy - Music by Gershwin, Berg & Berio | [62] | ||
| 2019 | Karim Sulayman (soloist); Apollo's Fire (ensemble) | Songs of Orpheus - Monteverdi, Caccini, D'India & Landi | [63] | ||
| 2020 | Joyce DiDonato (soloist); Chuck Israels, Jimmy Madison, Charlie Porter & Craig Terry (accompanists) | Songplay | [64] | ||
| 2021 | Sarah Brailey & Dashon Burton (soloists); James Blachly (conductor) | Smyth The Prison | [65] | ||
| 2022 | Sangeeta Kaur & Hilla Plitmann (soloists); Danae Xanthe Vlasse (piano) | Mythologies | [66] | ||
| 2023 | Renée Fleming (soloist) & Yannick Nézet-Séguin (accompanist) | Voice of Nature - The Anthropocene | [67] | ||
| 2024 | Julia Bullock (soloist); Christian Reif (conductor) | Walking in the Dark |
| ||
| 2025 | Winner TBA on 2 February 2025 |
| [68] |