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A visual history · Grammys

The winners who defined Alt Album.

35 ceremonies, 1991–2025. 25 different winners. The longest run belongs to Coldplay, with 2 straight wins.

Who won most recently?
St. Vincent in 2025 for All Born Screaming.
Who has won the most?
Beck, Radiohead, St. Vincent and The White Stripes, tied on 3 wins each.
  1. All Born ScreamingSt. Vincent
  2. The RecordBoygenius
  3. Wet LegWet Leg
  4. Daddy's HomeSt. Vincent
  5. Fetch the Bolt CuttersFiona Apple
  6. Father of the BrideVampire Weekend
Years explored
1991–2025
Different winners
25
Category leader
Beck · 3
About this record

Best Alternative Music Album was first awarded in 1991, so it does not run the full 1959–2025 window.

2000–2025

26 ceremonies

19912025

01 / The reigns

Coldplay set the longest run.

The timeline turns the 2000–2025 record into a sequence of reigns. Longer bands reveal sustained runs; color shows the credited label.

  1. 01
    St. Vincent3 wins
  2. 02
    The White Stripes3 wins
  3. 03
    Beck2 wins
  4. 04
    Coldplay2 wins
  5. 05
    Radiohead2 wins
Each band is one winner’s reign. Wider means a longer run. Colored by label; hover for details.
Beck'00
Radiohead'01
Coldplay'02–'03×2
The White Stripes'04
Wilco'05
The White Stripes'06
Gnarls Barkley'07
The White Stripes'08
Radiohead'09
Phoenix'10
The Black Keys'11
Bon Iver'12
Gotye'13
Vampire Weekend'14
St. Vincent'15
Alabama Shakes'16
David Bowie'17
The National'18
Beck'19
Vampire Weekend'20
Fiona Apple'21
St. Vincent'22
Wet Leg'23
Boygenius'24
St. Vincent'25

02 / The power map

Who stood behind the winners?

Independent leads the recorded label credits with 11 wins, 2000–2025. The full distribution shows whether power was concentrated or shared.

Independent11 wins
Warner5 wins
Universal2 wins
DGC1 win
Downtown1 win
Eleven1 win
Wins by label
  1. Independent1142%
  2. Warner519%
  3. Universal28%
  4. DGC14%
  5. Downtown14%
  6. Eleven14%
  7. Other519%

03 / The near misses

The names that kept coming back without the ending they wanted.

Counting nominations in this category only, 2000–2025.

Most nominated, never won this award

  1. 01
    Björk
    7 noms
  2. 02
    Arcade Fire
    6 noms
  3. 03
    Death Cab for Cutie
    4 noms
  4. 04
    Yeah Yeah Yeahs
    4 noms
  5. 05
    Arctic Monkeys
    3 noms
  6. 06
    My Morning Jacket
    3 noms

Most losses in this category

  1. 01
    Björk
    7L · 0W
  2. 02
    Arcade Fire
    6L · 0W
  3. 03
    Beck
    5L · 2W
  4. 04
    Death Cab for Cutie
    4L · 0W
  5. 05
    Radiohead
    4L · 2W
  6. 06
    Yeah Yeah Yeahs
    4L · 0W

04 / The archive

Every year.
Every winner.

The complete reference behind the story, showing 2000–2025. Open any year to see the rest of the field when nominee records are available.

YearWinnerLabel
2025St. Vincent (All Born Screaming)
beat 4 others
  • Clairo (Charm)
  • Kim Gordon (The Collective)
  • Brittany Howard (What Now)
  • Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds (Wild God)
Total Pleasure/Virgin
2024Boygenius (The Record)
beat 4 others
  • Arctic Monkeys (The Car)
  • Gorillaz (Cracker Island)
  • Lana Del Rey (Did You Know That There's a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd)
  • PJ Harvey (I Inside the Old Year Dying)
Interscope
2023Wet Leg (Wet Leg)
beat 4 others
  • Yeah Yeah Yeahs (Cool It Down)
  • Big Thief (Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You)
  • Björk (Fossora)
  • Arcade Fire (We)
Domino
2022St. Vincent (Daddy's Home)
beat 4 others
  • Arlo Parks (Collapsed in Sunbeams)
  • Halsey (If I Can't Have Love, I Want Power)
  • Japanese Breakfast (Jubilee)
  • Fleet Foxes (Shore)
Loma Vista
2021Fiona Apple (Fetch the Bolt Cutters)
beat 4 others
  • Beck (Hyperspace)
  • Brittany Howard (Jaime)
  • Phoebe Bridgers (Punisher)
  • Tame Impala (The Slow Rush)
Epic
2020Vampire Weekend (Father of the Bride)
beat 4 others
  • Thom Yorke (Anima)
  • James Blake (Assume Form)
  • Bon Iver (I, I)
  • Big Thief (U.F.O.F.)
Spring Snow/Columbia
2019Beck (Colors)
beat 4 others
  • David Byrne (American Utopia)
  • St. Vincent (Masseduction)
  • Arctic Monkeys (Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino)
  • Björk (Utopia)
Capitol/Fonograf
2018The National (Sleep Well Beast)
beat 4 others
  • LCD Soundsystem (American Dream)
  • Arcade Fire (Everything Now)
  • Gorillaz (Humanz)
  • Father John Misty (Pure Comedy)
4AD
2017David Bowie (Blackstar)
beat 4 others
  • Bon Iver (22, A Million)
  • PJ Harvey (The Hope Six Demolition Project)
  • Radiohead (A Moon Shaped Pool)
  • Iggy Pop (Post Pop Depression)
ISO/Columbia
2016Alabama Shakes (Sound & Color)
beat 4 others
  • Tame Impala (Currents)
  • Wilco (Star Wars)
  • Björk (Vulnicura)
  • My Morning Jacket (The Waterfall)
ATO
2015St. Vincent (St. Vincent)
beat 4 others
  • Jack White (Lazaretto)
  • Cage the Elephant (Melophobia)
  • Arcade Fire (Reflektor)
  • Alt-J (This Is All Yours)
Loma Vista/Republic
2014Vampire Weekend (Modern Vampires of the City)
beat 4 others
  • Nine Inch Nails (Hesitation Marks)
  • Tame Impala (Lonerism)
  • The National (Trouble Will Find Me)
  • Neko Case (The Worse Things Get, the Harder I Fight, the Harder I Fight, the More I Love You)
XL
2013Gotye (Making Mirrors)
beat 4 others
  • Tom Waits (Bad as Me)
  • Björk (Biophilia)
  • M83 (Hurry Up, We're Dreaming)
  • Fiona Apple (The Idler Wheel...)
Eleven/Universal
2012Bon Iver (Bon Iver)
beat 4 others
  • My Morning Jacket (Circuital)
  • Death Cab for Cutie (Codes and Keys)
  • Radiohead (The King of Limbs)
  • Foster the People (Torches)
Jagjaguwar
2011The Black Keys (Brothers)
beat 4 others
  • Broken Bells (Broken Bells)
  • Vampire Weekend (Contra)
  • Band of Horses (Infinite Arms)
  • Arcade Fire (The Suburbs)
Nonesuch
2010Phoenix (Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix)
beat 4 others
  • David Byrne and Brian Eno (Everything That Happens Will Happen Today)
  • Yeah Yeah Yeahs (It's Blitz!)
  • Death Cab for Cutie (The Open Door EP)
  • Depeche Mode (Sounds of the Universe)
Loyauté/Glassnote
2009Radiohead (In Rainbows)
beat 4 others
  • My Morning Jacket (Evil Urges)
  • Beck (Modern Guilt)
  • Death Cab for Cutie (Narrow Stairs)
  • Gnarls Barkley (The Odd Couple)
XL/ATO
2008The White Stripes (Icky Thump)
beat 4 others
  • Lily Allen (Alright, Still)
  • Arcade Fire (Neon Bible)
  • Björk (Volta)
  • The Shins (Wincing the Night Away)
Third Man/Warner Bros.
2007Gnarls Barkley (St. Elsewhere)
beat 4 others
  • The Flaming Lips (At War with the Mystics)
  • Thom Yorke (The Eraser)
  • Yeah Yeah Yeahs (Show Your Bones)
  • Arctic Monkeys (Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not)
Downtown/Atlantic
2006The White Stripes (Get Behind Me Satan)
beat 4 others
  • Arcade Fire (Funeral)
  • Beck (Guero)
  • Death Cab for Cutie (Plans)
  • Franz Ferdinand (You Could Have It So Much Better)
Third Man/V2
2005Wilco (A Ghost Is Born)
beat 4 others
  • Franz Ferdinand (Franz Ferdinand)
  • Modest Mouse (Good News for People Who Love Bad News)
  • Björk (Medúlla)
  • PJ Harvey (Uh Huh Her)
Nonesuch
2004The White Stripes (Elephant)
beat 4 others
  • Sigur Rós (( ))
  • Yeah Yeah Yeahs (Fever to Tell)
  • The Flaming Lips (Fight Test)
  • Radiohead (Hail to the Thief)
Third Man/V2
2003Coldplay (A Rush of Blood to the Head)repeat
beat 4 others
  • The Soundtrack of Our Lives (Behind the Music)
  • Elvis Costello and the Imposters (Cruel Smile)
  • Beck (Sea Change)
  • Clinic (Walking with Thee)
Parlophone/Capitol
2002Coldplay (Parachutes)
beat 4 others
  • Radiohead (Amnesiac)
  • Fatboy Slim (Halfway Between the Gutter and the Stars)
  • Tori Amos (Strange Little Girls)
  • Björk (Vespertine)
Parlophone/Nettwerk
2001Radiohead (Kid A)
beat 4 others
  • The Cure (Bloodflowers)
  • Paul McCartney (Liverpool Sound Collage)
  • Beck (Midnite Vultures)
  • Fiona Apple (When the Pawn...)
Parlophone/Capitol
2000Beck (Mutations)
beat 4 others
  • Nine Inch Nails (The Fragile)
  • Moby (Play)
  • Tori Amos (To Venus and Back)
  • Fatboy Slim (You've Come a Long Way, Baby)
DGC/Geffen