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Every Grammys Best Bluegrass Album winner

26 ceremonies, 2000–2025. 18 different winners. The longest run was Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway, 2 years straight (2023–2024).

Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder ×4Alison Krauss & Union Station ×3Billy Strings ×2Del McCoury Band ×2Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway ×2
Each band is one winner’s reign. Wider means a longer run. Colored by label; hover for details.
Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder'00
Dolly Parton'01
Alison Krauss & Union Station'02
Clinch Mountain Boys, Jim Lauderdale, and Ralph Stanley'03
Alison Krauss & Union Station'04
Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder'05
Del McCoury Band'06
Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder'07
Jim Lauderdale'08
Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder'09
Steve Martin'10
Patty Loveless'11
Alison Krauss & Union Station'12
Steep Canyon Rangers'13
Del McCoury Band'14
The Earls of Leicester'15
The SteelDrivers'16
O'Connor Band with Mark O'Connor'17
Rhonda Vincent and the Rage (All the Rage) / The Infamous Stringdusters'18
The Travelin' McCourys'19
Michael Cleveland'20
Billy Strings'21
Béla Fleck'22
Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway'23–'24×2
Billy Strings'25
Wins by label
  1. Independent935%
  2. Skaggs Family415%
  3. McCoury Music312%
  4. Warner312%
  5. Compass14%
  6. Dualtone14%
  7. Other519%

Who kept losing

Counting nominations in this category only, 2000–2025. Excludes 3 nominations credited to Various Artists, which names a compilation rather than an act.

Most nominated, never won

  • Rhonda Vincent5 noms
  • Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver4 noms
  • Cherryholmes3 noms
  • Noam Pikelny3 noms
  • The Grascals3 noms
  • The Infamous Stringdusters3 noms

Most losses

  • Del McCoury Band6L · 2W
  • Rhonda Vincent5L · 0W
  • Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver4L · 0W
  • Cherryholmes3L · 0W
  • Jim Lauderdale3L · 1W
  • Noam Pikelny3L · 0W

The full list

YearWinnerLabel
2025Billy Strings (Live Vol. 1)
beat 5 others
  • Tony Trischka (Earl Jam)
  • Bronwyn Keith-Hynes (I Built a World)
  • Dan Tyminski (Live from the Ryman)
  • Sister Sadie (No Fear)
  • Del McCoury Band (Songs of Love and Life)
Reprise
2024Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway (City of Gold)repeat
beat 5 others
  • Willie Nelson (Bluegrass)
  • Michael Cleveland (Lovin' of the Game)
  • Billy Strings (Me/And/Dad)
  • Mighty Poplar (Mighty Poplar)
  • Sam Bush (Radio John: Songs of John Hartford)
Nonesuch
2023Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway (Crooked Tree)
beat 4 others
  • Del McCoury Band (Almost Proud)
  • Peter Rowan (Calling You from My Mountain)
  • Yonder Mountain String Band (Get Yourself Outside)
  • The Infamous Stringdusters (Toward the Fray)
Nonesuch
2022Béla Fleck (My Bluegrass Heart)
beat 4 others
  • Sturgill Simpson (Cuttin' Grass Vol. 1 (Butcher Shoppe Sessions))
  • Rhonda Vincent (Music Is What I See)
  • Billy Strings (Renewal)
  • The Infamous Stringdusters (A Tribute To Bill Monroe)
Renew
2021Billy Strings (Home)
beat 4 others
  • Various Artists (The John Hartford Fiddle Tune Project, Vol. 1)
  • Danny Barnes (Man on Fire)
  • Steep Canyon Rangers (North Carolina Songbook)
  • Thomm Jutz (To Live In Two Worlds, Vol. 1)
Rounder
2020Michael Cleveland (Tall Fiddler)
beat 4 others
  • Frank Solivan and Dirty Kitchen (If You Can't Stand the Heat)
  • Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver (Live in Prague, Czech Republic)
  • Missy Raines (Royal Traveller)
  • The Po'Ramblin' Boys (Toil, Tears & Trouble)
Compass
2019The Travelin' McCourys (The Travelin' McCourys)
beat 4 others
  • Sister Sadie (II)
  • Wood & Wire (North of Despair)
  • Mike Barnett (Portraits in Fiddles)
  • The Special Consensus (Rivers and Roads)
McCoury Music
2018Rhonda Vincent and the Rage (All the Rage) / The Infamous Stringdusters (Laws of Gravity)
beat 5 others
  • Rhonda Vincent and the Rage (All the Rage)
  • Michael Cleveland (Fiddler's Dream)
  • The Infamous Stringdusters (Laws of Gravity)
  • Bobby Osborne (Original)
  • Noam Pikelny (Universal Favorite)
Upper Management
2017O'Connor Band with Mark O'Connor (Coming Home)
beat 4 others
  • Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver (Burden Bearer)
  • Laurie Lewis & The Right Hands (The Hazel and Alice Sessions)
  • Claire Lynch (North by South)
  • Blue Highway (Original Traditional)
Rounder
2016The SteelDrivers (The Muscle Shoals Recordings)
beat 4 others
  • Rob Ickes and Trey Hensley (Before the Sun Goes Down)
  • Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver (In Session)
  • Ralph Stanley and Friends (Man of Constant Sorrow)
  • Dale Ann Bradley (Pocket Full of Keys)
Rounder
2015The Earls of Leicester (The Earls of Leicester)
beat 4 others
  • Frank Solivan and Dirty Kitchen (Cold Spell)
  • Bryan Sutton (Into My Own)
  • Noam Pikelny (Noam Pikelny Plays Kenny Baker Plays Bill Monroe)
  • Rhonda Vincent (Only Me)
Rounder
2014Del McCoury Band (The Streets of Baltimore)
beat 4 others
  • Dailey & Vincent (Brothers of the Highway)
  • The Boxcars (It's Just a Road)
  • Della Mae (This World Oft Can Be)
  • James King (Three Chords and the Truth)
McCoury Music
2013Steep Canyon Rangers (Nobody Knows You)
beat 4 others
  • Noam Pikelny (Beat the Devil and Carry a Rail)
  • Dailey & Vincent (The Gospel Side of...)
  • The Grascals (Life Finds a Way)
  • The Special Consensus (Scratch Gravel Road)
Rounder
2012Alison Krauss & Union Station (Paper Airplane)
beat 5 others
  • Ralph Stanley (A Mother's Prayer)
  • Del McCoury Band (Old Memories: The Songs of Bill Monroe)
  • Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers (Rare Bird Alert)
  • Jim Lauderdale (Reason and Rhyme: Bluegrass Songs by Robert Hunter and Jim Lauderdale)
  • Chris Thile and Michael Daves (Sleep with One Eye Open)
Rounder
2011Patty Loveless (Mountain Soul II)
beat 4 others
  • Sam Bush (Circles Around Me)
  • Del McCoury Band (Family Circle)
  • Peter Rowan Bluegrass Band (Legacy)
  • The SteelDrivers (Reckless)
Saguaro Road
2010Steve Martin (The Crow: New Songs for the 5-String Banjo)
beat 4 others
  • Bryan Sutton and Friends (Almost Live)
  • Michael Martin Murphey (Buckaroo Blue Grass)
  • Jim Lauderdale (Could We Get Any Closer?)
  • Rhonda Vincent (Destination Life)
Rounder
2009Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder (Honoring the Fathers of Bluegrass: Tribute to 1946 and 1947)unverified
beat 4 others
  • Cherryholmes (Cherryholmes III: Don't Believe)
  • Del McCoury Band (Del McCoury Band: Live at the 2008 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival)
  • Earl Scruggs (The Ultimate Collection / Live at the Ryman)
  • Dan Tyminski (Wheels)
Skaggs Family
2008Jim Lauderdale (The Bluegrass Diaries)unverified
beat 4 others
  • Cherryholmes (Cherryholmes II: Black and White)
  • J. D. Crowe and The New South (Lefty's Old Guitar)
  • The Seldom Scene (Scenechronized)
  • Tony Trischka (Double Banjo Bluegrass Spectacular)
Yep Roc
2007Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder (Instrumentals)unverified
beat 4 others
  • The Grascals (Long List of Heartaches)
  • Jim Lauderdale (Bluegrass)
  • Marty Stuart and His Fabulous Superlatives (Live at the Ryman)
  • Rhonda Vincent (All American Bluegrass Girl)
Skaggs Family
2006Del McCoury Band (The Company We Keep)
beat 4 others
  • Cherryholmes (Cherryholmes)
  • The Grascals (The Grascals)
  • Blue Highway (Marbletown)
  • Rhonda Vincent and the Rage (Ragin' Live)
McCoury Music
2005Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder (Brand New Strings)
beat 4 others
  • Lynn Anderson (The Bluegrass Sessions)
  • Ralph Stanley II (Carrying On)
  • Various Artists (A Tribute to Jimmy Martin: "The King of Bluegrass")
  • Nashville Bluegrass Band (Twenty Year Blues)
Skaggs Family
2004Alison Krauss & Union Station (Live)
beat 4 others
  • Various Artists (Christmas on the Mountain: A Bluegrass Christmas)
  • Del McCoury Band (It's Just the Night)
  • Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder (Live at the Charleston Music Hall)
  • Rhonda Vincent (One Step Ahead)
Rounder
2003Clinch Mountain Boys, Jim Lauderdale, and Ralph Stanley (Lost in the Lonesome Pines)
beat 4 others
  • Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver (The Hard Game of Love)
  • Roland White Band (Jelly on My Tofu)
  • Ralph Stanley (Ralph Stanley)
  • Ralph Stanley II (Stanley Blues)
Dualtone
2002Alison Krauss & Union Station (New Favorite)
beat 4 others
  • Ralph Stanley and Friends (Clinch Mountain Sweethearts)
  • Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder (History of the Future)
  • Dolly Parton (Little Sparrow)
  • Patty Loveless (Mountain Soul)
Rounder
2001Dolly Parton (The Grass Is Blue)
beat 4 others
  • Ricky Skaggs and Friends (Big Mon: The Songs of Bill Monroe)
  • Alison Brown (Fair Weather)
  • Larry Cordle and Lonesome Standard Time (Murder on Music Row)
  • Nickel Creek (Nickel Creek)
Sugar Hill/Blue Eye
2000Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder (Ancient Tones)unverified
beat 4 others
  • David Grisman, Ricky Skaggs, Sam Bush, Jesse McReynolds, and Frank Wakefield (Bluegrass Mandolin Extravaganza)
  • Béla Fleck (The Bluegrass Sessions)
  • Jim Lauderdale, Ralph Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys (I Feel Like Singing Today)
  • Steve Earle and the Del McCoury Band (The Mountain)
Skaggs Family

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