Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album

The **Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album** is an award given to recording artists for quality albums in the alternative rock genre at the Grammy Awards. The Grammy Awards were established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards. Honors in several categories are presented at the ceremony each year by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without regard to album sales or chart position".

The definition of "alternative" has been debated. The award was first presented in 1991 to recognize non-mainstream rock albums "heavily played on college radio stations". According to the academy, the award is presented to "vocal or instrumental alternative music albums containing at least 51% playing time of newly recorded music". The academy defines "alternative" as a "non-traditional" genre that exists "outside of the mainstream music consciousness". In 1991, and from 1994 to 1999, the award was known as **Best Alternative Music Performance**. Beginning in 2001, award recipients included the producers, engineers, and/or mixers associated with the nominated work in addition to the recording artists.

As of 2011, Radiohead and The White Stripes share the record for the most wins in this category, having won three times each. Radiohead's lead singer, Thom Yorke, was also nominated for the 2007 award for his solo album. Beck and Coldplay have each received the award twice, the latter being the only group to win two years in a row. American artists have been presented with the award more than any other nationality, though it has been presented to musicians or groups from the United Kingdom five times, from Ireland twice, and from France once. Female musicians Tori Amos and Björk hold the record for the most nominations without a win, with five each.

## Recipients

|bgcolor="#efefef"|Year|bgcolor="#efefef"|Performing artist(s)|bgcolor="#efefef" width=125px|Nationality|bgcolor="#efefef"|Work|bgcolor="#efefef" class=unsortable|Nominees|bgcolor="#efefef" class=unsortable|Ref.|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|align="center"|1991||Ireland||* <small> Laurie Anderson – _Strange Angels_</small> * <small> Kate Bush – _The Sensual World_</small> * <small> The Replacements – _All Shook Down_</small> * <small> World Party – _Goodbye Jumbo_</small>|align="center"||||||
|align="center"|1992|R.E.M.|United States||* <small> Elvis Costello – _Mighty Like a Rose_</small> * <small> Jesus Jones – _Doubt_</small> * <small> Nirvana – _Nevermind_</small> * <small> Richard Thompson – _Rumor and Sigh_</small>|align="center"||||||
|align="center"|1993||United States||* <small> The B-52s – _Good Stuff_</small> * <small> The Cure – _Wish_</small> * <small> Morrissey – _Your Arsenal_</small> * <small> XTC – _Nonsuch_</small>|align="center"||||||
|align="center"|1994|U2|Ireland||* <small> Belly – _Star_</small> * <small> Nirvana – _In Utero_</small> * <small> R.E.M. – _Automatic for the People_</small> * <small> The Smashing Pumpkins – _Siamese Dream_</small>|align="center"||||||
|align="center"|1995|Green Day|United States||* <small> Tori Amos – _Under the Pink_</small> * <small> Crash Test Dummies – _God Shuffled His Feet_</small> * <small> Sarah McLachlan – _Fumbling Towards Ecstasy_</small> * <small> Nine Inch Nails – _The Downward Spiral_</small>|align="center"||||||
|align="center"|1996|Nirvana|United States||* <small> Björk – _Post_</small> * <small> Foo Fighters – _Foo Fighters_</small> * <small> PJ Harvey – _To Bring You My Love_</small> * <small> The Presidents of the United States of America – _The Presidents of the United States of America_</small>|align="center"||||||
|align="center"|1997|Beck|United States||* <small> Tori Amos – _Boys for Pele_</small> * <small> Tracy Bonham – _The Burdens of Being Upright_</small> * <small> R.E.M. – _New Adventures in Hi-Fi_</small> * <small> The Smashing Pumpkins – _Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness_</small>|align="center"||||||
|align="center"|1998|Radiohead|United Kingdom||* <small> Björk – _Homogenic_</small> * <small> David Bowie – _Earthling_</small> * <small> The Chemical Brothers – _Dig Your Own Hole_</small> * <small> The Prodigy – _The Fat of the Land_</small>|align="center"||||||
|align="center"|1999|Beastie Boys|United States||* <small> Tori Amos – _From the Choirgirl Hotel_</small> * <small> PJ Harvey – _Is This Desire?_</small> * <small> Radiohead – _Airbag / How Am I Driving?_</small> * <small> The Smashing Pumpkins – _Adore_</small>|align="center"||||||
|align="center"|2000|Beck|United States||* <small> Tori Amos – _To Venus and Back_</small> * <small> Fatboy Slim – _You've Come a Long Way, Baby_</small> * <small> Moby – _Play_</small> * <small> Nine Inch Nails – _The Fragile_</small>|align="center"||||||
|align="center"|2001|Radiohead|United Kingdom||* <small> Fiona Apple – _When the Pawn…_</small> * <small> Beck – _Midnite Vultures_</small> * <small> The Cure – _Bloodflowers_</small> * <small> Paul McCartney – _Liverpool Sound Collage_</small>|align="center"||||||
|align="center"|2002|Coldplay|United Kingdom||* <small> Tori Amos – _Strange Little Girls_</small> * <small> Björk – _Vespertine_</small> * <small> Fatboy Slim – _Halfway Between the Gutter and the Stars_</small> * <small> Radiohead – _Amnesiac_</small>|align="center"||||||
|align="center"|2003|Coldplay|United Kingdom||* <small> Beck – _Sea Change_</small> * <small> Clinic – _Walking with Thee_</small> * <small> Elvis Costello and the Imposters – _Cruel Smile_</small> * <small> The Soundtrack of Our Lives – _Behind the Music_</small>|align="center"||||||
|align="center"|2004|The White Stripes|United States||* <small> The Flaming Lips – _Fight Test_</small> * <small> Radiohead – _Hail to the Thief_</small> * <small> Sigur Rós – _( )_</small> * <small> Yeah Yeah Yeahs – _Fever to Tell_</small>|align="center"||||||
|align="center"|2005|Wilco|United States||* <small>Björk – _Medúlla_</small> * <small> Franz Ferdinand – _Franz Ferdinand_</small> * <small> PJ Harvey – _Uh Huh Her_</small> * <small> Modest Mouse – _Good News for People Who Love Bad News_</small>|align="center"||||||
|align="center"|2006|The White Stripes|United States||* <small> Arcade Fire – _Funeral_</small> * <small> Beck – _Guero_</small> * <small> Death Cab for Cutie – _Plans_</small> * <small> Franz Ferdinand – _You Could Have It So Much Better_</small>|align="center"||||||
|align="center"|2007|Gnarls Barkley|United States||* <small> Arctic Monkeys – _Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not_</small> * <small> The Flaming Lips – _At War with the Mystics_</small> * <small> Yeah Yeah Yeahs – _Show Your Bones_</small> * <small> Thom Yorke – _The Eraser_</small>|align="center"||||||
|align="center"|2008|The White Stripes|United States||* <small> Lily Allen – _Alright, Still_</small> * <small> Arcade Fire – _Neon Bible_</small> * <small> Björk – _Volta_</small> * <small> The Shins – _Wincing the Night Away_</small>|align="center"||||||
|align="center"|2009|Radiohead|United Kingdom||* <small> Beck – _Modern Guilt_</small> * <small> Death Cab for Cutie – _Narrow Stairs_</small> * <small> Gnarls Barkley – _The Odd Couple_</small> * <small> My Morning Jacket – _Evil Urges_</small>|align="center"||||||
|align="center"|2010|Phoenix|France||* <small> David Byrne and Brian Eno – _Everything That Happens Will Happen Today_</small> * <small> Death Cab for Cutie – _The Open Door EP_</small> * <small> Depeche Mode – _Sounds of the Universe_</small> * <small> Yeah Yeah Yeahs – _It's Blitz!_</small>|align="center"||||||
|align="center"|2011|The Black Keys|United States||* <small> Arcade Fire – _The Suburbs_</small> * <small> Band of Horses – _Infinite Arms_</small> * <small> Broken Bells – _Broken Bells_</small> * <small> Vampire Weekend – _Contra_</small>|align="center"||||||
|align="center"|2012|Bon Iver|United States|_Bon Iver_||style="text-align:center;"||||||
|align="center"|2013|Gotye|Australia|_Making Mirrors_||style="text-align:center;"||||||
|align="center"|2014|Vampire Weekend|United States|_Modern Vampires of the City_||style="text-align:center;"||||||
|align="center"|2015|St. Vincent|United States|_St. Vincent_||style="text-align:center;"||||||
|align="center"|2016|Alabama Shakes|United States|_Sound & Color_||style="text-align:center;"||||||
|align="center"|2017|David Bowie|United Kingdom|_Blackstar_||style="text-align:center;"||||||
|align="center"|2018|The National|United States|_Sleep Well Beast_||style="text-align:center;"||||||
|align="center"|2019|Beck|United States|_Colors_||style="text-align:center;"||||||
|align="center"|2020|Vampire Weekend|United States|_Father of the Bride_||style="text-align:center;"||||||
|align="center"|2021|Fiona Apple|United States|_Fetch the Bolt Cutters_||style="text-align:center;"||||||
|align="center"|2022|St. Vincent|United States|_Daddy's Home_||style="text-align:center;"||||||
|align="center"|2023|Wet Leg|United Kingdom|_Wet Leg_||style="text-align:center;"||||||
|align="center"|2024|Boygenius|United States|_The Record_||style="text-align:center;"||||||
|align="center"|2025|St. Vincent|United States|_All Born Screaming_||style="text-align:center;"||||||
|align="center"|2026|||||style="text-align:center;"||||||

<sup></sup> Each year is linked to the article about the Grammy Awards held that year.

## References

- General
- Note: User must select the "Alternative" category as the genre under the search feature.

- Specific

## Other websites

- Official site of the Grammy Awards