Best Alternative Music Album: Grammy Winners & Nominees By Year

Last Updated on October 17, 2022 by Scott Shetler

Phoenix Grammy speech - best alternative music album
Phoenix accepts the 2010 Grammy for Best Alternative Album.

 

Most career Best Alternative Music Album nominations
Thom Yorke 10 (includes 8 with Radiohead)
Radiohead 8
Bjork 8
Beck 8
Tori Amos 5
Arcade Fire 5
Death Cab for Cutie 4
PJ Harvey 4

Most career Best Alternative Music Album wins
Radiohead 3
White Stripes 3
Beck 3
Coldplay 2
St. Vincent 2
Vampire Weekend 2

Grammy Awards: Best Alternative Music Album Winners and Nominees By Year

Winners in bold; other nominees listed beneath.

2022: Daddy’s Home, St. Vincent
Shore, Fleet Foxes
If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power, Halsey
Jubilee, Japanese Breakfast
Collapsed in Sunbeams, Arlo Parks

2021: Fetch the Bolt Cutters, Fiona Apple
Hyperspace, Beck
Punisher, Phoebe Bridgers
Jaime, Brittany Howard
The Slow Rush, Tame Impala

2020: Father of the Bride, Vampire Weekend
U.F.O.F., Big Thief
Assume Form, James Blake
i,i, Bon Iver
Anima, Thom Yorke

2019: Colors, Beck
Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino, Arctic Monkeys
Utopia, Bjork
American Utopia, David Byrne
Masseduction, St. Vincent

2018: Sleep Well Beast, The National
Everything Now, Arcade Fire
Humanz, Gorillaz
American Dream, LCD Soundsystem
Pure Comedy, Father John Misty

2017: Blackstar, David Bowie
22, A Million, Bon Iver
The Hope Six Demolition Project, PJ Harvey
Post Pop Depression, Iggy Pop
A Moon Shaped Pool, Radiohead

2016: Sound & Color, Alabama Shakes
Vulnicura, Bjork
The Waterfall, My Morning Jacket
Currents, Tame Impala
Star Wars, Wilco

2015: St. Vincent, St. Vincent
This is All Yours, Alt-J
Reflektor, Arcade Fire
Melophobia, Cage the Elephant
Lazaretto, Jack White

2014: Modern Vampires of the City, Vampire Weekend
The Worse Things Get, The Harder I Fight, the Harder I Fight, the More I Love You, Neko Case
Trouble Will Find Me, The National
Hesitation Marks, Nine Inch Nails
Lonerism, Tame Impala

2013: Making Mirrors, Gotye
The Idler Wheel…, Fiona Apple
Biophilia, Bjork
Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming, M83
Bad as Me, Tom Waits

2012: Bon Iver, Bon Iver
Codes and Keys, Death Cab for Cutie
Torches, Foster the People
Circuital, My Morning Jacket
The King of Limbs, Radiohead

2011: Brothers, Black Keys
The Suburbs, Arcade Fire
Infinite Arms, Band of Horses
Broken Bells, Broken Bells
Contra, Vampire Weekend

2010: Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, Phoenix
Everything That Happens Will Happen Today, David Byrne & Brian Eno
The Open Door EP, Death Cab for Cutie
Sounds of the Universe, Depeche Mode
It’s Blitz!, Yeah Yeah Yeahs

2009: In Rainbows, Radiohead
Modern Guilt, Beck
Narrow Stairs, Death Cab for Cutie
The Odd Couple, Gnarls Barkley
Evil Urges, My Morning Jacket

2008: Icky Thump, White Stripes
Alright, Still, Lily Allen
Neon Bible, Arcade Fire
Volta, Bjork
Wincing the Night Away, the Shins

2007: St. Elsewhere, Gnarls Barkley
Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not, Arctic Monkeys
At War with the Mystics, Flaming Lips
Show Your Bones, Yeah Yeah Yeahs
The Eraser, Thom Yorke

2006: Get Behind Me Satan, White Stripes
Funeral, Arcade Fire
Guero, Beck
Plans, Death Cab for Cutie
You Could Have it So Much Better, Franz Ferdinand

2005: A Ghost is Born, Wilco
Medulla, Bjork
Franz Ferdinand, Franz Ferdinand
Uh Huh Her, PJ Harvey
Good News for People Who Love Bad News, Modest Mouse

2004: Elephant, White Stripes
Fight Test, Flaming Lips
Hail to the Thief, Radiohead
( ), Sigur Ros
Fever to Tell, Yeah Yeah Yeahs

2003: A Rush of Blood to the Head, Coldplay
Sea Change, Beck
Walking With Thee, Clinic
Cruel Smile, Elvis Costello & the Imposters
Behind the Music, the Soundtrack of Our Lives

2002: Parachutes, Coldplay
Strange Little Girls, Tori Amos
Vespertine, Bjork
Halfway Between the Gutter and the Stars, Fatboy Slim
Amnesiac, Radiohead

2001: Kid A, Radiohead
When the Pawn…, Fiona Apple
Midnite Vultures, Beck
Bloodflowers, the Cure
Liverpool Sound Collage, Paul McCartney

2000: Mutations, Beck
To Venus and Back, Tori Amos
You’ve Come a Long Way, Baby, Fatboy Slim
Play, Moby
The Fragile, Nine Inch Nails

1999: Hello Nasty, Beastie Boys
From the Choirgirl Hotel, Tori Amos
Is This Desire?, PJ Harvey
Airbag / How Am I Doing?, Radiohead
Adore, Smashing Pumpkins

1998: OK Computer, Radiohead
Homogenic, Bjork
Earthling, David Bowie
Dig Your Own Hole, Chemical Brothers
The Fat of the Land, the Prodigy

1997: Odelay, Beck
Boys for Pele, Tori Amos
The Burdens of Being Uptight, Tracy Bonham
New Adventures in Hi-Fi, R.E.M.
Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, Smashing Pumpkins

1996: MTV Unplugged in New York, Nirvana
Post, Bjork
Foo Fighters, Foo Fighters
To Bring You My Love, PJ Harvey
The Presidents of the United States of America, The Presidents of the United States of America

1995: Dookie, Green Day
Under the Pink, Tori Amos
God Shuffled His Feet, Crash Test Dummies
Fumbling Towards Ecstasy, Sarah McLachlan
The Downward Spiral, Nine Inch Nails

1994: Zooropa, U2
Star, Belly
In Utero, Nirvana
Automatic for the People, R.E.M.
Siamese Dream, Smashing Pumpkins

1993: Bone Machine, Tom Waits
Good Stuff, B-52s
Wish, the Cure
Your Arsenal, Morrissey
Nonsuch, XTC

1992: Out of Time, R.E.M.
Mighty Like a Rose, Elvis Costello
Doubt, Jesus Jones
Nevermind, Nirvana
Rumor and Sigh, Richard Thompson

1991: I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got, Sinead O’Connor
Strange Angels, Laurie Anderson
The Sensual World, Kate Bush
All Shook Down, Replacements
Goodbye Jumbo, World Party

Find the Grammy Awards at grammy.com.