Which Memphis artist has the most Grammys?
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Today's column is in response to a timely query ahead of Sunday's Grammy Awards ceremony ...
Which Memphis artist has won the most Grammys?
There's no simple answer to this question. It all depends on your definition of "Memphis artist." So, here is a look at some of the Memphis-connected artists who have the most Grammy wins.
B.B. King
If we're talking artists who are closely identified with Memphis or who spent a pivotal period of their careers in the Bluff City, then the top Grammy man would be guitar great B.B. King.
The Mississippi-born bluesman made his early reputation in Memphis in the late 1940s and 1950s. King earned his first Grammy nomination in 1970 and won his first trophy in 1971 for the classic track “The Thrill is Gone” in the “Best R&B Performance” category.
Over the next five decades, King would earn a total of 30 nominations and 15 awards.
Johnny Cash
Much like King, Johnny Cash was another Grammy-winning artist who launched his career in Memphis. The Arkansas-born Cash got his start at
Sam Phillips' Sun Records in the mid-1950s.
His Grammy honors would include 35 nominations and 13 wins in all. Cash earned his first nomination back in 1964 for “Best Country and Western Recording” for “Ring of Fire.” And he got his last win in 2008 for “Best Short Form Music Video” for “God's Gonna Cut You Down.”
The Blackwood Brothers
Gospel greats The Blackwood Brothers are another Memphis-connected act with plenty of Grammy history.
The group — which formed in Mississippi in 1934 and rose to prominence after moving to Memphis in 1950 — would earn eight Grammy awards and 20 nominations over the course of their career (which continues to this day, led by second-generation singer Billy Blackwood).
The group will vie for its ninth Grammy on Sunday, as it is nominated in the “Best Roots Gospel” category for the album “Tribute to the King,” which celebrates the gospel legacy of another Memphian — and three-time Grammy winner — Elvis Presley.
Al Green
When it comes to folks who have called Memphis home for decades, then soul singer Al Green would take the honor as the city's top Grammy getter. Green — born in Arkansas and raised in Michigan — came to the Bluff City in 1969 to record for the famed Hi Records label and has remained here ever since (and continues to pastor at his Whitehavenarea church).
Green earned his first nomination in 1974 for “Best R&B Vocal Performance” for “Call Me (Come Back Home).” But Green wouldn't win his first trophy until 1982, earning a golden gramophone for his spiritual work, taking home the prize in the “Best Soul Gospel Performance” category for the song “The Lord Will Make a Way.”
In the years that followed, Green would be nominated a total of 21 times and would win 11 Grammys, his most recent coming in 2016.
Justin Timberlake
When it comes to true natives of the Bluff City, then Memphis-born, Millington-bred Justin Timberlake is the tops when it comes to Grammy gold.
Timberlake earned his first Grammy nomination in 1999 as a member of boy band *NSYNC. Four years later, Timberlake took home his first trophies for “Best Pop Vocal Album” for “Justified” and Best Male Pop Vocal Performance (“Cry Me a River”).
As of 2024, Timberlake has been nominated an impressive 39 times in various categories (in just 25 years) and has earned 10 Grammy awards.
Aretha Franklin
Technically, when it comes to Memphis-born talent, no one has earned more Grammy honors than Aretha Franklin. Although the Queen of Soul is more identified with her longtime hometown of Detroit, where she relocated at the age of 5, she was actually born in Bluff City in 1942.
Franklin's incredible career would include 18 Grammy awards and 44 nominations. Her first Grammy victories came in 1967 for "Best Rhythm & Blues Recording” and "Best Rhythm & Blues Vocal Performance" for “Respect.”
Franklin — who also received a Lifetime Achievement Grammy in 1994 — performed on the Grammys eight times, tying her for second-most appearances on the show, along with Whitney Houston.