Bruce Springsteen won his first Grammy on this day 30 years ago, a Best Rock Vocal Performance (Male) for "Dancing in The Dark." The Boss has gone on to gather quite a few more, totaling 20 wins over these last three decades. His most successful period came between 2003 and 2010, a stretch that left him in elite company: One of only five performers to win a Grammy in at least seven consecutive years. Check out the members of that group, including Jay Z and Aretha Franklin, and prepare to be surprised at the record holder:
05) Pierre Boulez (1993-1999)
Many forget about the less sexy genres that get honors at The Grammys. That's why there's a whole side ceremony, where awards for genres that fall outside of the MTV gap occur. Pierre Boulez, best known as a composer and promoter of 20th Century composition, found a sympathetic ear in the Recording Academy when he received 12 trophies over a seven year stretch between 1993-'99. Not only that, but he won prizes for six different categories: Best Orchestral Performance, Best Performance of A Choral Work, Best Classical Album, Best Small Ensemble Performance, and Best Opera Recording. Many of these awards are for his treatments of Bartók (a favorite) or Mahler, but his last during the streak, for Best Classical Contemporary Composition, was for Répons, a piece he himself had composed.
04) Aretha Franklin (1968-1975)
Aretha Franklin would become the first person to win a Grammy for eight consecutive years, an accomplishment amplified by the fact that she won the same prize every time. Her reign of supremacy over the Best Female R&B Vocal Performance trophy would result in it being nicknamed "The Aretha Award." It began with "Respect" and stretched all the way until "Ain't Nothing Like The Real Thing," but the streak was finally ended during 1976 when Natalia Cole delivered on "This Will Be." Few categories, to this day, have as consistent a talent pool as the Best Female R&B Vocal Performance, housing everyone from Anita Baker to Alicia Keys and all the other great vocalists in between. What's interesting is that Franklin ultimately earned the fewest Grammys in her eight year streak, compared to others on this list. Although she had her award on lock, she only one a single Grammy outside of it during the streak (Best Rhythm and Blues Recording for "Respect").
03) Bruce Springsteen (2003-2010)
If you're cynical, you could use Bruce Springsteen as the obvious example of the Recording Academy only giving a legend his due, well, when he he's already entered legend-dom. Springsteen won his first trophy during 1985, after the masterpieces that were, well, every album he made from 1975-'84. He got a decent amount of hardware for his "Streets of Philadelphia" contribution to the film Philadelphia, but boom: When The Rising dropped during 2003, the voters really began to appreciate his body of work. That stretch would bring 13 Grammys to the Boss, including three off of The Rising and three off of Magic, plus wins for his Pete Seeger tribute album, and for Best Long Form Music Video on the making of Born To Run. Things have calmed down since that stretch, as Springsteen hasn't won a Grammy since 2010 (nominated thrice).
02) Jay Z (2008-current)
Why do we give Jay Z the no. 2 spot over Springsteen and Franklin, who have also both gone eight consecutive years with wins? One, Jay isn't done yet. He's been taking home trophies at every ceremony since 2008 and we're not ones to say that he won't do it again at the 2016 event. Secondly, he's flat-out won more trophies during that span than his "competition" in this list. Franklin may have gone eight years, but it "only" amounted to nine trophies. Jay has won 16 over the last eight years, averaging two a pop. Three years in particular—2010, 2011 and 2013—were especially good to Hov, when he won three awards at each. If you want to hold anything against him for this run, it can be that four of his wins have come from his guest spots on songs by other performers, including two wins for "Drunk In Love" with his wife Beyoncé this year. So who's no. 1?
01) Vince Gill (1990-1999)
You've probably heard the name Vince Gill and haven't thought twice about it, unless you're a country fan. Heck, even if you're a country fan there's a decent chance you haven't paid due diligence to Gill. He never become a headlining act in the Garth Brooks vein, but he's a heck of a songwriter who can play a heck of a lot of instruments. When you're a country musician, a genre that often leaks into bluegrass and folk, that's got potential for award show fireworks. Enough so that Gill left every Grammys ceremony for a decade with at least one trophy. Granted, he still didn't lock down quite as many trophies as Jay Z during that frame—just 13, compared to 16—but ten years with a win is impressive. Another impressive stat is his rate of success: Gill has won 50 percent of the awards he gets nominated for. Considering you have roughly one-in-five odds per nomination...dang. Jay is down around 35 percent.
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