The Grammy Award for Album of the Year is an award presented 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, chart position, or critical reception.

Over the years, the rules on who was presented with an award have changed: The category expanded to include eight nominees in 2019[2] and ten in 2022.

Taylor Swift (as performer); John Hanes (as engineer/mixer); and Tom Coyne and Randy Merrill (as mastering engineers) have won the award four times.

[6] They are followed by Frank Sinatra, Stevie Wonder, and Paul Simon (as performers); Jack Antonoff, David Foster, Daniel Lanois, Phil Ramone, and Ryan Tedder (as album producers); Tom Elmhirst and Mike Piersante and Laura Sisk (as engineers/mixers); and Bob Ludwig (as mastering engineer) with three victories each.

The Peasall Sisters, Sarah, Hannah, and Leah, are the category's youngest credited winners, winning for their contributions to the O Brother, Where Art Thou?

Five artists have won both Album of the Year and Best New Artist in the same year: Bob Newhart (The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart in 1961), Lauryn Hill (The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill in 1999), and Norah Jones (Come Away with Me in 2003) along with Christopher Cross (Christopher Cross in 1981) and Billie Eilish (When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?

Lauryn Hill and Bruno Mars have also won in consecutive years, with one win credited as producer rather than artist.

Quincy Jones, Lauryn Hill and Bruno Mars are the only performers to win the award both as main-credit artists and as record producers, winning as lead artists for their albums Back on the Block, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill and 24K Magic, and as producers for Thriller by Michael Jackson, Supernatural by Santana, and 25 by Adele, respectively.

[12][13] Notes From 1995 to 2021, members of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences nominated their choices for album of the year.

[16] In 2021, it was announced that the Nomination Review Committees would be disbanded, and the final nominees for album of the year would be decided by votes from members.

This allowed Taylor Swift's Evermore and Kanye West's Donda to be nominated as they were the albums that received the highest number of votes besides the other eight nominees.