Grammy Award for Best Audio Book, Narration & Storytelling Recording

The Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album has been awarded since 1959. The award has had several minor name changes:

  • In 1959 the award was known as Best Performance, Documentary or Spoken Word
  • From 1960 to 1961 it was awarded as Best Performance – Documentary or Spoken Word (other than comedy)
  • From 1962 to 1963 it was awarded as Best Documentary or Spoken Word Recording (other than comedy)
  • From 1964 to 1965 it was awarded as Best Documentary, Spoken Word or Drama Recording (other than comedy)
  • In 1966 it was awarded as Best Spoken Word or Drama Recording
  • From 1967 to 1968 it was awarded as Best Spoken Word, Documentary or Drama Recording
  • From 1969 to 1979 it was awarded as Best Spoken Word Recording
  • From 1980 to 1983 it returned to the title of Best Spoken Word, Documentary or Drama Recording
  • From 1984 to 1991 it was awarded as Best Spoken Word or Non-Musical Recording
  • From 1992 to 1997 it was awarded as Best Spoken Word or Non-Musical Album
  • From 1998 to 2022 it was awarded as Best Spoken Word Album. In 2020, spoken-word children's albums were moved here from the Best Children's Album category.[1]
  • From 2023 it will be awarded as Best Audio Book, Narration & Storytelling Recording.[2] Poetry reading now has its own Grammy category, Best Spoken Word Poetry Album.
Grammy Award for Best Audio Book, Narration & Storytelling Recording
Awarded forquality spoken word albums
CountryUnited States
Presented byNational Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences
First awarded1959
Currently held byMichelle Obama, The Light We Carry: Overcoming In Uncertain Times (2024)
Websitegrammy.com

This category now also includes audio books and story telling. Up to and including 2022, it also included poetry reading.

Years reflect the year in which the Grammy Awards were handed out, for a recording released in the previous year.

Recipients

Stan Freberg was the first recipient of the award in 1959.
Carl Sandburg received the award in 1960.
Leonard Bernstein received the award in 1962.
Charles Laughton received the award in 1963.
Edward R. Murrow received the award in 1967.
Martin Luther King Jr. won the award posthumously in 1971 for Why I Oppose the War in Vietnam.
Richard Harris won the award in 1974.
Peter Cook & Dudley Moore won the award in 1975.
James Whitmore won the award in 1976.
Director Orson Welles received the award twice, in 1977 and 1979.
James Earl Jones received the award in 1977.
Sir John Gielgud received the award in 1980.
William Warfield received the award in 1984.
Actor Ben Kingsley won for The Words of Gandhi in 1985.
Garrison Keillor won the award in 1988.
1990 award winner, comedian Gilda Radner.
Comedian George Burns won the award in 1991.
Documentarian Ken Burns won in 1992.
Three-time winner, American poet Maya Angelou.
Hillary Clinton won the award in 1997.
LeVar Burton won the award in 2000.
Actor and director Sidney Poitier won the award for his autobiography The Measure of a Man in 2001.
Former U.S. President Bill Clinton won in 2005.
Two-time winner, former U.S. President Barack Obama.
Three-time winner, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter.
Jon Stewart won the award in 2011.
2012 award winner, Betty White.
Comedian Stephen Colbert won in 2014.
Comedienne Joan Rivers won in 2015.
Comedienne Carol Burnett won in 2017.
Carrie Fisher won the award posthumously in 2018.
Former U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama won in 2020 and 2024.
Viola Davis won the award in 2023 achieving the EGOT

1950s

Year[I]Performing ArtistWork
1959
[3]
Stan FrebergThe Best of the Stan Freberg Shows
Melvyn Douglas, Vincent Price, Carl Sandburg, & Ed BegleyGreat American Speeches
Stan FrebergGreen Christmas
Elaine May & Mike NicholsImprovisations to Music

1960s

Year[I]Performing ArtistWork
1960
[4]
Carl SandburgA Lincoln Portrait
John GielgudAges of Man
Hal HolbrookMark Twain Tonight
Basil RathboneBasil Rathbone Reads Sherlock Holmes
Tony SchwartzNew York Taxi Driver
1961
[5]
Robert Bialek (producer)FDR Speaks
Henry FondaVoices of the Twentieth Century
John GielgudAges of Man, Vol. 2 (One Man in His Time)
Archibald MacLeishJ.B.
1962
[6]
Leonard BernsteinHumor in Music
Hal HolbrookMore of Hal Holbrook in Mark Twain Tonight!
Dorothy ParkerThe World of Dorothy Parker
Carl Sandburg, Harlow Shapley, Jawaharlal Nehru & Jacques LipchitzWisdom, Vol. 1
Alexander ScourbyThe Coming of Christ
1963
[7]
Charles LaughtonThe Story-Teller ... A Session with Charles Laughton
Carl SandburgCarl Sandburg Reading His Poetry
Claude Rains & Glenn GouldEnoch Arden
Laurence HarveyThis Is My Beloved
Stan KentonMama Sang a Song
1964
[8]
Melinda Dillon, George Grizzard, Uta Hagen & Arthur HillWho's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Dane Clark, Anne Jackson, Lotte Lenya & Viveca LindforsBrecht on Brecht
Martin Luther King Jr. with Joan Baez, Marian Anderson, Odetta, Rabbi Joachim Prinz & Bob DylanWe Shall Overcome (The March on Washington, August 28, 1963)
Goddard Lieberson, Pete Seeger, & othersThe Badmen
Norman Weiser & David TeigJohn F. Kennedy – The Presidential Years
1965
[9]
That Was the Week That Was CastBBC Tribute to John F. Kennedy
Richard Burton, Hume Cronyn, John Gielgud, Alfred Drake, George Voskovec, Eileen Herlie, William Redfield & George RossHamlet
Richard Burton & Peter O'TooleDialogue Highlights from Becket
Alec Guinness & Kate ReidDylan
John F. Kennedy, David Brinkley & Adlai StevensonThe Kennedy Wit
1966
[10]
Goddard Lieberson, producerJohn F. Kennedy: As We Remember Him
Alec GuinnessA Personal Choice
Chet Huntley & David BrinkleyA Time to Keep: '64
National Theatre of Great BritainMuch Ado About Nothing
Adlai StevensonThe Voice of the Uncommon Man
Margaret WebsterThe Brontes
1967
[11]
Edward R. MurrowA Reporter Remembers, Vol. I – The War Years
Lee J. Cobb & Mildred DunnockDeath of a Salesman
Johnny SeaDay for Decision
Buddy StarcherHistory Repeats Itself
1968
[12]
Everett DirksenGallant Men
James DickeyPoems of James Dickey
Hal HolbrookMark Twain Tonight, Vol. 3
Patrick Magee & Cyril CusackThe Balcony
Rod McKuenThe Earth
Paul Scofield, Wendy Hiller & Robert ShawA Man For All Seasons
Victor LundbergAn Open Letter to My Teenage Son
1969
[13]
Rod McKuenLonesome Cities
Martin Luther King Jr.I Have a Dream
Paul ScofieldMurder in the Cathedral
Martin StarkieThe Canterbury Pilgrims

1970s

Year[I]Performing ArtistWork
1970
[14]
Art Linkletter & Diane LinkletterWe Love You, Call Collect
Walter CronkiteMan on the Moon
James Earl JonesThe Great White Hope
1971
[15]
Martin Luther King Jr.Why I Oppose the War in Vietnam
Ambrose, Dryden, Hecht, Molloy, Carawan, La Farge & SeegerPoems and Ballads from 100-Plus American Poets
Apollo 8, 11 & 12 Astronauts, John F. Kennedy & Richard NixonIn the Beginning
Bill CosbyGrover Henson Feels Forgotten
Everett DirksenEverett Dirksen's America
1972
[16]
Les CraneDesiderata
Richard ChamberlainHamlet (a Hallmark Hall of Fame presentation)
Walter CronkiteI Can Hear It Now/The Sixties
Stacy Keach, Robert Ryan & Geraldine FitzgeraldLong Day's Journey Into Night
James WhitmoreWill Rogers' USA
1973
[17]
The Original Broadway CastLenny
Angela DavisAngela Davis Speaks
Rod McKuenThe Word
Yevgeny YevtushenkoYevtushenko
1974
[18]
Richard HarrisJonathan Livingston Seagull
Billie HolidaySongs and Conversations
Vincent PriceTales of Witches, Ghosts and Goblins
Kurt Vonnegut Jr.Slaughterhouse Five
John WayneAmerica, Why I Love Her
1975
[19]
Peter Cook & Dudley MooreGood Evening
Sam ErvinSenator Sam at Home
Rod McKuenAutumn
Eric SevareidAn Ear to the Sounds of Our History
1976
[20]
James WhitmoreGive 'em Hell, Harry!
Alistair CookeTalk About America
Richard HarrisThe Prophet
Claudia McNeilThe Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman
Maureen StapletonTo Kill a Mockingbird
Orson WellesImmortal Sherlock Holmes (Mercury Theatre on the Air)
1977
[21]
Henry Fonda, Helen Hayes, James Earl Jones & Orson WellesGreat American Documents
Ray BradburyFahrenheit 451
Charlton HestonThe Old Man and the Sea
James MasonA Tale of Two Cities
William ShatnerFoundation: The Psychohistorians
1978
[22]
Julie HarrisThe Belle of Amherst
Alex HaleyAlex Haley Tells the Story of His Search for Roots
Original Cast & Ntozake ShangeFor Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow Is Enuf
Christopher TolkienThe Silmarillion
Harry Truman & Ben GradusThe Truman Tapes
1979
[23]
Orson WellesCitizen Kane (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Henry FondaThe Grapes of Wrath
Judith Anderson, Claire Bloom, James Mason, George Rose & Gordon GouldWuthering Heights
Richard Nixon & David FrostThe Nixon Interviews with David Frost
Various ArtistsRoots (Original Television Soundtrack)

1980s

Year[I]Performing ArtistWork
1980
[24]
John GielgudAges of Man (Readings from Shakespeare)
Henry FondaThe Ox-Bow Incident
Jim MorrisonAn American Prayer
Ken NordineStare with Your Ears
Various ArtistsApocalypse Now (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Orson Welles & Helen HayesOrson Welles & Helen Hayes at Their Best
1981
[25]
Pat CarrollGertrude Stein, Gertrude Stein, Gertrude Stein
Mahalia JacksonI Sing Because I'm Happy, Vols. 1 and 2
Original CastAdventures of Luke Skywalker: The Empire Strikes Back
Orson WellesObediently Yours
Peter UstinovJames Thurber: A Curb In The Sky And Other Stories
1982
[26]
Orson WellesDonovan's Brain
E. G. MarshallJustice Holmes' Decisions
James MasonVladimir Nabokov: Lolita
Paul McCartney & Vic GarbariniThe McCartney Interview
Ed McMahon'Twas the Night Before Christmas (from Christmas with Friends, featuring Ed McMahon, Doc Severinsen, and Tommy Newsom)
1983
[27]
Tom VoegeliRaiders of the Lost Ark: The Movie on Record
Roger ReesCharles Dickens' Nicholas Nickleby
Isaac AsimovFoundation's Edge
John Gielgud & Ralph RichardsonNo Man's Land
Arthur C. Clarke2010: Odyssey Two
1984
[28]
William WarfieldCopland: Lincoln Portrait
Steve Allen & Jayne MeadowsEverything You Always Wanted to Know About Home Computers
Jane Fonda & Femmy De LyserJane Fonda's Workout Record for Pregnancy, Birth and Recovery
John Gielgud & Irene WorthOld Possum's Book of Practical Cats
1985
[29]
Ben KingsleyThe Words of Gandhi
Jeremy Irons & Glenn CloseThe Real Thing (Broadway Cast)
Jesse JacksonOur Time Has Come
John Lennon & Yoko OnoHeart Play (Unfinished Dialogue)
1986
[30]
Mike Berniker, producer & the Broadway castMa Rainey's Black Bottom
Alan ArkinCatch-22
Dick CavettThe Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
John le CarréThe Spy Who Came in from the Cold
Philip RothZuckerman Bound
1987
[31]
Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Chips Moman, Ricky Nelson, Roy Orbison, Carl Perkins & Sam PhillipsInterviews from the Class of '55 Recording Sessions
F. Murray AbrahamInterview with the Vampire
Ray BradburyThe Stories of Ray Bradbury
Bill CosbyHardheaded Boys
John GielgudGulliver (composed by Patrick Williams)
1988
[32]
Garrison KeillorLake Wobegon Days
Lauren BacallLauren Bacall by Myself
Katharine Hepburn"Lincoln Portrait" (from Aaron Copland: Lincoln Portrait)
Leonard NimoyWhales Alive
Leonard Nimoy & George TakeiStar Trek IV: The Voyage Home
1989
[33]
Jesse Jackson"Speech by Rev. Jesse Jackson, July 27"
(from One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism)
John CleeseThe Screwtape Letters
John GielgudA Christmas Carol
Garrison Keillor & Various ArtistsA Prairie Home Companion: The 2nd Annual Farewell Performance
Jonathan WintersWinters' Tale

1990s

Year[I]Performing ArtistWork
1990
[34]
Gilda RadnerIt's Always Something
Erma BombeckI Want to Grow Hair, I Want to Grow Up, I Want to Go to Boise
Robert FulghumAll I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten
John GielgudSir John Gielgud Reads Alice in Wonderland
Jason Robards, Steve Allen, Douglas Edwards & CastThe War of the Worlds 50th Anniversary Production
1991
[35]
George BurnsGracie: A Love Story
Garrison KeillorA Prairie Home Companion: The 4th Annual Farewell Performance
John F. Kennedy Jr.Profiles in Courage
Kyle MacLachlan"Diane..." The Twin Peaks Tapes of Agent Cooper
Jimmy StewartJimmy Stewart and His Poems
1992
[36]
Ken BurnsThe Civil War
Douglas AdamsThe Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Katharine HepburnMe: Stories of My Life
Charles KuraltA Life on the Road
1993
[37]
Earvin "Magic" Johnson & Robert O'KeefeWhat You Can Do to Avoid AIDS
Fannie FlaggFried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe
Garrison KeillorStories
Ken NordineDevout Catalyst
Patrick StewartA Christmas Carol
Orson Welles & Peter BogdanovichThis Is Orson Welles
1994
[38]
Maya AngelouOn the Pulse of Morning
Levar BurtonMiles: The Autobiography
Arlo GuthrieBound for Glory
Paul Newman & Joanne WoodwardMr. and Mrs. Bridge
Emma ThompsonHowards End
1995
[39]
Henry RollinsGet in the Van: On the Road with Black Flag
Kenneth Branagh & the Renaissance Theatre CompanyHamlet
Ken BurnsBaseball
Ben KingsleySchindler's List
Gregory PeckThe Bible (The New Testament)
1996
[40]
Maya AngelouPhenomenal Woman
Danny GloverLong Walk to Freedom
Garrison KeillorGuy Noir: Radio Private Eye
Leonard NimoyI Am Spock
1997
[41]
Hillary ClintonIt Takes a Village
Ed Asner, Ellen Burstyn, C. C. H. Pounder & Alfre WoodardGrow Old Along with Me, the Best Is Yet to Be
Lauren Bacall, Martin Landau, Jack Lemmon & Gregory PeckHarry S Truman: A Journey to Independence
Garrison KeillorThe Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Charles KuraltCharles Kuralt's America
1998
[42]
Charles KuraltCharles Kuralt's Spring
Maya AngelouEven the Stars Look Lonesome
Jimmy CarterLiving Faith
Walter CronkiteA Reporter's Life
Jodie FosterContact
1999
[43]
Christopher ReeveStill Me
Jimmy CarterThe Virtues of Aging
David Holt & Bill MooneySpiders in the Hairdo: Modern Urban Legends
Garrison KeillorWobegon Boy
Toni MorrisonBeloved

2000s

Year[I]Performing ArtistWork
2000
[44]
LeVar BurtonThe Autobiography of Martin Luther King Jr.
Nanci GriffithThe Chieftains: The Authorized Biography (by John Glatt)
Merle HaggardMerle Haggard's My House of Memories
Frank McCourt'Tis
Mandy Patinkin & Betty Buckley with Walter CronkiteThe Diaries of Adam & Eve: Translated by Mark Twain
2001
[45]
Sidney PoitierThe Measure of a Man
Matt DillonOn the Road
Steve MartinShopgirl
Jerry Stiller & Anne MearaMarried to Laughter: A Love Story
Various artists including Kathleen Turner, Patrick Stewart & Al PacinoThe Complete Shakespeare Sonnets
2002
[46]
Quincy JonesQ: The Autobiography of Quincy Jones
Jimmy CarterAn Hour Before Daylight
Garrison KeillorLake Wobegon Summer 1956
Carl ReinerLetters from the Earth: Uncensored Writings by Mark Twain
Various artists including Rob Lowe, Noah Wyle, Joan Allen & Tom Brokaw and narrator Harry SmithWar Letters: Extraordinary Correspondence from American Wars
2003
[47]
Maya AngelouA Song Flung Up to Heaven
Tim RobbinsThe Great Gatsby
Robert EvansThe Kid Stays in the Picture
Michael J. FoxLucky Man
Christopher ReeveNothing Is Impossible}}
2004
[48]
Al FrankenLies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them
Don CheadleFear Itself
Hillary ClintonLiving History
Nikki GiovanniThe Nikki Giovanni Poetry Collection
Bill MaherWhen You Ride Alone You Ride with bin Laden
2005
[49]
Bill ClintonMy Life
Tyne Daly, John Lithgow, Joanne Rogers, Lily Tomlin & André WattsThe World According to Mr. Rogers
David Holt & Zeb HoltLive & Kickin' at the National Storytelling Festival
Steve MartinThe Pleasure of My Company
David SedarisDress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim
2006
[50]
Barack ObamaDreams from My Father
George CarlinWhen Will Jesus Bring the Pork Chops?
Al FrankenThe Al Franken Show Party Album
Garrison KeillorThe Adventures of Guy Noir
Sean PennChronicles: Volume One
2007
[51]
Jimmy CarterOur Endangered Values
Ossie Davis & Ruby DeeOssie and Ruby
Al FrankenThe Truth (with Jokes)
Bill MaherNew Rules: Polite Musings from a Timid Observer
Bob NewhartI Shouldn't Even Be Doing This!
2008
[52]
Barack ObamaThe Audacity of Hope
Alan AldaThings I Overheard While Talking to Myself
Maya AngelouCelebrations
Bill ClintonGiving
Jimmy CarterSunday Mornings in Plains
2009
[53]
Beau Bridges, Cynthia Nixon & Blair UnderwoodAn Inconvenient Truth
Steve MartinBorn Standing Up
Stephen Colbert and The Colbert Report castI Am America (and So Can You!)
Sidney PoitierLife Beyond Measure
David SedarisWhen You Are Engulfed in Flames

2010s

Year[I]Performing ArtistWork
2010
[54]
Michael J. FoxAlways Looking Up
Yuri Rasovsky & Josh StantonDashiell Hammett's The Maltese Falcon
Richard Dreyfuss & David StrathairnThe Lincoln–Douglas Debates
Jonathan WintersA Very Special Time
Jimmy CarterWe Can Have Peace in the Holy Land
Carrie FisherWishful Drinking
2011
[55]
Jon Stewart & The Daily Show StaffEarth (The Audiobook)
Woody AllenThe Woody Allen Collection: Mere Anarchy, Side Effects, Without Feathers, Getting Even
Carol BurnettThis Time Together
Craig FergusonAmerican on Purpose
Michael J. FoxA Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Future
Sarah SilvermanThe Bedwetter
2012
[56]
Betty WhiteIf You Ask Me (and of Course You Won't)
Tina FeyBossypants
Nathan Burbank, Bryan Cumming, Dennis Scott & David ToledoFab Fan Memories: The Beatles Bond
Dan Donohue & the Oregon Shakespeare Festival castHamlet
Val Kilmer & the Hollywood Theater of the Ear CastThe Mark of Zorro
2013
[57]
Janis IanSociety's Child
Scott Creswell & Dan Zitt, producersAmerican Grown
Bill ClintonBack to Work
Rachel MaddowDrift
Ellen DeGeneresSeriously... I'm Kidding
2014
[58]
Stephen ColbertAmerica Again: Re-becoming The Greatness We Never Weren't
Carol BurnettCarrie and Me
Billy CrystalStill Foolin' Em
David SedarisLet's Explore Diabetes with Owls
Pete SeegerThe Storm King
2015
[59]
Joan RiversDiary of a Mad Diva
James FrancoActors Anonymous
Jimmy CarterA Call to Action: Women, Religion, Violence, and Power
John WatersCarsick: John Waters Hitchhikes Across America
Elizabeth WarrenA Fighting Chance
Gloria GaynorWe Will Survive: True Stories of Encouragement, Inspiration and the Power of Song
2016
[60]
Jimmy CarterA Full Life: Reflections at 90
Patti SmithBlood on Snow
Dick CavettBrief Encounters: Conversations, Magic Moments and Assorted Hijinks
Janis Ian & Jean SmartPatience and Sarah
Amy PoehlerYes Please
2017
[61]
Carol BurnettIn Such Good Company: Eleven Years of Laughter, Mayhem, and Fun in the Sandbox
Elvis CostelloUnfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink
Amy SchumerThe Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo
Patti SmithM Train
Various ArtistsUnder the Big Black Sun: A Personal History of L.A. Punk
2018
[62]
Carrie FisherThe Princess Diarist
Bruce SpringsteenBorn to Run
Shelly PeikenConfessions of a Serial Songwriter
Bernie Sanders & Mark RuffaloOur Revolution: A Future to Believe In
Neil deGrasse TysonAstrophysics for People in a Hurry
2019
[63]
Jimmy CarterFaith: A Journey for All
Courtney B. VanceAccessory to War
David SedarisCalypso
QuestloveCreative Quest
Tiffany HaddishThe Last Black Unicorn

2020s

Year[I]Performing ArtistWork
2020
[64]
Michelle ObamaBecoming
Michael Diamond, Adam Horovitz, Scott Sherratt & Dan Zitt (producers)The Beastie Boys Book
Eric AlexandrakisCatatonia: 20 Years as a Two-Time Cancer Survivor
John WatersMr. Know-It-All
Sekou Andrews & the String TheorySekou Andrews & the String Theory
2021
[65]
Rachel MaddowBlowout: Corrupted Democracy, Rogue State Russia and the Richest, Most Destructive Industry on Earth
FleaAcid for the Children: A Memoir
Ken JenningsAlex Trebek — The Answer Is...
Ronan FarrowCatch and Kill
Meryl Streep (& Full Cast)Charlotte's Web
2022
[66]
Don CheadleCarry On: Reflections for a New Generation from John Lewis
LeVar BurtonAftermath
J. IvyCatching Dreams: Live at Fort Knox Chicago
Dave Chappelle & Amir Sulaiman8:46
Barack ObamaA Promised Land
2023
[67]
Viola DavisFinding Me
Mel BrooksAll About Me!: My Remarkable Life in Show Business
Jamie FoxxAct Like You Got Some Sense
Lin-Manuel MirandaAristotle and Dante Dive into the Waters of the World
QuestloveMusic Is History
2024
[68]
Michelle ObamaThe Light We Carry: Overcoming In Uncertain Times
Meryl StreepBig Tree
William ShatnerBoldly Go: Reflections on a Life of Awe and Wonder
Rick RubinThe Creative Act: A Way of Being
Bernie SandersIt’s Ok to Be Angry About Capitalism

Multiple wins & nominations

The following individuals received two or more awards:

WinsPerson
3Maya Angelou
Jimmy Carter
2Barack Obama
Michelle Obama
Orson Welles

The following individuals received three or more nominations:

NominationsPerson
10John Gielgud
9Jimmy Carter
7Orson Welles
5Maya Angelou
4Walter Cronkite
3Carol Burnett
Barack Obama
James Earl Jones
James Mason

See also

References