It’s no secret that songs these days tend to have more writers than songs from earlier eras. A lot more. Four of the eight nominees for song of the year at the 68th annual Grammy Awards, set for March 1, have seven or more writers. Bad Bunny’s “DtMF” and HUNTR/X’s “Golden” each have seven writers. Rosé & Bruno Mars’ “APT.” has nine, and the Kendrick Lamar/SZA collab “Luther” has 10. But even that’s not the all-time Grammy record, as you’ll soon see.
First, a little Grammy history. At both of the first two Grammy ceremonies, both held in 1959 (in May and November of that year), all song of the year nominees were the work of just one or two songwriters. Through the awards presented in 1981, not one song nominated for song of the year had more than three writers.
The number of songwriters on nominated songs grew slowly at first and then very quickly in recent years. To illustrate that point, here are the first song of the year nominees by four-, five- and seven-member teams. The years shown are the years of the Grammy ceremonies.
Four writers: Christopher Cross’ “Arthur’s Theme (Best That You Can Do)” (1982). Written by Peter Allen, Burt Bacharach, Carole Bayer Sager & Christopher Cross. (Bacharach and Sager married on April 3, 1982, five weeks after the Grammy ceremony where their song vied for song of the year.)
Five writers: Sheryl Crow’s “All I Wanna Do” (1995). Written by David Baerwald, Bill Bottrell, Wyn Cooper, Sheryl Crow & Kevin Gilbert.
Seven writers: Destiny’s Child’s “Say My Name” (2001). Written by Beyoncé Knowles, Rodney Jerkins, LaShawn Daniels, Fred Jerkins III, LeToya, LaTavia Roberson & Kelly Rowland. (Rodney Jerkins and Fred Jerkins III are brothers.)
And here’s a complete list of all song of the year nominees that were the work of eight or more songwriters. They are shown in ascending order, with the largest gaggle of writers on a nominated song at the bottom. The years shown are the years of the Grammy ceremonies.
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Bruno Mars, “That’s What I Like,” eight writers
Year: 2018
Songwriters: Christopher Brody Brown, James Fauntleroy, Philip Lawrence, Bruno Mars, Ray Charles McCullough II, Jeremy Reeves, Ray Romulus & Jonathan Yip
And the Grammy Went To: It won!
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Alicia Keys & Brandi Carlile, “A Beautiful Noise,” eight writers
Year: 2022
Songwriters: Ruby Amanfu, Brandi Carlile, Brandy Clark, Alicia Keys, Hillary Lindsey, Lori McKenna, Linda Perry & Hailey Whitters
Notes: All eight songwriters are women, making this the largest all-female songwriting collective on a song of the year nominee.
And the Grammy Went To: Silk Sonic’s “Leave the Door Open” (four writers)
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Beyoncé, “Black Parade,” nine writers
Year: 2021
Songwriters: Denisia Andrews, Beyoncé, Stephen Bray, Shawn Carter, Brittany Coney, Derek James Dixie, Akil King, Kim “Kaydence” Krysiuk & Rickie “Caso” Tice.
Notes: Beyoncé and Jay-Z (Shawn Carter) are married. Note that, just as Beyoncé was part of the first songwriting team of seven or more writers to land a song of the year nod, she was also part of the first songwriting team of nine or more writers to land a song of the year nod.
And the Grammy Went To: H.E.R.’s “I Can’t Breathe” (three writers)
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DJ Khaled feat. Rick Ross, Lil Wayne, Jay-Z, John Legend & Fridayy, “God Did,” nine writers
Year: 2023
Songwriters: Tarik Azzouz, E. Blackmon, Khaled Khaled, F. LeBlanc, Shawn Carter, John Stephens, Dwayne Carter, William Roberts & Nicholas Warwar
Notes: All nine songwriters are men, making this the largest all-male songwriting collective on a song of the year nominee.
And the Grammy Went To: Bonnie Raitt’s “Just Like That” (one writer)
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ROSÉ & Bruno Mars, “APT.,” nine writers
Year: 2026
Songwriters: Amy Allen, Christopher Brody Brown, Rogét Chahayed, Omer Fedi, Philip Lawrence, Bruno Mars, Chae Young Park, Theron Thomas & Henry Walter
And the Grammy Went To: TBD
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Kendrick Lamar & SZA, “Luther,” 10 writers
Year: 2026
Songwriters: Jack Antonoff, Roshwita Larisha Bacha, Matthew Bernard, Scott Bridgeway, Sam Dew, Ink, Kendrick Lamar, Solána Rowe, Mark Anthony Spears & Kamasi Washington, songwriters
And the Grammy went to: TBD
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Justin Bieber feat. Daniel Caesar & Giveon, “Peaches,” 11 writers
Year: 2022
Songwriters: Louis Bell, Justin Bieber, Giveon Dezmann Evans, Bernard Harvey, Felisha “Fury” King, Matthew Sean Leon, Luis Manuel Martinez Jr., Aaron Simmonds, Ashton Simmonds, Andrew Wotman & Keavan Yazdani
And the Grammy went to: Silk Sonic’s “Leave the Door Open” (four writers)
