“It’s really a shock. The songs aren’t real.”
The Grammys may be the biggest night of the year for musicians, but you don’t have to be a musician to win a Grammy! Although the ceremony is a total celebration of the music and those performing it, there are actually several non-musical categories – and some of the winners might come as a surprise!
Since the Grammys inauguration ceremony in 1959, awards have been presented to actors, comedians and even some former presidents! On one occasion, Record of the Year was actually awarded to a trio of animated chipmunks! It certainly isn’t easy to win a Grammy if you’re not a musician, but these stars proved it can be done!
Here are the celebs you wouldn’t expect to win a Grammy from…
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1. Magic Johnson
In 1993, basketball legend Magic Johnson won a Grammy for Best Spoken Word Album for his groundbreaking audio book What You Can Do to Avoid AIDS. Only two years earlier he had announced that he was HIV positive, which inspired him to write the book.
2. Betty White
Legendary actress Betty White also took home the Grammy for Best Spoken Word Album. She won the award in 2012 for her audio book If You Ask Me (And Of Course You Won’t). Betty, who had just turned 90 at the time, wrote the book to tell amusing anecdotes about her life — and eventually became a New York Times bestselling author as well.
3. Strange Al
Weird Al may be best known for his comedic parody music, but he’s actually been nominated for over 10 Grammys – and he’s taken home five! The musician was twice awarded as the best comedy album. Weird Al has also won in the Best Comedy Recording and Best Concept Music Video categories. Most recently, he took home the Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package award for Squeeze Box in 2019.
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4. Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King, Jr. was twice nominated for Grammys before his death and was ultimately honored by the Recording Academy when he posthumously won the Best Spoken Word Recording award in 1971 for his speech “Why I Oppose the War in Vietnam”.
5. Zach Braff
In 2005, actor Zach Braff took home the Grammy for Best Compiled Soundtrack Album for Film, Television or Other Visual Media for his film Garden State. He later said he didn’t expect the win for the soundtrack, which he once described as a “mixtape.”
“I didn’t think I would win the Grammy for the ‘Garden State’ soundtrack. So I wore a hoodie to the awards. I was thrilled that I won. Regret the hoodie,” Zach later wrote on Instagram.
6. Hillary Clinton
Former Secretary of State and presidential candidate Hilary Clinton took home a Grammy in 1997 for her audio book It Takes a Village. The recording, which details how she hoped to create a society that empowers children to “become smart, capable, resilient adults,” won the Best Spoken Word Album category. Hilary was again nominated in the category in 2004 for her audio book Living History.
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7. bill clinton
Hilary’s husband, Bill Clinton, is also a Grammy winner, having been nominated four times. For his audio books “Peter and the Wolf” and “My Life” he won the award for the best spoken word album two years in a row, in 2004 and 2005.
8th. Joaquin Phoenix
Joaquin Phoenix is best known for his acting career, but it’s actually his theater career that earned him a Grammy! In 2007, Joaquin won the Grammy for Best Compilation Soundtrack Album For Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media for his film Walk the Line.
9. Barack Obama
Bill Clinton isn’t the only former president with a Grammy! In 2006 and 2007, Barack Obama won back-to-back Grammys for Best Spoken Word Album for the narration of his books Dreams From My Father and The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream. This year he is targeting his third prize in the same category for the audiobook version of his 2020 memoir, A Promised Land.
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10 Eugene Levy
Schitt’s Creek star Eugene Levy earned a Grammy in 2014 for the original song he wrote for folk music mockumentary A Mighty Wind. The song, which he performed with Catherine O’Hara, won the award for Best Song Written For Visual Media.
“It’s really a shock. The songs are not real. We worked hard on the music and wrote the tunes just to make sure they fit the film as legitimate folk singers. That was all we were about,” Eugene said during his acceptance speech.
11. Alvin and the Chipmunks
The animated trio Alvin and The Chipmunks took home a Grammy at the inaugural 1959 awards ceremony. The group’s song “The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don’t Be Late)” won three awards, including Best Comedy Performance, Best Children’s Recording, and even Record. of the year!
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