"A-O-T-Y, I ain't win": Beyoncé's history with Grammys explored in light of Cowboy Carter song Sweet Honey Buckin's lyrics

Beyoncé recently shed light on never winning a Grammy for Album of the Year in her song Sweet Honey Buckin from her newly released album, Cowboy Carter.

The 42-year-old singer is the most awarded artist in Grammy history with 32 wins and 88 nominations. Four of her previous seven albums were nominated for the coveted Album of the Year award. However, she has never emerged victorious in the category.

Her latest album, Cowboy Carter, was released on March 29 and the song Sweet Honey Buckin grabbed headlines. In the song, she says:

"A-O-T-Y, I ain’t win (Let’s go) / I ain’t stung by them."

---

Beyoncé's history at the Grammys over the years

Beyoncé has become one of the top artists in the music industry ever since her debut with Destiny's Child in 1997. Since then, Queen Bey has released several hits and broken multiple records.

In 2023, she became the artist with the most wins at the Grammys in the award show's history, registering her 32nd win. This came after she emerged victorious in the Best Dance/Electronic Music Album category and took home an award for her seventh album, Renaissance. This release also made her the first female musician in the industry to have her first seven albums debut in first place in the US, as per Grammys.com.

However, while the singer has been nominated in the Album of the Year (AOTY) category at the Grammy four times, she has never won.

In 2010, she was nominated for I Am … Sasha Fierce but lost to Taylor Swift's Fearless. In 2015, she was nominated again for Beyoncé, but Beck was awarded the AOTY award for Morning Phase. In 2017, she was nominated for Lemonade but lost to Adele's 25. Finally, in 2023, her album Renaissance was nominated for the award but Harry Styles' Harry's House won in the category.

---

What other artists have said about Beyoncé not winning the Album of the Year award

Many icons, including Adele, and most recently, Beyoncé's husband, Jay-Z, have spoken about her not winning the AOTY award. After winning the Album of the Year award in 2017, Adele spoke about Beyoncé in her acceptance speech and emphasized the cultural impact of her album Lemonade.

"I can't possibly accept this award. And I'm very humbled, and I'm very grateful and gracious, but my artist of my life is Beyoncé. This album was so monumental, and so well-thought-out and so beautiful and soul-bearing," she said.

Jay-Z was honored with the Dr. Dre Global Impact Award at the Grammys in 2024. While delivering his acceptance speech, he addressed the Recording Academy and said:

"I don’t want to embarrass this young lady, but she has more Grammys than everyone and never won Album of the Year. So even by your own metrics that doesn’t work. Think about that. The most Grammys, never won Album of the Year. That doesn’t work," he said.

The artist's recently released album Cowboy Carter launched on March 29 and marked the second installment of the Renaissance trilogy. It offered fans several surprises as it included collaborations with celebrities like Post Malone, Dolly Parton, Miley Cyrus, Willie Nelson, Linda Martell, and more. The album comprises 27 songs and the artist revealed the complete tracklist on social media ahead of its release.