Only 10 Black artists have won album of the year at the Grammys — here they all are

Stevie Wonder and Lauryn Hill are two of just 10 Black artists who have won album of the year.Echoes/Redferns / Frank Micelotta Archive/Contributor

• In the 61-year history of the Grammy Awards, only 10 Black artists have won album of the year.
• Stevie Wonder became the first Black artist to win in 1974 for his 16th studio album, "Innervisions."
• Wonder is also one of just three artists — along with Frank Sinatra and Paul Simon — who have won the award three different times.
• The remaining nine artists on this list have each won album of the year once.
• Lauryn Hill became the first-ever hip-hop artist to win album of the year in 1999 for "The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill."
• A Black artist or group hasn't won the Grammys' most prestigious award since Herbie Hancock in 2008.

"It's almost impossible for a black artist to win album of the year," John Legend told Entertainment Weekly in June.

Statistically, Legend is largely correct.

In the 61-year history of the Grammys, the ceremony's most prestigious award has only been given to Black artists 12 times — and since Stevie Wonder has won thrice, that leaves just 10 Black artists with the distinction.

In fact, a Black artist or all-Black group hasn't won album of the year in 12 years, since Herbie Hancock won in 2008 (for covering a collection of songs that were originally recorded by a white woman).

Contemporary Black artists have been repeatedly snubbed, despite creating seminal records: Beyoncé, Kendrick Lamar, and Kanye West have each been nominated three times, but have never won; Frank Ocean's "Channel Orange" lost to Mumford & Sons, and "Acoustic Soul" by India.Arie was beaten by the soundtrack from "O Brother, Where Art Thou?"

The only Black artists who have won album of the year are listed below, in chronological order.