When thinking of the Grammy Awards [1], it's pretty easy to be a bit single-minded. Considering that it's historically been billed as a night that honors the best of the best of the music industry, many tend to forget that the nominations list [2] often has categories for spoken word, audio books, music videos, and even soundtrack compilations. For this reason, plenty of nonmusical celebrities have managed to strike gold over the years. We're covering some of the most surprising winners here.
Magic Johnson
Category: Best spoken word album, What You Can Do to Avoid AIDS, 1993
Robin Williams
Category:
Best spoken word album for children, Marlo Thomas & Friends: Thanks & Giving All Year Long, 2006
Best spoken comedy album, Robin Williams [3] Live on Broadway, 2002
Best comedy recording, Good Morning, Vietnam, 1989
Best comedy recording, Reality . . . What a Concept, 1980
Kate Winslet
Category: Best spoken word album for children, Listen to the Storyteller, 2000
Martin Luther King Jr.
Category: Best spoken word album, Why I Oppose the War in Vietnam, 1971
Michael J. Fox
Category: Best spoken word album, Always Looking Up, 2010
Christopher Reeve
Category: Best spoken word album, Still Me, 1999
Audrey Hepburn
Category: Best spoken word album for children, Audrey Hepburn's Enchanted Tales, 1994 (posthumous)
Steve Jobs
Category: Trustees Award, 2012 (posthumous)
Barack Obama
Category:
Best spoken word album, The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream, 2008
Best spoken word album, Dreams From My Father, 2006
Stephen Colbert
Category:
Best spoken word album, America Again: Re-becoming the Greatness We Never Weren't, 2014
Best comedy album, A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All!, 2010
Betty White
Category: Best spoken word album, If You Ask Me (and of Course You Won't), 2012
Joaquin Phoenix
Category: Best compilation soundtrack album for motion picture, television or other visual media, Walk the Line, 2007
James Earl Jones
Category: Best spoken word album for children, Marlo Thomas & Friends: Thanks & Giving All Year Long, 2006
David Fincher
Category:
Best music video, "Love Is Strong" by The Rolling Stones, 1995
Best music video, "Suit & Tie" by Justin Timberlake [4], 2014
Hillary Clinton
Category: Best spoken word album, It Takes a Village, 1997
Bill Clinton
Category:
Best spoken word album, My Life (audiobook), 2005
Best spoken word album for children, Wolf Tracks and Peter and the Wolf, 2004
Martin Scorsese
Category: Best music film, No Direction Home, 2006
Zach Braff
Category: Best compilation soundtrack for visual media, Garden State, 2005