Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance
The Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards. According to the 54th Grammy Awards description guide it is designed for solo, duo/groups or collaborative R&B recordings and is limited to singles or tracks only.
The Champs were the inaugural winners of the award.
Dinah Washington was the first female recipient of the award.
Ray Charles has the most wins in this category, winning the award five times.
The award was discontinued in 1968, Aretha Franklin being the last winner.
Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance
The Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance was an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to female recording artists for quality R&B songs. Awards in several categories are distributed annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without regard to album sales or chart position."
Aretha Franklin was the first recipient of the award in 1968. In total, she has won the award eleven times, making her the artist with the most wins in the category.
In 1976, Natalie Cole won the award for her song "This Will Be", only the second artist to win the award back then.
Thelma Houston became the third artist to win the award, in 1978.
Chaka Khan won the award in 1984 for her album Chaka Khan as well as in 1985 and 1993.