GREIN ON GRAMMYS: LINDA PERRY HAS ALREADY WON

Linda Perry may make history on 2/10, becoming the first woman to win a Grammy for Producer of the Year, Non-Classical. But, in a very real sense, she has already won. She’s the first woman to be nominated in that marquee category on her own for producing other artists (in this case the Served Like a Girl documentary ST, band Dorothy and singer/songwriter Willa Amai).

Three other women, Paula Cole, Sheryl Crow and Lauryn Hill, have been nominated on their own, but for producing themselves.

One other woman, Lauren Christy, has been nominated for producing other artists, but she was part of a collaboration, The Matrix.

Perry has also earned another distinction. At 53, she is the oldest woman to be nominated in this category.

Here are all the women who have been nominated for Producer of the Year, Non-Classical since the category was introduced in 1974.

Wendy Melvoin and Lisa Coleman, 1984. The two women were nominated as part of Prince and the Revolution. Their chief credit was the Purple Rain soundtrack, an Album of the Year nominee. Melvoin was the daughter of the late jazz pianist and prolific session musician Mike Melvoin, who was National President of the Recording Academy at the time.

Janet Jackson, 1989. Jackson was nominated alongside Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis for their work on her fourth album, Janet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation 1814 (which, surprisingly, was passed over for an Album of the Year nom). Jam and Lewis had won Producer of the Year, Non-Classical three years before, chiefly for producing Jackson’s breakthrough album, Control.

Mariah Carey, 1991. Carey was nominated alongside Walter Afanasieff for their work on her sophomore album, Emotions (which was also passed over for an Album of the Year nom).

Paula Cole, 1997. Cole was the first woman to be nominated in this category on her own. She was nominated for her work on her sophomore album, This Fire, an Album of the Year nominee. Cole was also nominated for Record and Song of the Year for “Where Have All the Cowboys Gone?.” She won Best New Artist. Cole is the only artist in Grammy history—male or female—to be nominated for each of the Big Four awards and also Producer of the Year, Non-Classical in the same year.

Sheryl Crow, 1998. Crow was nominated for producing her third album, The Globe Sessions, an Album of the Year nominee.

Lauryn Hill, 1998. Hill was nominated chiefly for producing her first solo album, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, which won Album of the Year. Hill had a second production credit that year: Aretha Franklin’s “A Rose Is Still a Rose,” which also brought Franklin a nom for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance.

Lauren Christy, 2003. Christy was nominated as part of The Matrix (which also included Graham Edwards and Scott Spock). They produced singles or tracks by Liz Phair, Hilary Duff, Lillix and The Troys. Christy and her partners in The Matrix were also nominated for Song of the Year that year for co-writing Avril Lavigne’s hit “I’m With You.” Christy, who is from England, is the only non-American woman to be nominated for Producer of the Year, Non-Classical.

Linda Perry, 2018. Perry was nominated for producing tracks by Willa Amai and Dorothy and the soundtrack to the documentary film Served Like a Girl. This is Perry’s third Grammy nomination. She was nominated for Song of the Year for writing Christina Aguilera’s “Beautiful” (2003) and Album of the Year for co-producing Gwen Stefani’s first solo album, Love. Angel. Music. Baby. (2005).