to "performers who, during their lifetimes, have made creative contributions of outstanding artistic significance to the field of recording"
The following individuals have received Lifetime Achievement Awards, listed by year.
| Year
| Recipient |
| 1962
| Bing Crosby |
| 1965
| Frank Sinatra |
| 1966
| Duke Ellington |
| 1967
| Ella Fitzgerald |
| 1968
| Irving Berlin |
| 1971
| Elvis Presley |
| 1972
| Louis Armstrong, Mahalia Jackson |
| 1981
| Fred Astaire |
| 1984
| Chuck Berry, Charlie Parker |
| 1985
| Leonard Bernstein |
| 1986
| Benny Goodman, The Rolling Stones, Andrés Segovia |
| 1987
| Roy Acuff, Benny Carter, Enrico Caruso, Ray Charles, Fats Domino, Woody Herman, Billie Holiday, B. B. King, Isaac Stern, Igor Stravinsky, Arturo Toscanini, Hank Williams Sr. |
| 1989
| Fred Astaire, Pablo Casals, Dizzy Gillespie, Jascha Heifetz, Lena Horne, Leontyne Price, Bessie Smith, Art Tatum, Sarah Vaughan |
| 1990
| Nat "King" Cole, Miles Davis, Vladimir Horowitz, Paul McCartney |
| 1991
| Marian Anderson, Bob Dylan, John Lennon, Kitty Wells |
| 1992
| James Brown, John Coltrane, Jimi Hendrix, Muddy Waters |
| 1993
| Chet Atkins, Little Richard, Thelonious Monk, Bill Monroe, Pete Seeger, Fats Waller |
| 1994
| Bill Evans, Aretha Franklin, Arthur Rubinstein |
| 1995
| Patsy Cline, Peggy Lee, Henry Mancini, Curtis Mayfield, Barbra Streisand |
| 1996
| Dave Brubeck, Marvin Gaye, Georg Solti, Stevie Wonder |
| 1997
| Bobby "Blue" Bland, The Everly Brothers, Judy Garland, Stéphane Grappelli, Buddy Holly, Charles Mingus, Oscar Peterson, Frank Zappa |
| 1998
| Bo Diddley, The Mills Brothers, Roy Orbison, Paul Robeson |
| 1999
| Johnny Cash, Sam Cooke, Otis Redding, Smokey Robinson, Mel Tormé |
| 2000
| Harry Belafonte, Woody Guthrie, John Lee Hooker, Mitch Miller, Willie Nelson |
| 2001
| The Beach Boys, Tony Bennett, Sammy Davis, Jr., Bob Marley, The Who |
| 2002
| Count Basie, Rosemary Clooney, Perry Como, Al Green, Joni Mitchell |
| 2003
| Etta James, Johnny Mathis, Glenn Miller, Tito Puente, Simon and Garfunkel |
| 2004
| Van Cliburn, The Funk Brothers, Ella Jenkins, Sonny Rollins, Artie Shaw, Doc Watson |
| 2005
| Eddy Arnold, Art Blakey, The Carter Family, Morton Gould, Janis Joplin, Led Zeppelin, Jerry Lee Lewis, Jelly Roll Morton, Joe Willie "Pinetop" Perkins, The Staple Singers |
| 2006
| David Bowie, Cream, Merle Haggard, Robert Johnson, Jessye Norman, Richard Pryor, The Weavers |
| 2007
| Joan Baez, Booker T. & The MG's, Maria Callas, Ornette Coleman, The Doors, The Grateful Dead, Bob Wills |
| 2008
| Burt Bacharach, The Band, Cab Calloway, Doris Day, Itzhak Perlman, Max Roach, Earl Scruggs |
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This award is distinct from the Grammy Hall of Fame Award, which honors specific recordings rather than individuals, and the Grammy Trustees Award, which honors non-performers.