| Year | Recipient | Ref. |
|---|
| 1963 | Bing Crosby | |
| 1965 | Frank Sinatra | |
| 1966 | Duke Ellington | |
| 1967 | Ella Fitzgerald | |
| 1968 | Irving Berlin | |
| 1971 | Elvis Presley | |
| 1972 | Louis Armstrong,Mahalia Jackson | |
| 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 | |
| 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 & Garfunkel | |
| 2004 | Van Cliburn,The Funk Brothers,Ella Jenkins,Sonny Rollins,Artie Shaw,Doc Watson | |
| 2005 | Eddy Arnold,Art Blakey, TheCarter Family,Morton Gould,Janis Joplin,Led Zeppelin,Jerry Lee Lewis,Jelly Roll Morton,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 M.G.'s,Maria Callas,Ornette Coleman,The Doors, TheGrateful Dead,Bob Wills | |
| 2008 | Burt Bacharach,The Band,Cab Calloway,Doris Day,Itzhak Perlman,Max Roach,Earl Scruggs | |
| 2009 | Gene Autry,The Blind Boys of Alabama,The Four Tops,Hank Jones,Brenda Lee,Dean Martin,Tom Paxton | |
| 2010 | Leonard Cohen,Bobby Darin,David "Honeyboy" Edwards,Michael Jackson,Loretta Lynn,André Previn,Clark Terry | |
| 2011 | Julie Andrews,Roy Haynes,Juilliard String Quartet,The Kingston Trio,Dolly Parton,Ramones,George Beverly Shea | [2] |
| 2012 | The Allman Brothers Band,Glen Campbell,Antônio Carlos Jobim,George Jones,The Memphis Horns,Diana Ross,Gil Scott-Heron | |
| 2013 | Glenn Gould,Charlie Haden,Lightnin' Hopkins,Carole King,Patti Page,Ravi Shankar,The Temptations | [3] |
| 2014 | The Beatles,Clifton Chenier,The Isley Brothers,Kraftwerk,Kris Kristofferson,Armando Manzanero,Maud Powell | [4] |
| 2015 | Bee Gees,Pierre Boulez,Buddy Guy,George Harrison,Flaco Jiménez,The Louvin Brothers,Wayne Shorter | [5] |
| 2016 | Ruth Brown,Celia Cruz,Earth, Wind & Fire,Herbie Hancock,Jefferson Airplane,Linda Ronstadt,Run-DMC | [6] |
| 2017 | Shirley Caesar,Ahmad Jamal,Charley Pride,Jimmie Rodgers,Nina Simone,Sly Stone,The Velvet Underground | [7] |
| 2018 | Hal Blaine,Neil Diamond,Emmylou Harris,Louis Jordan,The Meters,Queen,Tina Turner | [8] |
| 2019 | Black Sabbath,George Clinton andParliament-Funkadelic,Billy Eckstine,Donny Hathaway,Julio Iglesias,Sam & Dave,Dionne Warwick | [9] |
| 2020 | Chicago,Roberta Flack,Isaac Hayes,Iggy Pop,John Prine,Public Enemy,Sister Rosetta Tharpe | [10] |
| 2021 | Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five,Lionel Hampton,Marilyn Horne,Salt-N-Pepa,Selena,Talking Heads | [11] |
| 2022 | Bonnie Raitt | [12] |
| 2023 | Bobby McFerrin,Nirvana,Ma Rainey,Slick Rick,Nile Rodgers,The Supremes,Ann Wilson andNancy Wilson ofHeart | [13] |
| 2024 | Laurie Anderson,The Clark Sisters,Gladys Knight,N.W.A,Donna Summer,Tammy Wynette | [14] |
| 2025 | Frankie Beverly,The Clash,Bobby Jones,Taj Mahal,Prince,Roxanne Shante,Frankie Valli | [15] |
