| Year | Recipient(s) | Ref. |
|---|
| 1967 | Georg Solti andJohn Culshaw | |
| 1968 | Duke Ellington andBilly Strayhorn,Krzysztof Penderecki | |
| 1970 | Robert Moog | |
| 1971 | Chris Albertson,John Hammond, Larry Hiller,Paul Weston | |
| 1972 | The Beatles | |
| 1977 | Thomas Edison,Leopold Stokowski | |
| 1979 | Goddard Lieberson,Frank Sinatra | |
| 1981 | Count Basie,Aaron Copland | |
| 1983 | Les Paul | |
| 1984 | Béla Bartók | |
| 1985 | Eldridge Johnson | |
| 1986 | George andIra Gershwin | |
| 1987 | Harold Arlen,Emile Berliner,Jerome Kern,Johnny Mercer | |
| 1989 | Walt Disney,Quincy Jones,Cole Porter | |
| 1990 | Dick Clark | |
| 1991 | Milt Gabler,Berry Gordy,Sam Phillips | |
| 1992 | Thomas A. Dorsey,Christine Farnon,Oscar Hammerstein II,Lorenz Hart | |
| 1993 | Ahmet andNesuhi Ertegun,W. C. Handy,George T. Simon | |
| 1994 | Norman Granz | |
| 1995 | Pierre Cossette | |
| 1996 | George Martin,Jerry Wexler | |
| 1997 | Herb Alpert andJerry Moss,Burt Bacharach andHal David,Alan Jay Lerner andFrederick Loewe,Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller | |
| 1998 | Holland-Dozier-Holland,Frances Preston,Richard Rodgers | |
| 1999 | Kenneth Gamble andLeon Huff | |
| 2000 | Clive Davis,Phil Spector | |
| 2001 | Arif Mardin,Phil Ramone | |
| 2002 | Tom Dowd,Alan Freed | |
| 2003 | Alan Lomax,New York Philharmonic | |
| 2004 | Gerry Goffin andCarole King,Orrin Keepnews,Marian McPartland | |
| 2005 | Hoagy Carmichael,Don Cornelius,Alfred Lion,Billy Taylor | |
| 2006 | Chris Blackwell,Owen Bradley,Al Schmitt | |
| 2007 | Estelle Axton,Cosimo Matassa,Stephen Sondheim | |
| 2008 | Clarence Avant,Jac Holzman,Willie Mitchell | |
| 2009 | George Avakian,Elliott Carter,Allen Toussaint | |
| 2010 | Harold Bradley,Florence Greenberg,Walter C. Miller | |
| 2011 | Al Bell,Wilma Cozart Fine,Bruce Lundvall | |
| 2012 | Dave Bartholomew,Steve Jobs,Rudy Van Gelder | |
| 2013 | Alan and Marilyn Bergman,Leonard andPhil Chess,Alan Livingston | |
| 2014 | Ennio Morricone,Rick Hall,Jim Marshall | [4] |
| 2015 | Barry Mann andCynthia Weil,Richard Perry,George Wein | |
| 2016 | John Cage,Fred Foster,Chris Strachwitz | |
| 2017 | Thom Bell,Mo Ostin,Ralph S. Peer | |
| 2018 | Bill Graham,Seymour Stein,John Williams | |
| 2019 | Lou Adler,Ashford & Simpson,Johnny Mandel | |
| 2020 | Frank Buckley Walker,Ken Ehrlich,Philip Glass | |
| 2021 | Ed Cherney,Benny Golson,Kenny "Babyface" Edmonds | |
| 2023 | Henry Diltz,Ellis Marsalis Jr.,Jim Stewart | |
| 2024 | Peter Asher,DJ Kool Herc, Joel Katz | |
| 2025 | Erroll Garner,Glyn Johns,Tania León | [5] |
