Jay-Z called out the Grammys for never giving Beyoncé album of the year. Here are her biggest Grammy snubs

Beyoncé's first shot at the prestigious album of the year award came in 2010, with her third studio album "I Am... Sasha Fierce."

Beyoncé got 10 nominations, including song of the year for "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)," record of the year for "Halo," and album of the year.

During the ceremony, Beyoncé won six awards, setting a new record for the most wins in one night by a female artist. However, Beyoncé lost out to Taylor Swift for album of the year and the record of the year award to Kings of Leon.

The only top award she won was song of the year. To this date it's the only time she got one of the four major Grammy awards.

Since this was only her first loss, there wasn't a major backlash.

With "4," Beyoncé became the third artist to debut four studio albums on the top of the Billboard 200 charts. However, that was not enough for the Recording Academy, which mostly overlooked the album in 2012.

Beyoncé was nominated for two awards: best long-form music video for "I Am… World Tour" and best rap/singing collaboration for "Party" with Andre 3000.

She didn't win either. She also didn't attend the ceremony.

Ahead of the 57th Grammy Awards, there were already questionable decisions made by the Recording Academy, such as Beyoncé's hit "Drunk in Love" being ignored in the pop categories and record of the year.

Beyoncé won three awards during the ceremony, including best R&B song and best R&B performance for "Drunk in Love."

However, the biggest shock was when Beyoncé again lost the album of the year award, this time to Beck.

Beyoncé's self-titled album was critically and commercially successful, and the singer radically changed the industry with her surprise release of the album. Yet it still was not enough.

Chris Molanphy, a pop critic, theorized that it might be because Beyoncé's votes were split among other pop artists such as Ed Sheeran and Pharell Williams. Beck was the only rock artist in that category.

Ye, then known as Kanye West, expressed his disapproval of this decision during an interview with E! after the event.

"Beck needs to respect artistry and he should have given his award to Beyoncé, and at this point, we tired of it," Ye said.

Beyoncé was up for nine awards for the 59th Grammys after her genre-shifting album "Lemonade." She took home two awards.

This was a major disappointment since the Recording Academy nominated Beyoncé for song and record of the year for "Formation," and for album of the year.

On the night, Adele won all four major categories.

During her acceptance speech for album of the year, Adele said she couldn't accept the award.

"The artist of my life is Beyoncé, and this album for me, the 'Lemonade' album, was so monumental. Beyoncé, so monumental," she said.

According to Time, Adele said backstage regarding Beyoncé's loss: "What the fuck does she have to do to win album of the year?"

Adele wasn't the only one upset. The loss sparked conversations about the Recording Academy's history of ignoring Black artists in major categories. To date, 11 Black artists have won album of the year.

Beyoncé's sister, Solange Knowles, also criticized the Recording Academy in since-deleted tweets.

In 2018, Beyoncé and Jay-Z released a collaborative album, "Everything is Love," as a supergroup named The Carters.

The critically acclaimed album received only three nominations for the 61st Grammy Awards, none of which were in the major categories.

During the ceremony, The Carters only won the best urban contemporary album award.

Again, Beyoncé was nominated for three major categories: song and record of the year for "Break My Soul" and album of the year for "Renaissance." Again, the Recording Academy picked other artists over her, this time Lizzo, Harry Styles, and Bonnie Raitt.

The 65th Grammy Awards was the last straw for many Beyoncé fans since it was the pop star's fourth loss for album of the year, and "Renaissance" was a shoo-in to win.

Not only was "Renaissance" culturally significant for its homage to queer culture, but it was also named the best album of 2022 by several major publications.

In February 2024, Beyoncé and her eldest daughter, Blue Ivy, attended the 66th annual Grammy Awards to support her husband, Jay-Z, who was receiving the Dr Dre Global Impact Award for his music industry achievements.

Taking to the stage with Blue, Jay-Z began his acceptance speech by thanking Dr Dre and other rap artists who broke the glass ceiling for Black artists.

He then briefly criticized the Recording Academy, saying that it didn't make sense that his wife has never received the album of the year award.

"Think about that the most Grammies. Never won album of the year. That doesn't work," he said.

"Some of you going to go home tonight and feel like you've been robbed. Some of you may get robbed. Some of you don't belong in the category," he joked afterward. "No, when I get nervous I tell the truth."

Jay-Z ended the speech by encouraging the audience to push forward until they receive the accolades they deserve.

"Forget the Grammys, you got to keep showing up. Until they give you all those accolades you feel you deserve," he said. "Until they call you 'chairman,' until they call you a 'genius,' until they call you 'the greatest of all time.'"