Grammy Award for Album of the Year in the context of "Herbie Hancock"

George Michael (born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou; 25 June 1963 – 25 December 2016) was an English singer-songwriter and record producer. Regarded as a pop culture icon, he is one of the best-selling recording artists of all time. Michael was known as a creative force in songwriting, vocal performance, and visual presentation. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2023.

Born in East Finchley, Middlesex, Michael rose to fame after forming the pop duo Wham! with Andrew Ridgeley in 1981. He took part in Band Aid's UK number-one single "Do They Know It's Christmas?" in 1984 and performed at the following year's Live Aid concert. His debut studio album, Faith (1987), won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year and became one of the best-selling albums of all time, having sold over 25 million copies worldwide. Michael then went on to release a series of multimillion-selling albums, including Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1 (1990), Older (1996), Ladies & Gentlemen: The Best of George Michael (1998), Songs from the Last Century (1999), Patience (2004), and Twenty Five (2006).

Gabriella Sarmiento Wilson (born June 27, 1997), known professionally as H.E.R. (pronounced "her" and standing for "Having Everything Revealed") is an American R&B singer-songwriter. She has won an Academy Award, a Children's and Family Emmy Award, and five Grammy Awards, and been nominated for a Golden Globe Award, three American Music Awards, and four Billboard Music Awards.

After initially recording under her birth name, she adopted the stage name H.E.R. in 2016 and signed with RCA Records to release her debut extended play (EP), H.E.R. Volume 1, in September of that year. It was followed by four EPs, the first two of which were part of her self-titled compilation album (2017), which peaked at number 23 on the Billboard 200 and, from five total nominations, won two Grammy Awards for Best R&B Album and Best R&B Performance for its single, "Best Part" (with Daniel Caesar). Her second compilation album, I Used to Know Her (2019), met with similar commercial success and also received five Grammy Award nominations, including Album of the Year and Song of the Year for its single, "Hard Place".

Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer, actress, film producer, model, and philanthropist. Commonly referred to as "the Voice", she is one of the most awarded performers of all time. A cultural icon, she influenced the breaking down of gender and racial barriers through her chart achievements and music videos. Known for her vocal delivery and live performances, Houston was ranked second on Rolling Stone's list of the greatest singers of all time in 2023.

Houston signed to Arista Records at the age of 19. Her first two studio albums, Whitney Houston (1985) and Whitney (1987), topped the Billboard 200 for 14 and 11 weeks, respectively. The former remains the best-selling debut album by a solo artist in history, while the latter made her the first woman to debut atop the US and UK charts. Houston took a more urban turn with her third album, I'm Your Baby Tonight (1990), and performed an acclaimed rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner" at Super Bowl XXV in 1991. She then starred in the films The Bodyguard (1992), Waiting to Exhale (1995), The Preacher's Wife (1996) and Cinderella (1997), and produced the film franchises The Princess Diaries (2001–2004) and The Cheetah Girls (2003–2006). Soundtracks of The Bodyguard and The Preacher's Wife, respectively, rank as the best-selling soundtrack album and gospel album of all time, with the former winning the Grammy Award for Album of the Year and topping the Billboard 200 for 20 weeks.