In an increasingly unpredictable world, it’s possible that we might be able to predict who will win a Grammy for Album of the Year for the foreseeable future. But how, you might ask? One seemingly insignificant physical attribute tells us all: eye color.
According to a recent study completed by 1-800-Contacts, brown-eyed artists have consistently won more Grammys than any other eye color, even when considering that the most prominent eye color in the United States is blue. The study focused on the Grammy winners for Album of the Year covering the last 50 years, and winners like Taylor Swift and Adele who’ve won the coveted award more than once were only counted once. Additionally artists like Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles, and Daft Punk, whose eye color is not immediately apparent to audiences, weren’t included in the study.
Of the 45 Grammy winners over the last 50 years, 19 of them had brown eyes, 11 had blue, 9 had hazel, and three had green. Despite not directly including Stevie Wonder, it is notable that his three Grammys actually make him the most winningest recipient in the whole category.
Most interestingly, when you break down the winners by genre, brown eyes still reign supreme for those making pop, rock, R&B, folk, hip-hop, and jazz music. Country is the only genre where blue-eyed winners overcome all other eye colors. In disco and alternative rock – two of the least common genres to take home the Grammy – hazel eyes are the most prominent.
The original study covered more than just Grammy winners, but winners in everything from sports to politics. Presidents are more likely to win an election with blue eyes while sport stars are more likely to make the most money if they have green. But if you want to win a gold medal in the Olympics, take home a championship trophy in the NBA, or nab that coveted Grammy award? Brown eyes take the top spot every time.
With results like these, it seems that most recent winner Billie Eilish – and ironically, the singer of hit “Ocean Eyes” – is even more of an outlier than initially imagined. As the youngest Grammy winner for Album of the Year, the singer also has blue eyes – defying the study’s results on both category winners and genre winners. Maybe Billie will be able to change the tide for future light-eyed performers, but only time will tell. For now, I’d put my money on a brown-eyed winner for the 2021 Grammy Awards.
For a full list of Best Album of the Year Grammy Winners throughout the years, click here.
