Trevor Noah will have a lot on his mind when the 68th annual Grammy Awards are presented at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on Sunday (Feb. 1). This will be the third year in a row that Noah will be both host of the telecast and also a current nominee. No other host in Grammy history has ever doubled up as host and nominee more than once.
This year, Noah is nominated for best audio book, narration and storytelling recording for Into the Uncut Grass. He was nominated the last two years for best comedy album for I Wish You Would in 2024 and Where Was I in 2025.
Noah received his first Grammy nod six years ago for his album Son of Patricia, which was a finalist for best comedy album. But he didn’t host that year; he took over the following year. Noah lost to Dave Chappelle all three times he was nominated for best comedy album.
He’s not competing with Chappelle this year. The other nominees in the best audio book category are Kathy Garver’s Elvis, Rocky & Me: The Carol Connors Story; Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson’s Lovely One: A Memoir; The Dalai Lama’s Meditations: The Reflections of His Holiness The Dalai Lama; and Fab Morvan’s You Know It’s True: The Real Story of Milli Vanilli.
Win or lose, Noah is one of only three people to host the Grammys six or more times. Andy Williams hosted the first seven live telecasts from 1971 to 1977. John Denver hosted in 1978-79 and again from 1982 to 1985.
Noah will also serve as an executive producer of this year’s telecast, which will be produced by Fulwell 73 Productions for the Recording Academy for the sixth consecutive year. Ben Winston, Raj Kapoor and Jesse Collins are the other executive producers. The show will be broadcast live on CBS on Sunday (Feb. 1) from 8 to 11:30 p.m. ET/5 to 8:30 p.m. PT, and will be available to stream live and on-demand on Paramount+.
Noah is best known for hosting Comedy Central’s The Daily Show from 2015 to 2022. He won a Primetime Emmy in 2017 for the hosting a spin-off show The Daily Show – Behind the Scenes, which was voted outstanding short form variety series.
Noah, 41, was born eight days before the 1984 Grammy telecast, which remains the top-rated Grammy telecast of all time. That was the year Michael Jackson set a new record with eight Grammy wins in one night.
Here are all the hosts of the live Grammy telecast (which began in 1971) who were nominees that same year.
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Kenny Rogers
Telecast date: Feb. 27, 1980
Grammy nods that year: 5 (album of the year for The Gambler; record of the year and best country vocal performance, male for “The Gambler”; best pop vocal performance, male for “She Believes in Me”; best country vocal performance by a duo or group for “All I Ever Need Is You,” a collab with Dottie West)
Grammy wins that year: 1 (best country vocal performance, male for “The Gambler”)
Notes: Rogers is the only person to be nominated in a “Big Four” category during a telecast he or she hosted. Rogers was up for both record and album of the year. He also teamed with Donna Summer to perform a medley of song of the year nominees.
Telecast date: Feb. 25, 1986
Grammy nods that year: 1 (best country performance by a duo or group with vocal for “Real Love,” a collab with Dolly Parton)
Grammy wins that year: none
Notes: These were the only two Grammy telecasts Rogers hosted. Rogers is the only Grammy host who was a nominee both times he or she hosted the show.
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Paul Simon
Telecast date: Feb. 25, 1981
Grammy nods that year: 2 (best pop vocal performance, male for “Late in the Evening”; album of original score written for a motion picture or a television special for One Trick Pony)
Grammy wins that year: none
Notes: This was the only Grammy telecast Simon hosted. Early in the show, he said drolly, “I am very happy to be here. It’s not only a great honor to be asked, but I think it’s a very nice career move as well.” Later, he performed the nominated “Late in the Evening.”
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John Denver
Telecast date: Feb. 28, 1984
Grammy nods that year: 1 (best recording for children for Rocky Mountain Holiday, a collab with The Muppets)
Grammy wins that year: none
Notes: Denver, hosting for the fifth time, skipped an opening monologue, instead promising “a show so hot it’s going to pop if we don’t get right into it.” He was right about that. This was the highest-rated Grammy telecast of all time, the one where a red-hot Michael Jackson became the first artist to win eight Grammys in one night. Denver teamed with Jerry Nelson (Floyd the Muppet) to perform “Gone Fishin,’” a track from their nominated children’s album. Denver hosted six Grammy telecasts in all. Only one Grammy host has equaled or bettered that mark: Andy Williams hosted the first seven telecasts.
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Queen Latifah
Telecast Date: Feb. 13, 2005
Grammy nods that year: 1 (best jazz vocal album for The Dana Owens Album)
Grammy wins that year: none
Notes: This was the only Grammy telecast Queen Latifah hosted. She performed a medley of two songs from her nominated album, “Baby Get Lost” and the jazz standard “Lush Life.”
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Trevor Noah
Telecast dates: Feb. 4, 2024; Feb. 2, 2025; Feb. 1, 2026
Grammy nods that year: 1 each year (best comedy album for I Wish You Would in 2024 and Where Was I in 2025; best audio book, narration and storytelling recording for Into the Uncut Grass in 2026)
Grammy wins that year: none in 2024 and 2025; to be determined in 2026
Notes: Noah is the first comedian to host six (or even five) times. Among comedians, Garry Shandling hosted four times, followed by Billy Crystal (three times). Four other comedy performers — James Corden, Ellen DeGeneres, Rosie O’Donnell and Jon Stewart (Noah’s predecessor as host of The Daily Show) — each hosted twice.
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