Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album

The Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album is an award presented by the Recording Academy to honor quality folk music albums in any given year. The award was originally presented from 1987 to 2011, before being merged with Best Traditional Folk Album to form the Grammy Award for Best Folk Album. The category was revived in 2026 and was re-presented at the 69th Annual Grammy Awards in 2027, with the Academy stating that the award honors “excellence in albums of contemporary folk recordings.” The category sits in the Country & American Roots field.

The inaugural recipient of the award was a tribute album to Steve Goodman, which was awarded to its producers Al Bunetta, Dan Einstein, Hank Neuberger and was presented at the 29th Annual Grammy Awards. Goodman himself won the following year with Unfinished Business. Tracy Chapman was the first female winner of the category with her self-titled debut album in 1989. The most recent recipient is I'm with Her, whose album Wild and Clear and Blue won at the 68th Annual Grammy Awards in 2026. Bob Dylan and Steve Earle have the most wins in the category, with three each, with Earle also having the most nominations, with eight.