NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Male Artist

This article lists the winners and nominees for the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Male Artist. Currently Luther Vandross holds the record for most wins in this category with five.

Winners and nominees

Winners are listed first and highlighted in bold.

1980s

Year	Artist	Ref
1980
1980	Larry Graham	^[1]
1981 – 82	—
1983
1983	Lionel Richie	^[2]
1984 – 87	—
1988
	Michael Jackson	^[3]^[4]
	Bobby Brown
	Freddie Jackson
	Teddy Pendergrass
	Stevie Wonder
1989
	Lou Rawls	^[5]^[6]
	Babyface
	Peabo Bryson
	James Ingram
	Al Jarreau

1990s

Year	Artist	Ref
1990
1990	Luther Vandross	^[7]
1991	—
1992		^[7]
	Luther Vandross	^[8]^[9]
	Peabo Bryson
	Ralph Tresvant
	Keith Washington
	Stevie Wonder
1993
1993	Stevie Wonder	^[10]
1994
1994	Luther Vandross	^[11]
1995	—
1996
	Luther Vandross	^[12]^[13]
	D'Angelo
	Michael Jackson
	Barry White
	Stevie Wonder
1997
	Babyface	^[14]^[15]
	B.B. King
	Luther Vandross
	Maxwell
	Prince
1998
1998	Babyface	^[16]
1999		^[16]
	Luther Vandross	^[17]^[18]
	Brian McKnight
	Kenny Lattimore
	Kirk Franklin
	Maxwell

2000s

Year	Artist	Ref
2000
	Brian McKnight	^[19]
	Eric Benét
	Quincy Jones
	Santana
	Will Smith
2001
2001	R. Kelly	^[20]
2002		^[20]
	Luther Vandross	^[21]^[22]
	Babyface
	Brian McKnight
	Maxwell
	Michael Jackson
2003
	LL Cool J	^[23]
	Mos Def
	Nelly
	Carlos Santana
	Musiq Soulchild
2004
	Luther Vandross	^[24]
	Mos Def
	Gerald Levert
	Seal
	Musiq Soulchild
2005
	Usher	^[25]
	Mos Def
	Anthony Hamilton
	Jay Z
	Prince
2006
	Jamie Foxx	^[26]
	Common
	Kem
	Kanye West
	Stevie Wonder
2007
	Prince	^[27]
	Jay Z
	John Legend
	Chris Brown
	Lionel Richie
2008
	Chris Brown	^[28]
	Common
	Prince
	Seal
	Kanye West
2009
	Jamie Foxx	^[29]
	Chris Brown
	Common
	John Legend
	will.i.am

2010s

Year	Artist	Ref
2010
	Maxwell	^[30]
	Anthony Hamilton
	Jay Z
	Ne-Yo
	Charlie Wilson
2011
	Usher	^[31]
	Cee Lo Green
	Jay Z
	Ne-Yo
	Kanye West
2012
	Cee Lo Green	^[32]
	Chris Brown
	Common
	Anthony Hamilton
	Bruno Mars
2013
	Usher	^[33]
	Lupe Fiasco
	Bruno Mars
	Miguel
	Trey Songz
2014
	John Legend	^[34]
	Bruno Mars
	Robin Thicke
	Justin Timberlake
	Charlie Wilson
2015
	Pharrell Williams	^[35]
	Michael Jackson
	Kem
	Kendrick Lamar
	Justin Timberlake
2016
	Pharrell Williams	^[36]
	Tyrese Gibson
	Kendrick Lamar
	The Weeknd
	Charlie Wilson
2017
	Maxwell	^[37]
	Chance the Rapper
	Anthony Hamilton
	Kendrick Lamar
	Bruno Mars
2018
	Bruno Mars	^[38]
	Jay Z
	Kendrick Lamar
	Brian McKnight
	Charlie Wilson
2019
	Bruno Mars	^[39]
	Childish Gambino
	John Legend
	MAJOR.
	Raheem DeVaughn

2020s

Year	Artist	Ref
2020
	Bruno Mars	^[40]
	Khalid
	Lil Nas X
	MAJOR.
	PJ Morton
2021
	Drake	^[41]
	Big Sean
	Black Thought
	Charlie Wilson
	John Legend
2022
	Anthony Hamilton
	Drake
	Giveon
	J. Cole
	Lil Nas X
2023
	Chris Brown
	Brent Faiyaz
	Burna Boy
	Drake
	Kendrick Lamar
2024
	Usher
	Burna Boy
	Chris Brown
	Davido
	Jon Batiste

Multiple wins and nominations

Wins

7 wins

Luther Vandross

4 wins

Usher

3 wins

Bruno Mars

2 wins

Nominations

8 nominations

Luther Vandross

7 nominations

Bruno Mars

6 nominations

Chris Brown

5 nominations

4 nominations

3 nominations

2 nominations

References

^ "Billboard". Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 20 December 1980. Retrieved 21 January 2017.
^ "The Crisis". The Crisis Publishing Company, Inc. 1 March 1984. Retrieved 21 January 2017.
^ Snow, Shauna (November 11, 1988). "Nominees for 21st Image Awards Announced". Los Angeles Times.
^ "Jesse Jackson, Clint Eastwood, Eddie Murphy Honored With NAACP Image Awards". Associated Press. December 12, 1988.
^ Pogatchnik, Shawn. "1989 Image Award Winners". LA Times. Retrieved August 12, 2016.
^ "NAACP Image Award Nominees Announced". Associated Press. November 9, 1989.
^ "Whoopi Goldberg named entertainer of year by NAACP". United Press International. December 2, 1990.
^ "1992 Image Award Winners". Awardsandwinners. Retrieved 30 June 2016.
^ "NAACP Image Award Nominees Announced". Associated Press. October 16, 1991.
^ "1993 Image Awards". Awardsandwinners. Retrieved July 31, 2016.
^ "NAACP Image Award winners". United Press International. January 6, 1994.
^ "1996 Image Awards". Awardsandwinners. Retrieved July 31, 2016.
^ "The Crisis".
^ "1997 Image Awards". Awardsandwinners. Retrieved July 31, 2016.
^ "Billboard". 25 January 1997.
^ "1998 Image Awards". Awardsandwinners. Retrieved July 31, 2016.
^ "1999 Image Awards". Awardsandwinners. Retrieved July 31, 2016.
^ "The Crisis". December 1998.
^ "2000 Image Awards". Awardsandwinners. Retrieved July 31, 2016.
^ "2001 Image Awards". Awardsandwinners. Retrieved July 31, 2016.
^ "2002 Image Awards". Awardsandwinners. Retrieved July 31, 2016.
^ Wiederhorn, Jon (December 11, 2001). "Alicia Keys Up For Seven NAACP Image Awards". MTV News. Archived from the original on May 6, 2014.
^ "2003 Image Awards". Awardsandwinners. Retrieved July 31, 2016.
^ "2004 Image Awards". Awardsandwinners. Retrieved July 31, 2016.
^ "2005 Image Awards". Awardsandwinners. Retrieved July 31, 2016.
^ "2006 Image Awards". Awardsandwinners. Retrieved July 31, 2016.
^ "2007 Image Awards". Awardsandwinners. Retrieved July 31, 2016.
^ "2008 Image Awards". Awardsandwinners. Retrieved July 31, 2016.
^ "2009 Image Awards". Awardsandwinners. Retrieved July 31, 2016.
^ "2010 Image Awards". Awardsandwinners. Retrieved July 31, 2016.
^ "2011 Image Awards". Awardsandwinners. Retrieved July 31, 2016.
^ "2012 Image Awards". Awardsandwinners. Retrieved July 31, 2016.
^ "2013 Image Awards". Awardsandwinners. Retrieved July 31, 2016.
^ "2013 Image Awards". Awardsandwinners. Retrieved July 31, 2016.
^ Washington, Arlene (6 February 2015). "Selma takes home top film honors". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved July 31, 2016.
^ Sutton, Joe (February 6, 2016). "NAACP Image Awards honor black achievement in Hollywood". CNN.
^ Kinane, Ruth (December 13, 2016). "Beyoncé leads the pack of 2017 NAACP Image Awards nominees". EW.
^ THR Staff (14 November 2017). "NAACP Image Awards: Full List of Winners". The Hollywood Reporter. Lynne Segall. Retrieved 15 November 2017.
^ THR Staff (30 March 2019). "NAACP Awards: 'Black-ish,' 'Black Panther' Top Winners List". The Hollywood Reporter. Lynne Segall. Retrieved 30 March 2019.
^ Billboard Staff (20 February 2020). "Here Are All the Winners From the 2020 NAACP Image Awards". Billboard. Lynne Segall. Retrieved 20 February 2020.
^ Bosselman, Haley (March 28, 2021). "NAACP Image Awards 2021: The Complete Televised Winners List". Variety. Retrieved May 5, 2021.

[1] "Billboard". Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 20 December 1980. Retrieved 21 January 2017.

[2] "The Crisis". The Crisis Publishing Company, Inc. 1 March 1984. Retrieved 21 January 2017.

[3] Snow, Shauna (November 11, 1988). "Nominees for 21st Image Awards Announced". Los Angeles Times.

[4] "Jesse Jackson, Clint Eastwood, Eddie Murphy Honored With NAACP Image Awards". Associated Press. December 12, 1988.

[5] Pogatchnik, Shawn. "1989 Image Award Winners". LA Times. Retrieved August 12, 2016.

[6] "NAACP Image Award Nominees Announced". Associated Press. November 9, 1989.

[7] "Whoopi Goldberg named entertainer of year by NAACP". United Press International. December 2, 1990.

[8] "1992 Image Award Winners". Awardsandwinners. Retrieved 30 June 2016.

[9] "NAACP Image Award Nominees Announced". Associated Press. October 16, 1991.

[10] "1993 Image Awards". Awardsandwinners. Retrieved July 31, 2016.

[11] "NAACP Image Award winners". United Press International. January 6, 1994.

[12] "1996 Image Awards". Awardsandwinners. Retrieved July 31, 2016.

[13] "The Crisis".

[14] "1997 Image Awards". Awardsandwinners. Retrieved July 31, 2016.

[15] "Billboard". 25 January 1997.

[16] "1998 Image Awards". Awardsandwinners. Retrieved July 31, 2016.

[17] "1999 Image Awards". Awardsandwinners. Retrieved July 31, 2016.

[18] "The Crisis". December 1998.

[19] "2000 Image Awards". Awardsandwinners. Retrieved July 31, 2016.

[20] "2001 Image Awards". Awardsandwinners. Retrieved July 31, 2016.

[21] "2002 Image Awards". Awardsandwinners. Retrieved July 31, 2016.

[22] Wiederhorn, Jon (December 11, 2001). "Alicia Keys Up For Seven NAACP Image Awards". MTV News. Archived from the original on May 6, 2014.

[23] "2003 Image Awards". Awardsandwinners. Retrieved July 31, 2016.

[24] "2004 Image Awards". Awardsandwinners. Retrieved July 31, 2016.

[25] "2005 Image Awards". Awardsandwinners. Retrieved July 31, 2016.

[26] "2006 Image Awards". Awardsandwinners. Retrieved July 31, 2016.

[27] "2007 Image Awards". Awardsandwinners. Retrieved July 31, 2016.

[28] "2008 Image Awards". Awardsandwinners. Retrieved July 31, 2016.

[29] "2009 Image Awards". Awardsandwinners. Retrieved July 31, 2016.

[30] "2010 Image Awards". Awardsandwinners. Retrieved July 31, 2016.

[31] "2011 Image Awards". Awardsandwinners. Retrieved July 31, 2016.

[32] "2012 Image Awards". Awardsandwinners. Retrieved July 31, 2016.

[33] "2013 Image Awards". Awardsandwinners. Retrieved July 31, 2016.

[34] "2013 Image Awards". Awardsandwinners. Retrieved July 31, 2016.

[35] Washington, Arlene (6 February 2015). "Selma takes home top film honors". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved July 31, 2016.

[36] Sutton, Joe (February 6, 2016). "NAACP Image Awards honor black achievement in Hollywood". CNN.

[37] Kinane, Ruth (December 13, 2016). "Beyoncé leads the pack of 2017 NAACP Image Awards nominees". EW.

[38] THR Staff (14 November 2017). "NAACP Image Awards: Full List of Winners". The Hollywood Reporter. Lynne Segall. Retrieved 15 November 2017.

[39] THR Staff (30 March 2019). "NAACP Awards: 'Black-ish,' 'Black Panther' Top Winners List". The Hollywood Reporter. Lynne Segall. Retrieved 30 March 2019.

[40] Billboard Staff (20 February 2020). "Here Are All the Winners From the 2020 NAACP Image Awards". Billboard. Lynne Segall. Retrieved 20 February 2020.

[41] Bosselman, Haley (March 28, 2021). "NAACP Image Awards 2021: The Complete Televised Winners List". Variety. Retrieved May 5, 2021.

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v t e NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Male Artist
1970s	Larry Graham (1979)
1980s	Lionel Richie (1982) Michael Jackson (1987) Lou Rawls (1988) Luther Vandross (1989)
1990s	Luther Vandross (1991) Stevie Wonder (1992) Luther Vandross (1993) Luther Vandross (1995) Babyface (1996) Babyface (1997) Luther Vandross (1998) Brian McKnight (1999)
2000s	R. Kelly (2000) Luther Vandross (2001) LL Cool J (2002) Luther Vandross (2003) Usher (2004) Jamie Foxx (2005) Prince (2006) Chris Brown (2007) Jamie Foxx (2008) Maxwell (2009)
2010s	Usher (2010) CeeLo Green (2011) Usher (2012) John Legend (2013) Pharrell Williams (2014) Pharrell Williams (2015) Maxwell (2016) Bruno Mars (2017) Bruno Mars (2018) Bruno Mars (2019)
2020s	Drake (2020) Anthony Hamilton (2021) Chris Brown (2022) Usher (2023)