The 8th Grammy Awards were held in 1966. They recognized accomplishments of musicians for the year 1965

Award winners:

• Record of the Year
  • Jerry Moss (producer) & Herb Alpert (producer and artist) for "A Taste of Honey" performed by Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass

• Album of the Year
  • Sonny Burke (producer) & Frank Sinatra for September of My Years

• Song of the Year
  • Johnny Mandel & Paul Francis Webster (songwriters) for "The Shadow of Your Smile" (Love Theme From The Sandpiper) performed by Tony Bennett

• Best New Artist
  • Tom Jones

Children's

• Best Recording for Children
  • Marvin Miller for Dr. Seuss Presents "Fox in Sox" and "Green Eggs and Ham"

Classical

• Best Classical Performance - Orchestra
  • Leopold Stokowski (conductor) & the American Symphony Orchestra for Ives: Symphony No. 4
• Best Classical Vocal Soloist Performance
  • Erich Leinsdorf (conductor), Leontyne Price & the Boston Symphony Orchestra for Strauss: Salome (Dance of the Seven Veils, Interlude, Final Scene)/The Egyptian Helen (Awakening Scene)
• Best Opera Recording
  • Karl Bohm (conductor), Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Evelyn Lear Fritz Wunderlich & the German Opera Orchestra & Chorus for Berg: Wozzeck
• Best Classical Choral Performance (other than opera)
  • Robert Shaw (conductor), the Robert Shaw Chorale & the RCA Victor Symphony Orchestra for Stravinsky: Symphony of Psalms/Poulenc: Gloria
• Best Classical Performance - Instrumental Soloist or Soloists (with orchestra)
  • Erich Leinsdorf (conductor), Artur Rubinstein & the Boston Symphony Orchestra for Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 4 in G
• Best Classical Performance - Instrumental Soloist or Soloists (without orchestra)
  • Vladimir Horowitz for Horowitz at Carnegie Hall - An Historic Return
• Best Classical Chamber Music Performance - Instrumental or Vocal
  • The Juilliard String Quartet for Bartók: The Six String Quartets
• Best Composition by a Contemporary Classical Composer
  • Charles Ives (composer) for Ives: Symphony No. 4 conducted by Leopold Stokowski
• Album of the Year - Classical
  • Thomas Frost (producer) & Vladimir Horowitz for Horowitz at Carnegie Hall - An Historic Return
• Most Promising New Classical Recording Artist
  • Peter Serkin

Comedy

• Best Comedy Performance
  • Bill Cosby for Why Is There Air?

Composing and arranging

• Best Original Score Written for a Motion Picture or Television Show
  • Johnny Mandel (composer) for The Sandpiper performed by the Robert Armbruster Orchestra
• Best Instrumental Arrangement
  • Herb Alpert (arranger) for "A Taste of Honey" performed by Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass
• Best Arrangement Accompanying a Vocalist or Instrumentalist
  • Gordon Jenkins (arranger) for "It Was a Very Good Year" performed by Frank Sinatra

Country

• Best Country & Western Vocal Performance - Female
  • Jody Miller for "Queen of the House"
• Best Country and Western Vocal Performance, Male
  • Roger Miller for "King of the Road"
• Best Country & Western Single
  • Roger Miller for "King of the Road"
• Best Country & Western Album
  • Roger Miller for The Return of Roger Miller
• Best New Country & Western Artist
  • The Statler Brothers

Folk

• Best Folk Recording
  • Harry Belafonte & Miriam Makeba for An Evening With Belafonte/Makeba

Gospel

• Best Gospel or Other Religious Recording (Musical)
  • Anita Kerr & George Beverly Shea for Southland Favorites

Jazz

• Best Instrumental Jazz Performance - Small Group or Soloist With Small Group
  • Ramsey Lewis for The "In" Crowd performed by the Ramsey Lewis Trio
• Best Instrumental Jazz Performance - Large Group or Soloist with Large Group
  • Duke Ellington for Ellington '66
• Best Original Jazz Composition
  • Lalo Schifrin (composer) for Jazz Suite on the Mass Texts performed by Paul Horn

Musical Show

• Best Score From an Original Cast Show Album
  • Alan J. Lerner, Burton Lane (composers), & the original cast (Barbara Harris, John Cullum, Tito Vandis, Byron Webster & William Daniels) for On a Clear Day

Packaging and Notes

• Best Album Cover, Graphic Arts
  • George Estes (art director) & James Alexander (graphic artist) for Bartók: Concerto No. 2 for Violin/Stravinsky: Concerto for Violin performed by Joseph Silverstein & conducted by Erich Leinsdorf
• Best Album Cover, Photography
  • Robert M. Jones (art director) & Ken Whitmore (photographer) for Jazz Suite on the Mass Texts performed by Paul Horn
• Best Album Notes
  • Stan Cornyn (notes writer) for September of My Years performed by Frank Sinatra

Pop

• Best Vocal Performance, Female
  • Barbra Streisand for My Name Is Barbra
• Best Vocal Performance, Male
  • Frank Sinatra for "It Was a Very Good Year"
• Best Performance by a Vocal Group
  • Anita Kerr for We Dig Mancini performed by the Anita Kerr Singers
• Best Performance by a Chorus
  • Ward Swingle for Anyone for Mozart? performed by the Swingle Singers
• Best Instrumental Performance
  • Herb Alpert for "A Taste of Honey" performed by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass
• Best Contemporary (R&R) Vocal Performance - Female
  • Petula Clark for "I Know a Place"
• Best Contemporary (R&R) Vocal Performance, Male
  • Roger Miller for "King of the Road"
• Best Contemporary (R&R) Performance - Group (Vocal or Instrumental)
  • Statler Brothers for "Flowers on the Wall"
• Best Contemporary (R&R) Single
  • Roger Miller for "King of the Road"

Production and engineering

• Best Engineered Recording - Non-Classical
  • Larry Levine (engineer) for "A Taste of Honey" performed by Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass
• Best Engineered Recording, Classical
  • Fred Plaut (engineer) & Vladimir Horowitz for Horowitz at Carnegie Hall - An Historic Return

R&B

• Best Rhythm & Blues Recording
  • James Brown for "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag"

Spoken

• Best Spoken Word or Drama Recording
  • Goddard Lieberson (producer) for John F. Kennedy - As We Remember Him