The 16th Grammy Awards were held in 1974, and were broadcast live on American television. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the year 1973.

Award winners:

• Record of the Year
  • Joel Dorn (producer) & Roberta Flack for "Killing Me Softly With His Song"

• Album of the Year
  • Stevie Wonder (producer & artist) for Innervisions

• Song of the Year
  • Charles Fox & Norman Gimbel (songwriters) for "Killing Me Softly With His Song" performed by Roberta Flack

• Best New Artist
  • Bette Midler

Children's

• Best Recording for Children
  • Joe Raposo (producer) for Sesame Street Live performed by the Sesame Street cast

Classical

• Best Classical Performance - Orchestra
  • Pierre Boulez (conductor) & the New York Philharmonic for Bartók: Concerto for Orchestra
• Best Classical Vocal Soloist Performance
  • Edward Downes (conductor), Leontyne Price & the New Philharmonia Orchestra for Puccini: Heroines
• Best Opera Recording
  • Tom Mowrey (producer), Leonard Bernstein (conductor), Marilyn Horne, Tom Krause , Adriana Maliponte , James McCracken 7 the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra & Chorus for Bizet: Carmen
• Best Choral Performance, Classical (other than opera)
  • Andre Previn (conductor), Arthur Oldham (choir director) & the London Symphony Orchestra & Chorus for Walton: Belshazzer's Feast
  • Georg Solti (conductor), Vladimir Ashkenazy & the Chicago Symphony Orchestra for Beethoven: Concerti (5) for Piano and Orchestra
• Best Classical Performance Instrumental Soloist or Soloists (without orchestra)
  • Vladimir Horowitz for Horowitz Plays Scriabin
• Best Chamber Music Performance
  • Gunther Schuller (conductor) & the New England Conservatory Ragtime Ensemble for Joplin: The Red Back Book
• Album of the Year, Classical
  • Thomas Z. Shepard (producer), Pierre Boulez (conductor) & the New York Philharmonic for Bartók: Concerto for Orchestra

Comedy

• Best Comedy Recording
  • Cheech and Chong for Los Cochinos

Composing and arranging

• Best Instrumental Composition
  • Gato Barbieri (composer) for "Last Tango in Paris" performed by various artists
• Album of Best Original Score Written for a Motion Picture or a Television Special
  • Neil Diamond (composer) for Jonathan Livingston Seagull performed by various artists
• Best Instrumental Arrangement
  • Quincy Jones (arranger) for "Summer in the City"
• Best Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s)
  • George Martin (arranger) for "Live and Let Die" performed by Paul McCartney & Wings

Country

• Best Country Vocal Performance, Female
  • Olivia Newton-John for "Let Me Be There"
• Best Country Vocal Performance, Male
  • Charlie Rich for "Behind Closed Doors"
• Best Country Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group
  • Rita Coolidge & Kris Kristofferson for "From the Bottle to the Bottom"
• Best Country Instrumental Performance
  • Steve Mandell & Eric Weissberg for "Dueling Banjos"
• Best Country Song
  • Kenny O'Dell (songwriter) for "Behind Closed Doors" performed by Charlie Rich

Folk

• Best Ethnic or Traditional Recording (including traditional blues)
  • Doc Watson for Then and Now

Gospel

• Best Gospel Performance
  • Blackwood Brothers for Release Me (From My Sin)
• Best Soul Gospel Performance
  • Dixie Hummingbirds for "Loves Me Like a Rock"
• Best Inspirational Performance
  • The Bill Gaither Trio for Let's Just Praise the Lord

Jazz

• Best Jazz Performance by a Soloist
  • Art Tatum for God Is in the House
• Best Jazz Performance by a Group
  • Supersax for Supersax Plays Bird
• Best Jazz Performance by a Big Band
  • Woody Herman for Giant Steps

Musical Show

• Best Score From the Original Cast Show Album
  • Stephen Sondheim (composer), Goddard Lieberson (producer) & the original cast (Glynis Johns, Len Cariou, Hermoine Gingold, Victoria Mallory, Patricia Elliott & Teri Ralston) for A Little Night Music

Packaging and Notes

• Best Album Package
  • Wilkes & Braun (art director) for Tommy performed by the London Symphony Orchestra & Choir
• Best Album Notes
  • Dan Morgenstern (notes writer) for God Is in the House performed by Art Tatum
• Best Album Notes - Classical
  • Glenn Gould (notes writer) for Hindemith: Sonatas for Piano (Complete) performed by Glenn Gould

Pop

• Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female
  • Roberta Flack for "Killing Me Softly With His Song"
• Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male
  • Stevie Wonder for "You Are the Sunshine of My Life"
• Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Duo, Group or Chorus
  • Gladys Knight & the Pips for "Neither One of Us (Wants to Be the First to Say Goodbye)"
• Best Pop Instrumental Performance
  • Eumir Deodato for "Also Sprach Zarathustra (2001)"

Production and engineering

• Best Engineered Recording, Non-Classical
  • Malcolm Cecil & Robert Margouleff (engineers) for Innervisions performed by Stevie Wonder
• Best Classical Engineered Recording
  • Edward (Bud) T. Graham , Ray Moore (engineers), Pierre Boulez (conductor) & the New York Philharmonic for Bartók: Concerto for Orchestra

R&B

• Best R&B Vocal Performance, Female
  • Aretha Franklin for "Master of Eyes"
• Best R&B Vocal Performance, Male
  • Stevie Wonder for "Superstition"
• Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Duo, Group or Chorus
  • Gladys Knight & the Pips for "Midnight Train to Georgia"
• Best R&B Instrumental Performance
  • Ramsey Lewis for "Hang on Sloopy"
• Best Rhythm & Blues Song
  • Stevie Wonder (songwriter) for "Superstition"

Spoken

• Best Spoken Word Recording
  • Richard Harris for Jonathan Livingston Seagull