Samara Joy cherishes her late grandfather Elder Goldwire McLendo as she approaches Grammy night: ‘One of the greatest voices in the world’

The jazz singer’s grandfather, Elder Goldwire McLendon, participated on BET’s Sunday Best and finished in third place in the competition. He died in December at the age of 95.

Samara Joy views Grammy night as a reminder of where she’s come from. The five-time Grammy winner has never lost on music’s biggest stage and while she admits she’s not thinking too much about her undefeated streak, she is thinking about her late grandfather, Elder Goldwire McLendon.

McLendon, who died last month at the age of 95, was instrumental in inspiring Joy to sing and had a profound impact on her entire musical family, from her father to her cousins, uncles, and more.

“[My grandfather] grew up in church, he grew up raising a family, raising my dad and his siblings and never, I don’t think, got the proper due for being like one of the greatest voices in the world,” she told PEOPLE. “I knew I loved to sing. I knew I loved music, and jazz just gave me, I guess, an outlet or a lane for with which to express all that love.”

Since her arrival on the scene, Joy has become one of jazz’s most prominent names. She won Best New Artist and Best Jazz Vocal Album at the 65th Grammy Award ceremony in 2023, before winning Best Jazz Performance in 2024. In 2025, she repeated as the winner of Best Jazz Performance, winning her second award for Best Jazz Vocal Album.

She’s looking to three-peat for Best Jazz Performance and win her third Best Jazz Vocal Album award with her latest album, “Portrait.” If she were to win, she’d become one of the few musicians who have never lost an award they were nominated for.

“If I thought about it too much, I might implode or something because it really blows my mind every single time,” Joy says of her nominations and wins. “People ask me sometimes ‘Does it get old?’ But how is that even possible? I’m grateful every single time.”

As to how she’s carrying herself going into Music’s Biggest Night, Samara is keeping it all together.

“If [the wins] happen this time, I’ll be grateful. If it doesn’t, I’ll be just as grateful to have the opportunity to be nominated,” she says. “That’s the attitude I choose to stay in. I’m like, if I tried to keep a streak going, I don’t know — it’d be like Duolingo or something like that! I would just break down.”