Tears for Fears
Awards & Honours
24
Awards Won
4
Honours
5
Rankings
6
Covers
3
Records
Tears for Fears have accumulated an impressive tally of honours over four decades. They have won two Grammy Awards, two Brit Awards, two MTV Video Music Awards, and an Ivor Novello Award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically. In 2023, they received the Ivor Novello Award for Outstanding Contribution to British Music. The following year, they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the Performer category, a recognition of their enduring influence. Their album Songs from the Big Chair holds a Guinness World Record as the best-selling album by a UK duo in the United States. In 2024, both Orzabal and Smith were awarded honorary doctorates from the University of Bath for their services to music and charity.
Awards
Honours & Distinctions
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction
Inducted in the Performer category
Honorary Doctorate
Awarded to Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith for services to music and charity
Ivor Novello Award for Outstanding Contribution to British Music
Special award recognizing lifetime achievement
Guinness World Record
Best-selling album by a UK duo in the US: Songs from the Big Chair
Rankings & Lists
Greatest of All Time Artists
500 Greatest Albums of All Time
500 Greatest Songs of All Time
100 Greatest Albums of the 1980s
All-Time 100 Albums
Magazine Covers
Rolling Stone
April 1985
Tears for Fears: The Second British Invasion
Billboard
June 1985
The Big Chair: Tears for Fears Conquer America
NME
March 1985
The Tears for Fears Story
Melody Maker
May 1985
Shout: Tears for Fears Take Over
Q Magazine
September 1989
The Seeds of Love: Tears for Fears Return
Mojo
March 2022
The Tipping Point: Tears for Fears' Return to Form
Records & Feats
Best-selling album by a UK duo in the US
Songs from the Big Chair sold over 10 million copies worldwide, with 5 million in the US alone.
Highest-charting US album since 1989
The Tipping Point reached number 8 on the Billboard 200 in 2022, their best chart performance since The Seeds of Love.
Over 1 billion streams on Spotify
Everybody Wants to Rule the World surpassed 1 billion streams on Spotify.