3 Legendary Rock Artists That Never Won A Grammy

It’s simple to use the wisdom of hindsight to evaluate the past, but occasionally that evaluation might come across as a bit harsh. Particularly when you learn that some of the most innovative rock performers in history have never received a Grammy.

It’s difficult to be shocked to hear that certain iconic rock bands and performers were overlooked for a long time, even though the Grammys have changed throughout time. Not even a rock category was added to the Grammys until 1980! The awards had trouble acknowledging the genre completely before that. Here are some famous rock stars that the Recording Academy oddly avoided recognizing.

The Beach Boys
It took decades for The Beach Boys to receive another nomination for the 9th Annual Grammy Awards, this time for the song “Kokomo.” This is particularly significant given their historic Pet Sounds album from 1966. The Beach Boys were nominated for the award for their iconic hit song “Good Vibrations.” Despite being regarded as one of the best albums ever, the Grammys completely ignored it. Even if you don’t have a beautiful vinyl copy on your mantle, it’s difficult to imagine that The Beach Boys’ artistic accomplishments weren’t given more credit.

The Who
We’ll talk about The Who next, a band that revolutionized rock with albums like Tommy, Who’s Next, and Quadrophenia. Amazingly, they have only received two nominations and no Grammy awards. Imagine assembling an iconic band that includes John Entwistle, Keith Moon, Pete Townshend, and Roger Daltrey to form a supergroup and then producing ground-breaking recordings that have impacted generations. For some reason, however, the band was not nominated for any of these albums throughout their tenure.

Jimi Hendrix
Let’s wrap up by discussing Jimi Hendrix, the man who created the electric guitar. Songs like “Purple Haze,” “Little Wing,” and “The Wind Cries Mary” by Hendrix still serve as inspiration for musicians like Prince and Slash. Even though Hendrix made groundbreaking contributions to music, none of his ground-breaking songs earned him a Grammy. Not even his well-known versions of “Hey Joe” and “All Along the Watchtower” were featured. How someone with his kind of influence didn’t win a Grammy at some point is hard to understand.