Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance

The Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance was an award presented to recording artists at the Grammy Awards from 1990 to 2011.

Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance
Awarded for	Quality performances in the hard rock genre
Country	United States
Presented by	National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences
First awarded	1990
Last awarded	2011
Website	grammy.com

The academy recognized hard rock music artists for the first time at the 31st Grammy Awards in 1989. The category was originally presented as Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance Vocal or Instrumental, combining two of the most popular music genres of the 1980s.^[1] Jethro Tull won that award for the album Crest of a Knave, beating Metallica, who were expected to win with the album ...And Justice for All. This choice led to widespread criticism of the academy, as journalists suggested that the music of Jethro Tull did not belong in the hard rock or heavy metal genres.^[2][3] In response, the academy created the categories Best Hard Rock Performance and Best Metal Performance, separating the genres.

The band Living Colour was presented the first award for Best Hard Rock Performance in 1990. From 1992 to 1994, the award was presented as the Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance with Vocal. The bands Foo Fighters, Living Colour, and the Smashing Pumpkins share the record for the most wins, with two each. American artists were presented with the award more than any other nationality, though it was also presented to musicians or groups originating from Australia twice and from the United Kingdom once. Alice in Chains holds the record for the most nominations without a win, with eight.

The award was discontinued in 2012 due to a major overhaul of Grammy categories. In 2012 and 2013, quality hard rock performances were honored in the Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance category. However, in 2014, the category was split, returning the stand-alone Best Metal Performance category and recognizing quality hard rock performances in the Best Rock Performance category.^[4] According to the Recording Academy, "It was determined that metal has a very distinctive sound, and hard rock more closely aligns with rock and can exist comfortably as one end of the rock spectrum."^[4]

Recipients

Chris Cornell, lead singer of the 1995 award-winning band Soundgarden, performing in 2005

Billy Corgan of the two-time award-winning band The Smashing Pumpkins

1999 award winner, Robert Plant, performing in 2007

Metallica, the 2000 award-winning band, performing in 2008

Linkin Park, the 2002 award-winning band

The two-time award-winning band Foo Fighters

Wolfmother, the 2007 award-winning band, performing at the Beale Street Music Festival

The 2009 award-winning band, The Mars Volta

Year[I]	Performing artist(s)	Work	Nominees	Ref.
1990	Living Colour	"Cult of Personality"	Aerosmith – "Love in an Elevator" Great White – "Once Bitten, Twice Shy" Guns N' Roses – G N' R Lies Mötley Crüe – "Dr. Feelgood"	[5]
1991	Living Colour	Time's Up	AC/DC – The Razors Edge Faith No More – "Epic" Jane's Addiction – Ritual de lo Habitual Mötley Crüe – "Kickstart My Heart"	[6]
1992	Van Halen	For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge	AC/DC – "Moneytalks" Alice in Chains – "Man in the Box" Guns N' Roses – Use Your Illusion I	[7]
1993	Red Hot Chili Peppers	"Give It Away"	Alice in Chains – Dirt Faith No More – Angel Dust Guns N' Roses – "Live and Let Die" Nirvana – "Smells Like Teen Spirit" Pearl Jam – "Jeremy"	[8]
1994	Stone Temple Pilots	"Plush"	AC/DC – "Highway to Hell" (live) Living Colour – "Leave It Alone" Robert Plant – "Calling to You" The Smashing Pumpkins – "Cherub Rock"	[9][10]
1995	Soundgarden	"Black Hole Sun"	Alice in Chains – "I Stay Away" Beastie Boys – "Sabotage" Green Day – "Longview" Pearl Jam – "Go"	[11]
1996	Pearl Jam	"Spin the Black Circle"	Alice in Chains – "Grind" Primus – "Wynona's Big Brown Beaver" Red Hot Chili Peppers – "Blood Sugar Sex Magik" (live) Van Halen – "The Seventh Seal"	[12]
1997	The Smashing Pumpkins	"Bullet with Butterfly Wings"	Alice in Chains – "Again" Rage Against the Machine – "Bulls on Parade" Soundgarden – "Pretty Noose" Stone Temple Pilots – "Trippin' on a Hole in a Paper Heart"	[13]
1998	The Smashing Pumpkins	"The End Is the Beginning Is the End"	Bush – "Swallowed" Foo Fighters – "Monkey Wrench" Nine Inch Nails – "The Perfect Drug" Rage Against the Machine – "People of the Sun"	[14]
1999	Page and Plant	"Most High"	Kiss – "Psycho Circus" Marilyn Manson – "The Dope Show" Metallica – "Fuel" Pearl Jam – "Do the Evolution"	[15]
2000	Metallica	"Whiskey in the Jar"	Alice in Chains – "Get Born Again" Buckcherry – "Lit Up" Kid Rock – "Bawitdaba" Korn – "Freak on a Leash" Limp Bizkit – "Nookie"	[16]
2001	Rage Against the Machine	"Guerrilla Radio"	Kid Rock – "American Bad Ass" Limp Bizkit – "Take a Look Around" Pearl Jam – "Grievance" Stone Temple Pilots – "Down"	[17]
2002	Linkin Park	"Crawling"	Alien Ant Farm – "Smooth Criminal" P.O.D. – "Alive" Rage Against the Machine – "Renegades of Funk" Saliva – "Your Disease"	[18]
2003	Foo Fighters	"All My Life"	Godsmack – "I Stand Alone" P.O.D. – "Youth of the Nation" Queens of the Stone Age – "No One Knows" System of a Down – "Aerials"	[19][20]
2004	Evanescence & Paul McCoy	"Bring Me to Life"	Audioslave – "Like a Stone" Godsmack – "Straight Out of Line" Jane's Addiction – "Just Because" Queens of the Stone Age – "Go with the Flow"	[21]
2005	Velvet Revolver	"Slither"	Incubus – "Megalomaniac" Metallica – "Some Kind of Monster" Nickelback – "Feelin' Way Too Damn Good" Slipknot – "Duality"	[22]
2006	System of a Down	"B.Y.O.B."	Audioslave – "Doesn't Remind Me" Nine Inch Nails – "The Hand That Feeds" Robert Plant – "Tin Pan Valley" Queens of the Stone Age – "Little Sister"	[23]
2007	Wolfmother	"Woman"	Buckcherry – "Crazy Bitch" Nine Inch Nails – "Every Day Is Exactly the Same" System of a Down – "Lonely Day" Tool – "Vicarious"	[24]
2008	Foo Fighters	"The Pretender"	Evanescence – "Sweet Sacrifice" Ozzy Osbourne – "I Don't Wanna Stop" Queens of the Stone Age – "Sick, Sick, Sick" Tool – "The Pot"	[25]
2009	The Mars Volta	"Wax Simulacra"	Disturbed – "Inside the Fire" Judas Priest – "Visions" Mötley Crüe – "Saints of Los Angeles" Rob Zombie – "The Lords of Salem"	[26]
2010	AC/DC	"War Machine"	Alice in Chains – "Check My Brain" Linkin Park – "What I've Done" (live) Metallica – "The Unforgiven III" Nickelback – "Burn It to the Ground"	[27]
2011	Them Crooked Vultures	"New Fang"	Alice in Chains – "A Looking in View" Ozzy Osbourne – "Let Me Hear You Scream" Soundgarden – "Black Rain" Stone Temple Pilots – "Between the Lines"	[28]

^{^[I]} Each year is linked to the article about the Grammy Awards held that year.

Multiple wins

2 wins

• Foo Fighters
• Living Colour
• The Smashing Pumpkins

Multiple nominations

8 nominations Alice in Chains 5 nominations Pearl Jam 4 nominations AC/DC Metallica Queens of the Stone Age Rage Against the Machine Stone Temple Pilots 3 nominations Foo Fighters Guns N' Roses Living Colour Mötley Crüe Nine Inch Nails The Smashing Pumpkins Soundgarden System of a Down

2 nominations Audioslave Buckcherry Evanescence Faith No More Godsmack Jane's Addiction Kid Rock Limp Bizkit Linkin Park Nickelback Ozzy Osbourne P.O.D. Robert Plant Red Hot Chili Peppers Tool Van Halen

References

General

• "Past Winners Search". National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on December 19, 2015. Retrieved March 4, 2011. Note: User must select the "Rock" category as the genre under the search feature.

Specific

1. Pareles, Jon (February 23, 1989). "Grammys to McFerrin and Chapman". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 18, 2013. Retrieved August 22, 2010.
2. Hoffmann, Frank, ed. (2005). Encyclopedia of Recorded Sound. Vol. 1 (2 ed.). CRC Press. p. 542. ISBN 978-0-415-93835-8. Archived from the original on May 26, 2013. Retrieved August 22, 2010.
3. Holden, Stephen (February 14, 1990). "The Pop Life". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 18, 2013. Retrieved August 22, 2010.
4. "The Recording Academy Elects New National Officer and Approves Continuing Evolution of Grammy Awards Categories at Spring Trustees Meeting". Recording Academy. June 4, 2013. Archived from the original on June 12, 2013. Retrieved June 4, 2013.
5. "Here's list of nominees from all 77 categories". Deseret News. Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret News Publishing Company. January 12, 1990. Archived from the original on March 13, 2016. Retrieved July 8, 2010.
6. "List of Grammy nominations". Times-News. Hendersonville, North Carolina: The New York Times Company. January 11, 1991. Archived from the original on March 13, 2016. Retrieved July 8, 2010.
7. "Grammy nominations span Streisand, Seal, Seattle Symphony". The Seattle Times. The Seattle Times Company. January 8, 1992. Archived from the original on September 26, 2012. Retrieved July 8, 2010.
8. "Grammy nominees". The Baltimore Sun. Tribune Company. January 8, 1993. Archived from the original on September 2, 2012. Retrieved July 8, 2010.
9. Campbell, Mary (January 7, 1994). "Sting, Joel top Grammy nominations". Star-News. Wilmington, North Carolina: The New York Times Company. Archived from the original on March 13, 2016. Retrieved July 8, 2010.
10. "36th Annual GRAMMY Awards (1993)". grammy.com. Archived from the original on April 6, 2019. Retrieved May 7, 2019.
11. "The 37th Grammy Nominations". Los Angeles Times. January 6, 1995. p. 2. Archived from the original on May 30, 2012. Retrieved July 8, 2010.
12. "List of Grammy nominees". CNN. January 4, 1996. Archived from the original on December 7, 2012. Retrieved July 8, 2010.
13. Campbell, Mary (January 8, 1997). "Babyface is up for 12 Grammy awards". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Journal Communications. p. 8B. Archived from the original on July 12, 2012. Retrieved July 8, 2010.
14. Campbell, Mary (January 7, 1998). "Grammys' dual Dylans". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Journal Communications. p. 8B. Archived from the original on December 8, 2012. Retrieved July 8, 2010.
15. "1999 Grammy Nominees". NME. IPC Media. November 27, 1998. Archived from the original on October 11, 2012. Retrieved July 8, 2010.
16. "42nd Annual Grammy Awards nominations". CNN. January 4, 2000. Archived from the original on July 22, 2012. Retrieved July 8, 2010.
17. "43rd Grammy Awards". CNN. February 21, 2001. Archived from the original on November 6, 2008. Retrieved July 8, 2010.
18. "Complete List Of Grammy Nominees". CBS News. January 4, 2002. Archived from the original on October 10, 2003. Retrieved July 8, 2010.
19. "Complete list of Grammy nominees; ceremony set for Feb. 23". San Francisco Chronicle. January 8, 2003. p. 2. Archived from the original on July 16, 2011. Retrieved March 1, 2022.
20. "Foo Fighters". grammy.com. Archived from the original on March 1, 2022. Retrieved March 1, 2022.
21. "They're All Contenders". The New York Times. December 5, 2003. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved July 8, 2010.
22. "Grammy Award nominees in top categories". USA Today. Gannett Company. February 7, 2005. Archived from the original on June 28, 2011. Retrieved July 8, 2010.
23. "The Complete List of Grammy Nominations". The New York Times. December 8, 2005. p. 1. Archived from the original on May 3, 2015. Retrieved July 8, 2010.
24. "49th Annual Grammy Awards Winners List". National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on December 20, 2006. Retrieved July 8, 2010.
25. "Grammy 2008 Winners List". MTV. February 10, 2008. Archived from the original on June 5, 2009. Retrieved July 8, 2010.
26. "Grammy 2009 Winners List". MTV. February 8, 2009. Archived from the original on October 1, 2010. Retrieved July 8, 2010.
27. "The 52nd Annual Grammy Awards Nominees List". National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on June 18, 2010. Retrieved July 8, 2010.
28. "53rd Annual Grammy Awards nominees list". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on July 13, 2011. Retrieved December 2, 2010.

External links

• Rock music portal

• Official site of the Grammy Awards Archived 2014-05-07 at the Wayback Machine
• Rock on the Net – Grammy Awards: Best Hard Rock Performance Archived 2013-03-12 at the Wayback Machine