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Here are the only Grammy Awards rock fans (might) care about

The Grammys have pretty much backed themselves into irrelevance, but some of us still have to pay attention. Nevertheless, by mid-morning Monday, we’ll be reading how ratings were terrible and that the Grammys need to be reinvented or scrapped.

Rock fans never find anything interesting about the TV broadcast, largely because all those categories are given out before things go to air. Here’s what happened with these select categories. The winners are in bold.

Best Rock Performance

Bryan Adams, “So Happy It Hurts”
Beck, “Old Man”
The Black Keys, “Wild Child”
Brandi Carlile, “Broken Horses”
Idles, “Crawl!”
Ozzy Osbourne featuring Jeff Beck, “Patient Number 9”
Turnstile, “Holiday”

Just to underscore how the Grammy people only give cursory attention to this category, how did Brandi Carlilie–an excellent artist to be sure–get nominated as a rocker?

Best Metal Performance

Ghost, “Call Me Little Sunshine”
Megadeth, “We’ll Be Back”
Muse, “Kill or Be Killed”
Ozzy Osbourne featuring Tony Iommi, “Degradation Rules”
Turnstile, “Blackout”

Fine. Ozzy can have his Grammy to help off his career. It would have been cool to see an emo band like Turnstile win, though.

Best Rock Song

Red Hot Chili Peppers, “Black Summer”
Turnstile, “Blackout”
Brandi Carlile, “Broken Horses”
The War on Drugs, “Harmonia’s Dream”
Ozzy Osbourne Featuring Jeff Beck, “Patient Number 9”

WTF? Seriously.

Best Rock Album

The Black Keys, Dropout Boogie
Elvis Costello & the Imposters, The Boy Named If
Idles, Crawler
Machine Gun Kelly, Mainstream Sellout
Ozzy Osbourne, Patient Number 9
Spoon, Lucifer on the Sofa

Again, give it to Ozzy. I would have loved to have seen IDLES shake it up.

Best Alternative Music Album

Arcade Fire, We
Big Thief, Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You
Bjork, Fossora
Wet Leg, Wet Leg
Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Cool It Down

Wait, what? They got one right?

Best Alternative Music Performance

Arctic Monkeys, “There’d Better Be a Mirrorball”
Big Thief, “Certainty”
Florence + the Machine, “King”
Wet Leg, “Chaise Longue”
Yeah Yeah Yeahs featuring Perfume Genius, “Spitting Off the Edge of the World”

Wait. They got another one right?

Alan Cross

is an internationally known broadcaster, interviewer, writer, consultant, blogger and speaker. In his 40+ years in the music business, Alan has interviewed the biggest names in rock, from David Bowie and U2 to Pearl Jam and the Foo Fighters. He’s also known as a musicologist and documentarian through programs like The Ongoing History of New Music.

Alan Cross has 39671 posts and counting. See all posts by Alan Cross

2 thoughts on “Here are the only Grammy Awards rock fans (might) care about

  • Brandi Carlisle is crazy talented for sure, but her winning a rock album was like Jethro Tull winning metal album back in the day.

    Also, interesting how Muse were nominated for a metal award.

    The awards were on our tv last night. Wifey told me to leave the room because I couldn’t stop making comments about how ridiculous it all was. All the costumes, and the posturing, and too many people trying way too hard to show how cool they are. It’s not even about the music anymore, it’s all about the spectacle. Case in point: Sam Smith. He’s a great singer, but that performance was ridiculous. It may have been edgy and cool 20 years ago when Madonna did it, was still relevant. Now it just looks silly.

    Reply
  • Brandi Carlisle is not rock.

    Reply

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