Grammy Award for Best Rock Song explained

Grammy Award for Best Rock Song
Awarded For:	High-quality rock music songs
Presenter:	National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences
Country:	United States
Year:	1992
Holder:	Boygenius — "Not Strong Enough" (2024)
Website:	grammy.com

The Grammy Award for Best Rock Song is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards,^[1] to recording artists for quality songs in the rock music genre. Honors in several categories are presented at the ceremony annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without regard to album sales or chart position".^[2]

The award, reserved for songwriters, was first presented to English musician Sting in 1992. According to the category description guide for the 52nd Grammy Awards, the award honors new songs (containing both melody and lyrics) or songs "first achieving prominence" during the period of eligibility. Songs containing prominent samples or interpolations are not eligible.^[3]

The award goes to the songwriter. If the song contains samples or interpolations of earlier songs, the publisher and the original songwriter(s) can apply for a Winners Certificate.^[4]

Bruce Springsteen, Dave Grohl and Pat Smear hold the record for the most wins, having won four awards each. Springsteen also holds the record for most nominations with nine. Other winners of multiple awards include the other members of Foo Fighters (Taylor Hawkins, Nate Mendel and Chris Shiflett) with three wins, and Alanis Morissette and the bands Red Hot Chili Peppers and U2, each with two. Award-winning songs have been performed by American artists more than any other nationality, though they have also been performed by musicians or groups originating from Canada, Ireland, and the United Kingdom. There have been four instances in which one artist or group was nominated for two works in the same year: the group Aerosmith was nominated for both "Cryin'" and "Livin' on the Edge" in 1994, Melissa Etheridge received nominations for "Come to My Window" and "I'm the Only One" in 1995, Jakob Dylan of the Wallflowers won for "One Headlight" and was also nominated for "The Difference" in 1998, and U2 was nominated for the songs "Elevation" and "Walk On" in 2002. Chad Smith also received two nominations in 2023, receiving songwriting credits for the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Ozzy Osbourne songs nominated. Coldplay holds the record for the most nominations without a win, with four.

Recipients

Year	Recipient(s)	Work	Performing artist(s)	Nominees (Performer(s) in parentheses)	Ref.
1992	Sting		Sting		^[5]
1993	Jim Gordon	(Unplugged version)			^[6]
1994			Soul Asylum		^[7]
1995					^[8]
1996	Glen Ballard				^[9]
1997					^[10]
1998			The Wallflowers		^[11]
1999					^[12]
2000	Flea John Frusciante Anthony Kiedis Chad Smith		Red Hot Chili Peppers		^[13]
2001	Mark Tremonti		Creed		^[14]
2002	Charlie Colin Rob Hotchkiss Pat Monahan Jimmy Stafford Scott Underwood		Train		^[15]
2003					^[16]
2004			The White Stripes		^[17]
2005	Bono Adam Clayton The Edge Larry Mullen, Jr.		U2		^[18]
2006	Bono Adam Clayton The Edge Larry Mullen, Jr.		U2		^[19]
2007	Flea John Frusciante Anthony Kiedis Chad Smith		Red Hot Chili Peppers		^[20]
2008					^[21]
2009					^[22]
2010	Caleb Followill Jared Followill Matthew Followill Nathan Followill		Kings of Leon		^[23]
2011			Neil Young		^[24]
2012	Dave Grohl Taylor Hawkins Nate Mendel Chris Shiflett Pat Smear	"Walk"	Foo Fighters		^[25]
2013	Dan Auerbach Brian Burton Patrick Carney	"Lonely Boy"	The Black Keys
2014	Dave Grohl Paul McCartney Krist Novoselic Pat Smear	"Cut Me Some Slack"	Paul McCartney and Nirvana		^[26]
2015	Hayley Williams Taylor York	"Ain't It Fun"	Paramore		^[27]
2016	Zac Cockrell Heath Fogg Brittany Howard Steve Johnson	"Don't Wanna Fight"	Alabama Shakes
2017	David Bowie	"Blackstar"	David Bowie
2018	Dave Grohl Taylor Hawkins Rami Jaffee Nate Mendel Chris Shiflett Pat Smear	"Run"	Foo Fighters		^[28]
2019	Jack Antonoff Annie Clark	"Masseduction"	St. Vincent		^[29]
2020	Gary Clark Jr.	"This Land"	Gary Clark Jr.
2021	Brittany Howard	"Stay High"	Brittany Howard		^[30]
2022	Dave Grohl Taylor Hawkins Rami Jaffee Nate Mendel Chris Shiflett Pat Smear	"Waiting on a War"	Foo Fighters		^[31]
2023	Brandi Carlile Phil Hanseroth Tim Hanseroth	"Broken Horses"	Brandi Carlile		^[32]
2024	Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus	"Not Strong Enough"	Boygenius		^[33]

• The performing artist is only listed but does not receive the award.
• Showing the name of the songwriter(s), the nominated song and in parentheses the performer's name(s).

Multiple wins

4 wins

• Dave Grohl
• Pat Smear
• Bruce Springsteen

3 wins

• Taylor Hawkins, Nate Mendel and Chris Shiflett

2 wins

• Bono, Adam Clayton, The Edge and Larry Mullen, Jr.
• Flea, John Frusciante, Anthony Kiedis and Chad Smith
• Rami Jaffee
• Alanis Morissette
• Brittany Howard

Multiple nominations

10 nominations

• Bruce Springsteen

8 nominations

• Dave Grohl

7 nominations

• Nate Mendel and Chris Shiflett

6 nominations

• Bono

5 nominations

• Adam Clayton, The Edge and Larry Mullen, Jr.
• Pat Smear
• Chad Smith

4 nominations

• Guy Berryman, Jonny Buckland, Will Champion and Chris Martin
• Flea, John Frusciante and Anthony Kiedis
• Caleb Followill, Jared Followill, Matthew Followill and Nathan Followill
• Jack White

3 nominations

• Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney
• Matthew Bellamy
• Ted Dwane, Ben Lovett, Marcus Mumford and Winston Marshall
• Jakob Dylan
• Melissa Etheridge
• Colin Greenwood, Jonny Greenwood, Ed O'Brien, Phil Selway and Thom Yorke
• James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich
• Brittany Howard
• Rami Jaffee
• Mick Jagger and Keith Richards
• Steven Tyler
• Neil Young

2 nominations

• Fiona Apple
• Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt and Tré Cool
• Brad Arnold, Todd Harrell and Chris Henderson
• Phoebe Bridgers
• Brian Burton
• Gary Clark Jr.
• Kurt Cobain
• Charlie Colin, Patrick Monahan, Jimmy Stafford and Scott Underwood
• Rivers Cuomo
• Bob Dylan
• Duke Erikson, Shirley Manson, Steve Marker and Butch Vig
• Brandon Flowers, Dave Keuning, Mark Stoermer and Ronnie Vannucci Jr.
• John Hiatt
• Tyler Joseph
• Lenny Kravitz
• Chad Kroeger
• Dave Matthews
• Paul McCartney
• Richard Meyer, Ryan Meyer and Johnny Stevens
• Alanis Morissette
• Joe Perry
• Tom Petty
• Eddie Vedder

See also

• List of Grammy Award categories
• Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
• Rock Songs

References

General

• Web site: Past Winners Search. National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. March 4, 2011. December 19, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20151219095456/http://www.grammy.com/nominees/search. live. Note: User must select the "Rock" category as the genre under the search feature.
• Web site: Grammy Awards: Best Rock Song (Songwriter's Award). Rock on the Net. November 16, 2010. August 24, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170824094029/http://www.rockonthenet.com/grammy/rocksong.htm. live.

Specific

External links

• Official site of the Grammy Awards

Notes and References

1. News: Grammy Awards at a Glance . . April 24, 2010 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120309064412/http://theenvelope.latimes.com/factsheets/env-grammy_awards_info%2C0%2C5838827.htmlstory . March 9, 2012 . dead .
2. Web site: Overview . November 11, 2010 . . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20091027163924/http://www.grammy.com/recording_academy/ . October 27, 2009 .
3. Web site: 52nd OEP Category Description Guide . November 15, 2010 . 2 . National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20091027172820/http://www.grammy.com/PDFs/Recording_Academy/52guide.pdf . October 27, 2009 .
4. Web site: Grammy Blue Book (edition 2021) . 2020-06-13 . 2020-06-10 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200610183728/https://www.grammy.com/sites/com/files/bluebook_awards_certs_and_grammy_tickets.pdf . live .
5. News: Nominees announced for Grammy Awards. November 17, 2010. TimesDaily. January 8, 1992. Florence, Alabama. 123. 10B. https://web.archive.org/web/20160313073453/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Gl4eAAAAIBAJ&sjid=o8gEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3840,1147988&dq. March 13, 2016. live.
6. News: The 35th Grammy Awards Nominations. 3. January 8, 1993. December 12, 2010. Los Angeles Times. https://web.archive.org/web/20120514114749/http://articles.latimes.com/1993-01-08/entertainment/ca-921_1_album-producer/3. May 14, 2012. live.
7. News: General Categories. 3. Los Angeles Times. January 7, 1994. December 12, 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20120514114415/http://articles.latimes.com/1994-01-07/entertainment/ca-9459_1_vocal-performance/3. May 14, 2012. live.
8. News: The 37th Grammy Nominations. January 6, 1995. December 12, 2010. 3. Los Angeles Times. https://web.archive.org/web/20141028093936/http://articles.latimes.com/1995-01-06/entertainment/ca-17089_1_vocal-performance/3. October 28, 2014. live.
9. News: List of Grammy nominees. January 4, 1996. November 11, 2010. CNN. https://web.archive.org/web/20121207073959/http://www.cnn.com/SHOWBIZ/Music/9601/grammy_noms/grammy_list.html. December 7, 2012. live.
10. News: The Complete List of Nominees. Los Angeles Times. January 8, 1997. December 12, 2010. 3. https://web.archive.org/web/20121104082752/http://articles.latimes.com/1997-01-08/entertainment/ca-16471_1_video-producer/3. November 4, 2012. live.
11. News: List of Grammy award nominations. January 6, 1998. December 9, 2010. CNN. https://web.archive.org/web/20100528105515/http://www.cnn.com/SHOWBIZ/9801/06/grammys.list/index.html. May 28, 2010. live.
12. Web site: 1999 Grammy Nominees . November 27, 1998 . November 11, 2010 . . . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20121011030229/http://www.nme.com/news/lauryn-hill/772 . October 11, 2012 .
13. • News: 42nd Annual Grammy Awards nominations . CNN . April 29, 2010 . January 4, 2000 . https://archive.today/20120722190443/http://transcripts.cnn.com/2000/SHOWBIZ/Music/01/04/grammy.noms.01/list.html . July 22, 2012 . dead .
    • News: Strauss . Neil . Santana Dominates Grammy Awards . . February 24, 2000 . February 14, 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170921194554/http://www.nytimes.com/2000/02/24/us/santana-dominates-grammy-awards.html . September 21, 2017 . live .
14. News: Grammys Cast a Wider Net Than Usual. 5. January 4, 2001. Geoff. Boucher. December 10, 2010. Los Angeles Times. https://web.archive.org/web/20120514114733/http://articles.latimes.com/2001/jan/04/entertainment/ca-8072/5. May 14, 2012. dead.
15. News: Complete list of Grammy nominations. January 4, 2002. December 10, 2010. The Seattle Times Company. The Seattle Times. https://web.archive.org/web/20111204184148/http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=20020104&slug=grammylist05. December 4, 2011. live.
16. Web site: Norah Jones Sweeps Grammys, Boss Wins Three, Avril Shut Out. D'Angelo. Joe. February 23, 2003. MTV News. en. February 11, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20180613212228/http://www.mtv.com/news/1470107/norah-jones-sweeps-grammys-boss-wins-three-avril-shut-out/. June 13, 2018. dead.
17. Web site: Complete list of Grammy nominations. December 5, 2003. December 10, 2010. The Seattle Times Company. The Seattle Times. https://web.archive.org/web/20111204194408/http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=20031205&slug=webcompletegrammylist05. December 4, 2011. live.
18. News: Grammy Award nominees in top categories. February 7, 2005. November 11, 2010. Gannett Company. USA Today. https://web.archive.org/web/20121019094134/http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/life/music/news/2004-12-07-grammy-nominee-list_x.htm. October 19, 2012. live.
19. News: Complete list of Grammy Award nominations. December 8, 2006. December 9, 2010. Gannett Company. USA Today. https://web.archive.org/web/20121018192506/http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/life/music/awards/grammys/2005-12-08-grammy-list-nominations_x.htm. October 18, 2012. live.
20. Web site: Mary J. Blige, Chili Peppers Top Grammy Nominations List. December 7, 2006. December 9, 2010. MTV. Gil. Kaufman. https://web.archive.org/web/20100426233022/http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1547492/20061207/blige_mary_j.jhtml. April 26, 2010. dead.
21. News: 2008 Grammy Award Winners and Nominees. November 17, 2010. The New York Times. February 9, 2008. https://web.archive.org/web/20150703001311/http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/09/arts/music/10grammylist.html. July 3, 2015. live.
22. Web site: Complete List of Nominees for the 51st Annual Grammy Awards. December 3, 2008. December 9, 2010. E! Online. November 19, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20231119161903/https://www.eonline.com/news/71618/complete_list_of_nominees_51st_annual. live.
23. Web site: Nominees for 2010 Grammy Awards Announced -- Full List. December 2, 2009. November 16, 2010. Spinner.com. Kenneth. Partridge. https://web.archive.org/web/20120306003427/http://www.spinner.com/2009/12/02/grammy-nominees-2010/. March 6, 2012. live.
24. News: Nominees And Winners – GRAMMY.com. February 13, 2011. National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. https://web.archive.org/web/20101205044544/http://www.grammy.com/nominees?year=2010&genre=31. December 5, 2010. live.
25. Grammys 2012: Winners' list. Ward. Kate. February 12, 2012. Entertainment Weekly. en. February 11, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190212011614/https://ew.com/article/2012/02/12/grammys-2012-the-full-list-of-winners/. February 12, 2019. live.
26. Web site: 56th Annual GRAMMY Awards / 2013 / GRAMMY.com. 2023-07-01. 2014-12-30. https://web.archive.org/web/20141230212550/http://www.grammy.com/awards/56th-annual-grammy-awards. live.
27. Web site: 57th Grammy Nominees . . December 5, 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20151113092219/http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/la-et-ms-grammys-2015-nominees-winners-list-story.html . November 13, 2015 . live .
28. Web site: 60th Grammy Nominees. Grammy.com. 28 November 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171128172753/https://www.grammy.com/grammys/awards/60th-annual-grammy-awards. 28 November 2017. live.
29. Web site: Grammy.com, 7 December 2018 . 14 December 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20181207153109/https://www.grammy.com/grammys/awards/61st-annual-grammy-awards . 7 December 2018 . live .
30. Web site: 2021 Nominations List . 2020-11-28 . 2020-11-29 . https://web.archive.org/web/20201129190932/https://www.grammy.com/sites/com/files/63rdpresslist_nov_20_2020.pdf . live .
31. Web site: 2021-11-23. 2022 GRAMMYs Awards: Complete Nominations List. 2021-12-07. GRAMMY.com. en. 2021-11-25. https://web.archive.org/web/20211125170413/https://www.grammy.com/grammys/news/2022-grammys-complete-winners-nominees-nominations-list. live.
32. Web site: 2022-11-15 . 2023 GRAMMY Nominations: See The Complete Nominees List . 2022-11-15 . GRAMMYs . 2022-11-16 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221116125127/https://www.grammy.com/news/2023-grammy-nominations-complete-winners-nominees-list . live .
33. Web site: 2024 GRAMMY Nominations: See The Full Nominees List GRAMMY.com . 2023-11-12 . www.grammy.com . 2023-11-10 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231110165703/https://www.grammy.com/news/2024-grammys-nominations-full-winners-nominees-list . live .