The Grammys - Smash or Trash?

There are essentially two sets of Grammys.

There are 94 different Grammy award and category’s.  84 of them are “real” and 10 of them are turned into a prime time TV show for ratings.

The TV show Grammys have to pick the flavor of the minute for ratings.  Because of that, lets look at the list of history making bands that have created the soundtrack of society that have NEVER received even one Grammy:

Queen — Iconic for Bohemian Rhapsody, stadium anthems, and Freddie Mercury's legacy. 

Often ranked as one of the greatest bands ever, yet zero wins (a few nominations).

Guns N' Roses — Appetite for Destruction is a landmark rock album; they defined late '80s hard rock. Multiple nominations, no wins.

Rush — Prog-rock masters with technical brilliance and a devoted fanbase. Huge influence on rock/metal, but no Grammys.

Led Zeppelin — Arguably the most influential hard rock band ever (Led Zeppelin IV, "Stairway to Heaven"). They have zero wins.

The Who — Pioneers of rock opera and explosive live shows (Who's Next, Tommy). Massive legacy, no wins.

Kiss — Rock spectacle kings with huge commercial success and arena dominance. Never won.

Journey — Massive '80s hits like "Don't Stop Believin'"—one of the best-selling bands ever. No Grammy.

Heart — Powerful rock with Ann Wilson's vocals; influential in hard rock. No wins.

The Beach Boys — Harmonies and innovation that shaped pop/rock (Pet Sounds). 

Nominations but no competitive wins (they got a Lifetime Achievement later).

Grateful Dead — Jam-band legends with a revolutionary live culture and massive following. No wins.

And finally…

AC/DC — Hard rock staples (Back in Black). Huge sales and influence, but no Grammy wins.

How can that be true?  How can that be possible?

But…

The Grammys are also legit.

The other 84 categories have real credibility and status.  It’s just that most people have never heard of them as they are not on TV.  Those 84 awards take place at a separate ceremony during the day with no TV cameras.

Two of our Reward Music artists have won “Legit” Grammys.  Shane Theriot won a Grammy Award for Best Regional Roots Music Album for his work as a producer/engineer on The Legacy by Jo-El Sonnier.  And Dweezil Zappa won a Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance as part of Zappa Plays Zappa for the performance of “Peaches en Regalia.”   

If you want to watch “real” Grammys, tune in here at 3:30 eastern time on February first and you will watch real talent being rewarded:  https://www.youtube.com/@RecordingAcademy

If you want to see who is nominated, click here:  https://www.grammy.com/news/2026-grammys-nominations-full-winners-nominees-list

If you want to watch irrelevant pop crap that nobody will listen to in 10 years because we will all be listening to the artists above who never got a Grammy, well, CBS is for you.

P.S.  I have experience watching this conundrum from the inside as I used to be a member of the Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences which is the organization that created and votes on the Grammys.  My one opinion didn’t seem to make much of a change, so I quit and went back to listening to “irrelevant” music.