26 of the best artists who have never won a Grammy

Every year there are plenty of wins to take issue with at the Grammys: Who should have won, who shouldn't have won, who should have been nominated but wasn’t. There’s a surprisingly star-studded list of artists who have repeatedly, consistently been on the wrong end of those arguments, from first-generation rock ’n’ rollers to some of today’s most prominent performers.

Even as a founding member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the subject of the lavish concert film tribute "Hail! Hail! Rock ’n’ Roll, "Chuck Berry could legitimately claim that his singular significance in the history of American pop music wasn’t fully appreciated. Exhibit A: He never won (or was even nominated) for a competitive Grammy. Even the posthumously released "Chuck" missed out in this year’s nominations. (Berry did win a Lifetime Achievement Award, and three of his songs are in the Grammy Hall of Fame.) 

The Icelandic art-pop auteur has been nominated for 14 Grammys, in pop, alternative and video categories, since 1994, but she’s never won. 

The Clash’s magisterial 1979 album, "London Calling," made English punk accessible to a wide audience and has become a cornerstone of ’80s rock, but Grammy voters ignored it. They also overlooked the band’s 1982 hit singles “Rock the Casbah” and “Should I Stay or Should I Go?”

John Fogerty won Best Rock Album in 1997 for the largely forgotten "Blue Moon Swamp," but his legendary ’60s and ’70s band, with its string of indelible hits and classic-rock staples, never earned a nomination.

The British synth-pop/alt-rock band, now entering its fifth decade, helped take New Wave from dance clubs to stadiums with a series of influential albums in the late 1980s and early ’90s — none of which was nominated for any Grammy awards. 

It’s no surprise that Grammy voters overlooked the raw gutter-glam hedonism of GN’R’s debut, "Appetite for Destruction." But the band managed only one nomination in its entire troubled career: "Use Your Illusion I" lost the Best Hard Rock Performance to Van Halen’s "For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge" in 1992.

The provocative English singer-songwriter has won accolades from critics and a devoted fan base for a body of work that has evolved from lo-fi blues-punk to refined folk rock. She’s been nominated for seven Grammys but never won. 

It wouldn’t have been hard to miss guitar great Jimi Hendrix’s electrifying significance during his brief moment of world-shattering superstardom between 1967 and 1970. Somehow, Grammy voters did.

The Kinks didn’t navigate the British Invasion with the same skill as the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and the Who, managing just a handful of hit singles. They were too weird, too willful, too English for American audiences — and apparently for Grammy voters, too.

Led Zeppelin actually won a Grammy in 2014 (Best Rock Album for the reunion-concert recording, "Celebration"), but one of the most titanic hard-rock bands of the late ’60s and ’70s was consistently overlooked when it was active. "Led Zeppelin IV," with “Black Dog,” “Rock and Roll” and “Stairway to Heaven,” should have been a major contender in several categories, but Zep’s only nomination came in 1970, for Best New Artist.

Bob Marley’s international career lasted barely a decade, but the influence of his music has been immeasurable. He introduced reggae to the world and remains its most iconic global figure nearly 40 years after his death. Without him, there would almost certainly not be a Best Reggae Album Grammy. But he never won one. 

Minaj has been a divisive but record-breaking presence at the top of the pop and hip-hop charts — and a frequent, unapologetic Twitter beefer — since 2010. She’s earned 10 Grammy nominations in that time but still hasn’t won. 

Despite two careers of major impact — first as frontman of the seminal English alternative rock band the Smiths, then as a solo performer — Morrissey has been nominated for just a single Grammy ("Your Arsenal," for Best Alternative Music Album in 1993). He lost to Tom Waits. 

Regarded by many critics and fans as one of the best and most insightful rappers of hip-hop’s Golden Age, Nas was nominated for 13 Grammys between 1997 and 2013.

Gangsta rap was still controversial in the late 1990s, so it’s probably not surprising that Grammy voters weren’t ready to recognize the Notorious B.I.G. in 1998, a year after his high-profile murder. 

In the mid 1990s, Britpop whiz kids Liam and Noel Gallagher led Oasis to global superstardom, but Grammy voters didn’t buy the hype. The band’s big breakthrough, "(What’s the Story) Morning Glory?," earned two nominations but didn’t win either one, losing Best Rock Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group to the Dave Matthews Band and Best Rock Song to Tracy Chapman. 

By Top 40 standards, Katy Perry’s kind of a firebrand. From her breakthrough hit single “I Kissed a Girl” to her outspoken support for Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign in 2016, Perry never shies away from potential political controversy. Perhaps that’s been enough to convince Grammy voters to play it safe. Perry’s been nominated for 13 awards since 2009 but hasn’t won.

It’s not just that the in-your-face hip-hop group has never won a Grammy. Nominated for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group four straight years between 1990 and 1993, Public Enemy lost to DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince, Young MC, Arrested Development and the Quincy Jones all-star jam, “Back on the Block.”

Rarely taken seriously during their career, the exuberant British pomp/glam quartet has gained critical credibility since the death of Freddie Mercury in 1991. “Bohemian Rhapsody” and “Another One Bites the Dust” earned them nominations, but they lost to Chicago and Bob Seger.

The beloved New York punk band never quite got its due — an essential part of New York’s ’70s punk scene, with decades of influence and a catalog chock-full of pop brilliance. The band earned just one competitive nomination: Best Long Form Music Video for the documentary "End of the Century: The Story of the Ramones."

The Queen of Motown has never won a Grammy, either as a solo artist or with the Supremes. Even hooking up with Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie as duet partners in the late ’ 70s and early ’80s didn’t work. 

Run-D.M.C. defined the sound of commercial rap in the mid 1980s and served as a catalyst for the Golden Age of Hip-Hop. If not for them, there might not be any hip-hop awards at the Grammys. But the New York trio never got any of those. 

The legendary West Coast rapper Tupac Shakur was nominated for two Grammys while he was alive — he lost one of those to Coolio and “Gangsta’s Paradise” — and three more after his death. 

Snoop Dogg hasn’t always demonstrated a serious commitment to his craft — in the two decades since he made his truly essential recordings, he’s expanded his empire to include everything from pro wrestling to cooking with Martha Stewart, among other extracurricular activities. Still, it’s hard to believe that Grammy voters haven’t found an excuse to give him an award. 

Few bands have lived up to their cult status as remarkably as American underground rock giants The Velvet Underground. After decades of acclaim, the band remains an enigma — frequently name-dropped, a tangible influence on 50 years of rock and still pretty far outside the mainstream. This is one of the greatest American bands of all time...and one that was never going to win a Grammy. 

The architects of Maximum R&B, the creators of the rock opera, synth-rock pioneers and all-around rock madmen – one of the most important, wide-ranging and long-lasting careers in the history of rock has been completely overlooked by the Grammys.