BY Eric Rezsnyak
The National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences will hold the 2024 Grammy Awards on Sunday, February 4, 8pm, with even televised on CBS. While we can reliably expect some outstanding performances from the annual ceremony — this year’s performers are scheduled to include Billie Eilish, Billy Joel, Olivia Rodrigo, Dua Lipa, Travis Scott, and others — it’s sometimes notable who is NOT at the Grammys, and specifically, who has never been honored by the awards.
We’ve put together a list of artists who we’re shocked have never worn a Grammy (as of January 2024). Are there other musicians you feel should have been celebrated by the Academy by now? Tell us who by dropping their name in the comments.
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10. Sia
Pop-dance-electro singer and songwriter Sia has racked up an impressive nine nominations since 2012, the most recent in 2018, but has yet to score any Grammy wins. But she did perform at the Grammys in 2015, where in typical Sia style, she sang with her back to the audience, facing a wall, while “SNL” alum Kristen Wiig and Sia muse Maddie Ziegler — both in signature Sia wigs (wiigs?) — performed an intense modern dance to “Chandelier.” Never change, Sia! We love you.
9. Run-D.M.C.
Run-D.M.C. is considered one of the foundational acts in hip-hop/rap. In fact, the group was so foundational that its one and only Grammy nomination — in 1986 — was in an R&B category, because the Grammys didn’t even HAVE hip-hop/rap categories at that point. The group would be recognized by the Grammys with a lifetime achievement award in 2016 (that will be a recurring theme), and they reunited with Aerosmith at the 2020 Grammys for an encore of their genre-blending smash “Walk This Way.”
8. Katy Perry
Over the past 15 years — since 2009 and “I Kissed a Girl” — Ms. Perry has been nominated 13 times, the last in 2015 for “Dark Horse” and Prism. But she has never won. In fact, her losing at the Grammys has taken on a Susan Lucci-esque memeability, with multiple fake videos being created showing her reaction to her first Grammy win. The internet is savage. Perry has performed live at the Grammys several times over the years, and speaking of savage, performances like the one above may in fact be why she has never been awarded with popular music’s highest honor. Just a theory!
7. Martina McBride
Country superstar Martina McBride has been nominated for 14 Grammy Awards since 1995 (Best Female Country Vocal Performance for “Independence Day”), but she has lost every time, her most recent in 2012 — when the statue went to Taylor Swift for “Mean.” And it really does feel a little mean to keep toying with Martina like this.
6. Dean Martin
Crooner Dean Martin once kicked The Beatles off the top of the charts during the height of their popularity. A star of screen, stage, and sound, he was huge in the 1950s and 1960s. But he only scored one Grammy nomination, in 1964 for the album “Everybody Loves Somebody,” but lost to Louis Armstrong. In 2009, he was bestowed a lifetime achievement Grammy; the video package is above.
5. Snoop Dogg
Snoop Dogg was first nominated in 1994, for “Ain’t Nothin’ But a G Thang” with Dr. Dre, and since then he has been nominated 16 times, with no wins. That makes him the third-most-nominated artists with no wins at the Grammys. Crazy! But it’s also important to note that, while he may not have success at the Grammys, Snoop is winning at LIFE. This man has had a massive career with nonstop cultural relevance for 30 YEARS. Literally 30 years! Very few artists can say that from ANY genre, and especially not in hip-hop. I don’t think even think Snoop has performed at the Grammys, but above find a clip of him, Dr. Dre, and Akon at an Interscape Grammy event.
4. Queen
The absolutely incredible 1970s rock band received four nominations between 1977 and 1981, including for work on “Bohemian Rhapsody” and “Another One Bites the Dust.” The band received an additional nomination in 2005 for the long-form music video “Freddie Mercury,” honoring the late frontman. Alas, despite impeccable musicianship and songs that have withstood the march of time for nearly 50 years, the group was shut out at the Grammys. That is, until it was bestowed the lifetime achievement award in 2018, feted by — of all people — Sammy Hagar. Watch the clip above. Or maybe don’t. Was literally nobody else available? Hasn’t Freddie suffered enough?
3. ABBA
As astonishing as it is to believe, Swedish supergroup ABBA had never even been nominated for a Grammy until 2022’s comeback single, “I Still Have Faith In You.” The quartet then received four more nominations in 2023 for its late-career album, Voyage. Yet somehow the group’s absolutely iconic smash “Dancing Queen” was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2015. Oh, so NOW you love them? As one of the best-selling music group of ALL TIME, ABBA deserved far better. I can’t find any indication of the group performing at the Grammys, so here’s a clip of them performing their signature hit (one of many) from 1976. You better get into it!
2. The Beach Boys
One of the most important and influential American musical groups of the 1960s, and beyond, The Beach Boys only received four Grammy nominations, three in 1966 for “Good Vibrations,” one in 1988 for “Kokomo.” And yet in 2023, the Grammys put on a whole special saluting the band. Where was the love before this? The group did receive the lifetime achievement Grammy in 2001, but I can’t be the only person who finds it hypocritical that the Academy fawns over shut-out acts now.
1. Diana Ross
Believe it or not, Diana Ross has never won a Grammy. Never! She received 13 nominations as a solo act, including nearly annual nominations from 1970 to 1982, as well as two nominations as a member of The Supremes, but no wins. The level of disrespect! Ms. Ross was nominated for a Grammy as recently as 2023, for her album Thank You. And she lost. Again. But the Grammys love to celebrate her, including a 75th birthday segment during the 2019 ceremony, a solo lifetime achievement award in 2012, and a Supremes lifetime achievement award in 2023. But where are the awards? They just keep bringing her out for the attention. Diana: stop in the name of loving yourself!
