Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance

The Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance is an award presented at the Grammy Awards to recording artists for works (songs or albums) containing quality performances in the heavy metal music genre. The Grammy Awards is an annual ceremony, where honors in several categories are presented by The Recording Academy 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".^[1] The ceremony was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards.^[2]

Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance
"72 Seasons" by Metallica is the most recent recipient
Awarded for	Quality performances in the heavy metal music genre
Country	United States
Presented by	The Recording Academy
First awarded	1990
Currently held by	Metallica, "72 Seasons" (2024)
Website	grammy.com

The Recording Academy recognized heavy metal music artists for the first time at the 31st Annual Grammy Awards (1989). The category was originally presented as Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance Vocal or Instrumental, combining two of the most popular music genres of the 1980s.^[3] Jethro Tull won that award for the album Crest of a Knave, beating Metallica, which were expected to win with the album ...And Justice for All. This choice led to widespread criticism of The Recording Academy, as journalists suggested that the music of Jethro Tull did not belong in the hard rock or heavy metal genres.^[4][5] In response, The Recording Academy created the categories Best Hard Rock Performance and Best Metal Performance, separating the genres.

The Best Metal Performance category was first presented at the 32nd Annual Grammy Awards in 1990, and was again the subject of controversy when rock musician Chris Cornell (lead vocalist for the band Soundgarden) was perplexed by the academy's nomination of the band Dokken in this category.^[6] Metallica won in the first three years. The awards were presented for the song "One", a cover version of Queen's "Stone Cold Crazy", and the album Metallica. During 2012–2013, the award was temporarily discontinued in a major overhaul of Grammy categories; all solo or duo/group performances in the hard rock and metal categories were shifted to the newly formed Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance category. However, in 2014, the Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance category was split, returning the Best Metal Performance category and recognizing quality hard rock performances in the Best Rock Performance category.^[7]

The award goes to the artist. The producer, engineer and songwriter can apply for a Winners Certificate.^[8]

Metallica holds the record for the most wins in this category, with a total of seven. Tool has received the award three times. Black Sabbath, Nine Inch Nails, Ozzy Osbourne and Slayer have each received the award twice. The band Ministry holds the record for the most nominations without a win, with six, while the band Megadeth holds the record for most nominations before their first win, winning on their 10th nomination. Poppy is the only female solo artist to be nominated in the category, 30 years after the establishment of the category.

Recipients

Members of the seven-time award-winning band, Metallica

Trent Reznor of the two-time award-winning band, Nine Inch Nails

Jonathan Davis of the 2003 award-winning band, Korn

Lemmy of the 2005 award-winning band, Motörhead

Members of the 2006 award-winning band, Slipknot

Members of the two-time award-winning band, Slayer

Members of the 2010 award-winning band, Judas Priest

Members of the 2011 award-winning band, Iron Maiden

Members of the two-time award-winning band, Black Sabbath, including two-time award winner, Ozzy Osbourne (right)

Year[I]	Performing artist(s)	Work	Nominees	Ref.
1990	Metallica	"One"	Dokken – Beast from the East Faith No More – The Real Thing Queensrÿche – "I Don't Believe in Love" Soundgarden – Ultramega OK	[9]
1991	Metallica	"Stone Cold Crazy"	Anthrax – Persistence of Time Judas Priest – Painkiller Megadeth – Rust In Peace Suicidal Tendencies – Lights...Camera...Revolution!	[10]
1992	Metallica	Metallica	Anthrax – Attack of the Killer B's Megadeth – "Hangar 18" Motörhead – 1916 Soundgarden – Badmotorfinger	[11]
1993	Nine Inch Nails	"Wish"	Helmet – "In the Meantime" Megadeth – Countdown to Extinction Ministry – "N.W.O." Soundgarden – "Into the Void (Sealth)"	[12]
1994	Ozzy Osbourne	"I Don't Want to Change the World" (live)	Iron Maiden – "Fear of the Dark" (live) Megadeth – "Angry Again" Suicidal Tendencies – "Institutionalized" White Zombie – "Thunder Kiss '65"	[13]
1995	Soundgarden	"Spoonman"	Anthrax and Public Enemy – "Bring the Noise" (live) Megadeth – "99 Ways to Die" Pantera – "I'm Broken" Rollins Band – "Liar"	[14]
1996	Nine Inch Nails	"Happiness in Slavery" (live)	Gwar – "S.F.W." Megadeth – "Paranoid" Metallica – "For Whom the Bell Tolls" (live) White Zombie – "More Human than Human"	[15] [16]
1997	Rage Against the Machine	"Tire Me"	Alice Cooper and Rob Zombie – "Hands of Death (Burn Baby Burn)" Korn – "Shoots and Ladders" Pantera – "Suicide Note, Pt. II" White Zombie – "I'm Your Boogieman"	[17]
1998	Tool	"Ænema"	Corrosion of Conformity – "Drowning in a Daydream" Korn – "No Place to Hide" Megadeth – "Trust" Pantera – "Cemetery Gates" (live)	[18]
1999	Metallica	"Better Than You"	Judas Priest – "Bullet Train" Nashville Pussy – "Fried Chicken and Coffee" Rage Against the Machine – "No Shelter" Rammstein – "Du hast"	[19]
2000	Black Sabbath	"Iron Man" (live)	Ministry – "Bad Blood" Metallica – "Enter Sandman" Nine Inch Nails – "Starfuckers, Inc." Rob Zombie – "Superbeast"	[20]
2001	Deftones	"Elite"	Iron Maiden – "The Wicker Man" Marilyn Manson – "Astonishing Panorama of the Endtimes" Pantera – "Revolution Is My Name" Slipknot – "Wait and Bleed"	[21]
2002	Tool	"Schism"	Black Sabbath – "The Wizard" (live) Slayer – "Disciple" Slipknot – "Left Behind" System of a Down – "Chop Suey!"	[22]
2003	Korn	"Here to Stay"	P.O.D. – "Portrait" Slipknot – "My Plague" Stone Sour – "Get Inside" Rob Zombie – "Never Gonna Stop (The Red Red Kroovy)"	[23]
2004	Metallica	"St. Anger"	Korn – "Did My Time" Marilyn Manson – "Mobscene" Spineshank – "Smothered" Stone Sour – "Inhale"	[24]
2005	Motörhead	"Whiplash"	Cradle of Filth – "Nymphetamine (Overdose)" (featuring Liv Kristine) Hatebreed – "Live for This" Killswitch Engage – "The End of Heartache" Slipknot – "Vermilion"	[25]
2006	Slipknot	"Before I Forget"	Ministry – "The Great Satan (Remix)" Mudvayne – "Determined" Rammstein – "Mein Teil" Shadows Fall – "What Drives the Weak"	[26]
2007	Slayer	"Eyes of the Insane"	Lamb of God – "Redneck" Mastodon – "Colony of Birchmen" Ministry – "LiesLiesLies" Stone Sour – "30/30-150"	[27]
2008	Slayer	"Final Six"	As I Lay Dying – "Nothing Left" King Diamond – "Never Ending Hill" Machine Head – "Aesthetics of Hate" Shadows Fall – "Redemption"	[28]
2009	Metallica	"My Apocalypse"	DragonForce – "Heroes of Our Time" Judas Priest – "Nostradamus" Ministry – "Under My Thumb" Slipknot – "Psychosocial"	[29]
2010	Judas Priest	"Dissident Aggressor" (live)	Lamb of God – "Set to Fail" Megadeth – "Head Crusher" Ministry – "Señor Peligro" (live) Slayer – "Hate Worldwide"	[30]
2011	Iron Maiden	"El Dorado"	Korn – "Let the Guilt Go" Lamb of God – "In Your Words" Megadeth – "Sudden Death" Slayer – "World Painted Blood"	[31]
2014	Black Sabbath	"God Is Dead?"	Anthrax – "T.N.T." Dream Theater – "The Enemy Inside" Killswitch Engage – "In Due Time" Volbeat – "Room 24" (featuring King Diamond)	[32]
2015	Tenacious D	"The Last in Line"	Anthrax – "Neon Knights" Mastodon – "High Road" Motörhead – "Heartbreaker" Slipknot – "The Negative One"	[33]
2016	Ghost	"Cirice"	August Burns Red – "Identity" Lamb of God – "512" Sevendust – "Thank You" Slipknot – "Custer"	[34]
2017	Megadeth	"Dystopia"	Baroness – "Shock Me" Gojira – "Silvera" Korn – "Rotting in Vain" Periphery – "The Price Is Wrong"	[35]
2018	Mastodon	"Sultan's Curse"	August Burns Red – "Invisible Enemy" Body Count – "Black Hoodie" Code Orange – "Forever" Meshuggah – "Clockworks"	[36]
2019	High on Fire	"Electric Messiah"	Between the Buried and Me – "Condemned to the Gallows" Deafheaven – "Honeycomb" Trivium – "Betrayer" Underoath – "On My Teeth"	[37]
2020	Tool	"7empest"	Candlemass – "Astorolus - The Great Octopus" (featuring Tony Iommi) Death Angel – "Humanicide" I Prevail – "Bow Down" Killswitch Engage – "Unleashed"	[38]
2021	Body Count	"Bum-Rush"	Code Orange – "Underneath" In This Moment – "The In-Between" Poppy – "Bloodmoney" Power Trip – "Executioner's Tax (Swing of the Axe)" (live)	[39]
2022	Dream Theater	"The Alien"	Deftones – "Genesis" Gojira – "Amazonia" Mastodon – "Pushing the Tides" Rob Zombie – "The Triumph of King Freak (A Crypt of Preservation and Superstition)"	[40]
2023	Ozzy Osbourne	"Degradation Rules" (featuring Tony Iommi)	Ghost – "Call Me Little Sunshine" Megadeth – "We'll Be Back" Muse – "Kill or Be Killed" Turnstile – "Blackout"	[41]
2024	Metallica	"72 Seasons"	Disturbed – "Bad Man" Ghost – "Phantom Of The Opera" Slipknot – "Hive Mind" Spiritbox – "Jaded"	[42]

^{^[I]} Each year is linked to the article about the Grammy Awards held that year.

Multiple wins

7 wins Metallica

3 wins Tool

2 wins Nine Inch Nails Slayer Black Sabbath Ozzy Osbourne

Multiple nominations

11 nominations Megadeth 9 nominations Slipknot 8 nominations Metallica 6 nominations Korn Ministry 5 nominations Anthrax Slayer 4 nominations Judas Priest Lamb of God Mastodon Motörhead Pantera Rob Zombie Soundgarden

3 nominations Black Sabbath Ghost Iron Maiden Killswitch Engage Nine Inch Nails Stone Sour Tool White Zombie 2 nominations August Burns Red Body Count Code Orange Deftones Dream Theater Gojira Marilyn Manson Ozzy Osbourne Poppy Rage Against the Machine Rammstein Shadows Fall Suicidal Tendencies Spiritbox

See also

• List of Grammy Award categories

References

General

• "Past Winners Search". National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on December 19, 2015. Retrieved March 4, 2011. Note: User must select the "Rock" category as the genre under the search feature.
• "Grammy Awards: Best Metal Performance". Rock on the Net. Archived from the original on September 1, 2012. Retrieved June 23, 2010.
• "Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on March 7, 2012. Retrieved December 1, 2009.

Specific

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33. "TENACIOUS D Wins 'Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance' GRAMMY Award". Blabbermouth.net. February 8, 2015. Archived from the original on February 9, 2015. Retrieved February 8, 2015.
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External links

• Official site of the Grammy Awards Archived 2014-05-07 at the Wayback Machine