# The 14 Biggest Grammy Snubs in Music History

> Records that lost on the night, and records the Academy never even nominated. Most of the winners are footnotes now.

*By YPB Team · Published August 20, 2026 · https://youpick.best/ranking/the-14-biggest-grammy-snubs-in-music-history*

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## Current results (no votes yet)

1. **...And Justice for All** — score 1000/1000
   Metallica's 1988 album lost the first-ever Hard Rock/Heavy Metal Grammy to Jethro Tull, an upset that split the category in two the next year.
2. **Kid A** — score 840/1000
   Radiohead's 2000 album lost Album of the Year to Steely Dan's Two Against Nature.
3. **The Velvet Underground & Nico** — score 800/1000
   The 1967 debut that shaped decades of alternative rock drew no Grammy nomination at all.
4. **good kid, m.A.A.d city** — score 800/1000
   Kendrick Lamar's 2012 debut lost Best Rap Album to Macklemore's The Heist.
5. **Nevermind** — score 692/1000
   Nirvana's 1991 album lost Best Alternative Music Album to Tom Waits' Bone Machine.
6. **Purple Rain** — score 600/1000
   Prince's 1984 blockbuster lost Album of the Year to Lionel Richie's Can't Slow Down.
7. **Lemonade** — score 600/1000
   Beyonce's 2016 album lost Album of the Year to Adele, who said on stage it should have won.
8. **Back to Black** — score 491/1000
   Amy Winehouse's 2006 record lost Album of the Year to a Joni Mitchell covers album.
9. **The Marshall Mathers LP** — score 491/1000
   Eminem's 2000 album was the other Album of the Year favourite that Steely Dan beat.
10. **Illmatic** — score 491/1000
   Nas's 1994 debut drew no Grammy nomination; his first win arrived 27 years later.
11. **Led Zeppelin IV** — score 360/1000
   The band took no competitive Grammy while active; the 1971 album was not an Album of the Year nominee.
12. **Electric Ladyland** — score 360/1000
   Jimi Hendrix drew no competitive Grammy nomination in his lifetime for his 1968 double album.
13. **Ready to Die** — score 200/1000
   The Notorious B.I.G.'s 1994 debut won nothing, and he never took a competitive Grammy.
14. **Exodus** — score 200/1000
   Bob Marley's 1977 album, later called a record of the century, was never nominated.

Tags: hip-hop, music, rock, all-time, awards