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Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance

Honor presented to recording artists for quality metal performances

Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance
Summary

Honor presented to recording artists for quality metal performances

FieldValue
nameGrammy Award for Best Metal Performance
awarded_forQuality performances in the heavy metal music genre
imageGojira Hellfest 2022.jpg
caption"Mea culpa (Ah! Ça ira!)" by Gojira (pictured), Marina Viotti and Victor Le Masne is the most recent recipient
presenterThe Recording Academy
countryUnited States
year1990
holderGojira, Marina Viotti and Victor Le Masne, "Mea culpa (Ah! Ça ira!)" (2025)
websitegrammy.com

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". The ceremony was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards.

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. 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. 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. 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.

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

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 became the first solo female musician to receive a nomination in this category in 2021, 31 years after the establishment of the category. Marina Viotti is the first female recipient in this category, winning in 2025.

Recipients

Four men in dark clothing on a stage; the man on the left has his arm raised in the air, while the third man from the left has his arms around the second and fourth.
Members of the seven-time award-winning band [[Metallica
A man wearing a black shirt singing into a microphone, in front of a drum kit.
[[Trent Reznor]] of the two-time award-winning band [[Nine Inch Nails
A man with his eyes closed and mouth open, holding a microphone; he is wearing dark clothing and wrist bands.
2003]] award-winning band [[Korn
A man wearing a black shirt, looking down and playing a bass guitar.
2005]] award-winning band [[Motörhead
Black and white image of three men wearing jackets and masks over their faces. The one in the forefront is bent over, holding a guitar.
Slipknot
Three men on a stage, all holding guitars. All three are wearing black clothing, and audio equipment can be seen both in front of and behind them.
Members of the two-time award-winning band [[Slayer
Four men standing next to one another on a stage, three of which are holding guitars. All four men are wearing black clothing, and some of the articles of clothing are studded.
2010]] award-winning band [[Judas Priest
2011]] award-winning band [[Iron Maiden
Members of the two-time award-winning band [[Black Sabbath]], including two-time award winner [[Ozzy Osbourne]] (right)
2025]].
YearPerforming artist(s)WorkNomineesRef.19901991199219931994199519961997199819992000200120022003200420052006200720082009201020112014201520162017201820192020202120222023202420252026
Metallica{{smalldiv
Metallica{{smalldiv
Metallica{{smalldiv
Nine Inch Nails{{smalldiv
{{smalldiv
Soundgarden{{smalldiv
Nine Inch Nails{{smalldiv
Rage Against the Machine{{smalldiv
Tool{{smalldiv
Metallica{{smalldiv
Black Sabbath{{smalldiv
Deftones{{smalldiv
Tool{{smalldiv
Korn{{smalldiv
Metallica{{smalldiv
Motörhead{{smalldiv
Slipknot{{smalldiv
Slayer{{smalldiv
Slayer{{smalldiv
Metallica{{smalldiv
Judas Priest{{smalldiv
Iron Maiden{{smalldiv
Black Sabbath"God Is Dead?"{{smalldiv
Tenacious D"The Last in Line"{{smalldiv
Ghost"Cirice"{{smalldiv
Megadeth"Dystopia"{{smalldiv
Mastodon"Sultan's Curse"{{smalldiv
High on Fire"Electric Messiah"{{smalldiv
Tool"7empest"{{smalldiv
Body Count"Bum-Rush"{{smalldiv
Dream Theater"The Alien"{{smalldiv
Ozzy Osbourne"Degradation Rules" (featuring Tony Iommi){{smalldiv
Metallica{{smalldiv
Gojira, Marina Viotti and Victor Le Masne"Mea culpa (Ah! Ça ira!)"{{smalldiv
{{smalldiv

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

  • Metallica
  • Slipknot

;6 nominations

  • Korn
  • Ministry

;5 nominations

  • Anthrax
  • Judas Priest
  • Slayer

;4 nominations

  • Ghost
  • Lamb of God
  • Mastodon
  • Motörhead
  • Pantera
  • Rob Zombie
  • Soundgarden

;3 nominations

  • Black Sabbath
  • Dream Theater
  • Gojira
  • Iron Maiden
  • Killswitch Engage
  • Nine Inch Nails
  • Spiritbox
  • Stone Sour
  • Tool
  • White Zombie

;2 nominations

  • August Burns Red
  • Body Count
  • Code Orange
  • Deftones
  • Marilyn Manson
  • Ozzy Osbourne
  • Poppy
  • Rage Against the Machine
  • Rammstein
  • Shadows Fall
  • Suicidal Tendencies
  • Turnstile
  • King Diamond

References

;General

  • Note: User must select the "Rock" category as the genre under the search feature.

;Specific

References

  1. "Overview". The Recording Academy.
  2. "Grammy Awards at a Glance". [[Los Angeles Times]].
  3. Pareles, Jon. (February 23, 1989). "Grammys to McFerrin and Chapman". [[The New York Times]].
  4. (2005). "Encyclopedia of Recorded Sound". [[CRC Press]].
  5. Holden, Stephen. (February 14, 1990). "The Pop Life". The New York Times.
  6. Britt, Bruce. (February 17, 1990). "It's time again for the Grammy award gripes". [[Block Communications]].
  7. (June 4, 2013). "The Recording Academy Elects New National Officer and Approves Continuing Evolution of Grammy Awards Categories at Spring Trustees Meeting". Recording Academy.
  8. "Grammy Blue Book (edition 2021)".
  9. MacDonald, Patrick. (January 12, 1990). "Soundgarden Nomination: The Growth of Local Rock". [[The Seattle Times]].
  10. Morse, Steve. (January 11, 1991). "Grammys focus on fresh faces, jilt Madonna". [[The New York Times Company]].
  11. (January 8, 1992). "Grammy nominations span Streisand, Seal, Seattle Symphony". The Seattle Times.
  12. MacDonald, Patrick. (January 8, 1993). "Grammys show influence of Seattle music". The Seattle Times.
  13. Campbell, Mary. (January 7, 1994). "Sting, Joel top Grammy nominations". The New York Times Company.
  14. Wilker, Deborah. (January 6, 1995). "Stars dominate Grammy nominations". Tribune Company.
  15. MacDonald, Patrick. (January 5, 1996). "Presidents of the U.S. are riding high in the musical polls". The Seattle Times.
  16. Harris, Chris. (January 29, 2010). "The Grammys Don't Understand Metal". [[Noisecreep]].
  17. Campbell, Mary. (January 8, 1997). "Babyface is up for 12 Grammy awards". [[Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]].
  18. Morse, Steve. (January 7, 1998). "Paula Cole a leader in Grammys". The New York Times Company.
  19. Kot, Greg. (January 6, 1999). "10 nominations put Lauryn Hill atop Grammy heap". Tribune Company.
  20. Kot, Greg. (January 5, 2000). "Guitarist Santana is 1 on Grammys' chart of nominees". Tribune Company.
  21. Bream, Jon. (January 4, 2001). "Rapper Eminem earns 4 Grammy nods". The Star Tribune Company.
  22. (January 4, 2002). "Complete List Of Grammy Nominees". [[CBS News]].
  23. Goldstein, Ben. (January 15, 2003). "Grammy Nominees Announced". Alpha Media Group }}{{dead link.
  24. (December 5, 2003). "They're All Contenders". The New York Times.
  25. (December 8, 2004). "Kanye West is at top of Grammy list". The Seattle Times.
  26. (December 8, 2005). "The Complete List of Grammy Nominations". The New York Times.
  27. "49th Annual Grammy Awards Winners List". National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.
  28. (February 10, 2008). "Grammy 2008 Winners List". [[MTV]].
  29. (February 8, 2009). "Grammy 2009 Winners List". MTV.
  30. "The 52nd Annual Grammy Awards Nominees List". National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.
  31. "53rd Annual Grammy Awards nominees list". Los Angeles Times.
  32. "Grammys 2014: The complete list of nominees and winners". Los Angeles Times.
  33. (February 8, 2015). "TENACIOUS D Wins 'Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance' GRAMMY Award". [[Blabbermouth.net]].
  34. "The 58th Annual Grammy Awards Nominees List". National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.
  35. (February 12, 2017). "MEGADETH Wins 'Best Metal Performance' GRAMMY Award". Blabbermouth.net.
  36. "60th Grammy Nominees".
  37. Kaufman, Spencer. (December 7, 2018). "2019 metal and hard rock Grammy nominees include Greta Van Fleet, Ghost, Deafheaven, High on Fire, Halestorm, and more". Consequence of Sound.
  38. (January 22, 2020). "2020 Best Metal Performance Grammy Awards Nominees Revealed". Loudwire.
  39. Pasbani, Robert. (November 24, 2020). "Here Are The Nominees For Best Metal Performance at the 2021 GRAMMYs". Metal Injection.
  40. (2021-11-23). "2022 GRAMMYs Awards: Complete Nominations List".
  41. (2022-11-15). "2023 GRAMMY Nominations: See The Complete Nominees List".
  42. (2022-11-15). "2024 GRAMMY Nominations: See The Complete Nominees List".
  43. "2025 GRAMMYs: See The OFFICIAL Full Nominations List {{!}} GRAMMY.com".
  44. Faulkner, Clara. (November 7, 2025). "2026 Grammys: See The Full Nominations List".
Wikipedia Source

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