3 Music Icons Who Never Won a GRAMMY, Yet Still Made History

The GRAMMY Awards are a high honor, don’t mistake us for saying otherwise. However, the are a select few musical legends who never needed approval nor ever asked for it. These are the individuals who moved the masses merely through their music and ideals, not their celebrity likeness and list of accolades. One could argue, this is more impressive than winning a GRAMMY.

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With all that in mind, there have been a few monumental musicians to be snubbed of a GRAMMY award. Now, why, well, that is of course subjective and highly contestable. Though, despite their lack of Grammy wins, these three musicians were still able to change the course of musical and cultural history.

Bob Marley

Bob Marley isn’t only one of the most influential musicians of all time, but he is also one of the most influential cultural figures of all time. Every lyric written and word spoken was always a profound piece of wisdom targeted toward the betterment of society. However, that is seemingly not what wins GRAMMY awards.

During his life, Marley never even received a nomination for the coveted awards. Which is outrageous when you realize the man started one of the largest cultural movements in the history of music. In light of this absurdity, Marley was gifted the GRAMMY Lifetime Achievement Award in 2001. This was 20 years after his passing in 1981.

Queen

After reading the sub-heading you are surely scratching your head, and as you should be. In addition to being one of the greatest rock bands of all time, Queen was also the trailblazer of the rock opera format. Though, that still seemingly wasn’t enough for the members of the recording academy.

Queen has received four GRAMMY nominations, though, they never walked away with a single one. This statistic becomes incredibly more criminal when you realize two of their nominations were for “Bohemian Rhapsody.” Regardless, they still impacted the world of music in an unprecedented fashion.

Jimi Hendrix

This is an exemplary moment of highway robbery. Jimi Hendrix is without question one of the most influential guitar players of all time. After all, if Hendrix wasn’t Hendrix, the world would likely not have Eric Clapton, Eddie Van Halen, or Pink Floyd. Though, that still wasn’t a good enough reason for the GRAMMYs.

Like Marley, Hendrix did win a Lifetime Achievement Award in 1992. Hendrix died in 1970, so this award came 22 years after his early passing. Award or not, Hendrix’s cultural and musical significance surpasses any tangible accolade.

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