3 Musicians Who Famously Refused Their Grammy Nominations (and Their Reasons Might Surprise You)

Winning a Grammy Award for one’s music is more or less the highest goal one can shoot for. Being honored at the ceremony is a pretty big deal. However, some musicians through the years have straight-up refused their Grammy nominations; and one even refused to take home their win for the night. Let’s look at a few music industry rebels who said “no thanks” to the Grammy Awards.

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Sinéad O’Connor

Irish hitmaker Sinéad O’Connor made it clear she was an activist before she was a pop star. Her catapult into fame with the song “Nothing Compares 2 U” in the early 1990s put her in the spotlight. And she famously used that spotlight to bring attention to the atrocities in the world, which would end up essentially blacklisting her in the music industry. As such, after she was nominated for a Grammy in four categories in 1991, she was slated to perform at the ceremonies. 

Shortly beforehand, she pulled out of the performance. She then boycotted the Grammys to protest “the false and destructive materialistic values” of the industry. She would win the award for Best Alternative Music Performance that night. O’Connor promptly refused the award, and remains the only Grammy winner to have done so.

Frank Ocean

Frank Ocean has taken home two Grammys in his career, but there was one ceremony where he opted to pull his music from consideration entirely. And considering how huge of an album Blonde was in 2016, I have no doubt in my mind that he would have been nominated in several categories.

“That institution certainly has nostalgic importance,” said Ocean at the time. “It just doesn’t seem to be representing very well for people who come from where I come from, and hold down what I hold down. […] I think the infrastructure of the awarding system and the nomination system and screening system is dated. I’d rather this be my Colin Kaepernick moment for the Grammys than sit there in the audience.”

Morgan Wallen

Country singer Morgan Wallen had a big year in 2025. His album I’m The Problem broke a number of charting and sales records and almost certainly would have been a winner of at least one Grammy Award in 2026. It was a No. 1 record on the Billboard 200, after all. Wallen makes it to our list of musicians who refused Grammy nominations because he did not submit his album for consideration. Wallen never publicly spoke about the decision to avoid the Grammys.

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