It’s always a huge bummer when a musician you love gets snubbed again and again at awards ceremonies, especially at the Grammys. I’m still stuck on the following four Grammy snubs from the early 2000s, and one can’t help but wonder what the Recording Academy was thinking. Let’s take a walk through the past, shall we? A few of these might make you mad, too.
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1. Carlos Santana and Rob Thomas Beat Backstreet Boys and TLC in 2000
Alright, I’m not going to act like Carlos Santana and Rob Thomas’ “Smooth” isn’t a good song. It’s honestly a fantastic piece of work from both artists. However, The Backstreet Boys’ “I Want It That Way” and TLC’s “Unpretty” were also up for a Grammy in 2000.
In fact, many of the nominees at the turn of the millennium were pretty bleak. “Unpretty” wasn’t even TLC’s best single from FanMail. I’d argue that at least “I Want It That Way” has become more of a long-lasting cult hit than “Smooth’.
2. Steely Dan Beats Eminem and Radiohead in 2001
One of the weirdest Grammy snubs of the early 2000s, Steely Dan took home the Album of the Year award for Two Against Nature. It’s a solid record, for sure. But it was up again powerhouse records like Radiohead’s Kid A and Eminem’s The Marshall Mathers LP.
Even diehard country and southern rock fans don’t really remember that particular Steely Dan record all that well, while Radiohead and Eminem changed genres with their respective releases that year.
3. U2 Beats Mariah Carey in 2006
Even if you’re not a Mariah Carey fan, it’s really hard to rationalize how she didn’t take home a Grammy for “We Belong Together” in 2006. U2 took home the award for “Sometimes You Can’t Make It On Your Own” instead.
U2’s song isn’t necessarily a bad track; it’s an intimate and devastating song about the death of Bono’s father. However, it does sound like yet another U2 song. It’s not necessarily captivating or genre-breaking. “We Belong Together” revived Carey’s career and has aged extremely well. I just don’t get it.
4. Herbie Hancock Beats Amy Winehouse in 2008
Grammy snubs in the 2000s were quite common, but the Recording Academy’s decision to basically insert a Lifetime Achievement Award into the Album of the Year category in 2008 was not in great taste. It wasn’t the first time they did it, either.
Herbie Hancock’s River: The Joni Letters is a fine record, but Amy Winehouse’s powerhouse record Back To Black should absolutely have taken home Album of the Year.
Photo by SUSAN GOLDMAN/AFP via Getty Images
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