The Grammy Award for Best Rock Song is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality songs in the rock music genre. Honors in several categories are presented at the ceremony annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences 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 award, reserved for songwriters, was first presented to English musician Sting in 1992. According to the category description guide for the 52nd Grammy Awards, the award honors new songs (containing both melody and lyrics) or songs "first achieving prominence" during the period of eligibility. Songs containing prominent samples or interpolations are not eligible.
The award goes to the songwriter. If the song contains samples or interpolations of earlier songs, the publisher and the original songwriter(s) can apply for a Winners Certificate.
Bruce Springsteen, Dave Grohl and Pat Smear hold the record for the most wins, having won four awards each. Springsteen also holds the record for most nominations with nine. Other winners of multiple awards include the other members of Foo Fighters (Taylor Hawkins, Nate Mendel and Chris Shiflett) with three wins, and Alanis Morissette and the bands Red Hot Chili Peppers and U2, each with two. Award-winning songs have been performed by American artists more than any other nationality, though they have also been performed by musicians or groups originating from Canada, Ireland, and the United Kingdom. There have been four instances in which one artist or group was nominated for two works in the same year: the group Aerosmith was nominated for both "Cryin'" and "Livin' on the Edge" in 1994, Melissa Etheridge received nominations for "Come to My Window" and "I'm the Only One" in 1995, Jakob Dylan of the Wallflowers won for "One Headlight" and was also nominated for "The Difference" in 1998, and U2 was nominated for the songs "Elevation" and "Walk On" in 2002. Chad Smith also received two nominations in 2023, receiving songwriting credits for the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Ozzy Osbourne songs nominated. Coldplay holds the record for the most nominations without a win, with four.
Recipients
The performing artist is only listed but does not receive the award. Showing the name of the songwriter(s), the nominated song and in parentheses the performer's name(s).
Multiple wins
4 wins
Dave Grohl
Pat Smear
Bruce Springsteen
3 wins
Taylor Hawkins, Nate Mendel and Chris Shiflett
2 wins
Bono, Adam Clayton, The Edge and Larry Mullen, Jr. Flea, John Frusciante, Anthony Kiedis and Chad Smith Rami Jaffee Alanis Morissette
Multiple nominations
9 nominations
Bruce Springsteen
7 nominations
Dave Grohl
6 nominations
Bono
Taylor Hawkins, Nate Mendel and Chris Shiflett
5 nominations
Adam Clayton, The Edge and Larry Mullen, Jr. Chad Smith
4 nominations
Guy Berryman, Jonny Buckland, Will Champion and Chris Martin
Flea, John Frusciante and Anthony Kiedis
Caleb Followill, Jared Followill, Matthew Followill and Nathan Followill
Pat Smear
Jack White
3 nominations
Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney
Matthew Bellamy
Ted Dwane, Ben Lovett, Marcus Mumford and Winston Marshall
Jakob Dylan
Melissa Etheridge
Colin Greenwood, Jonny Greenwood, Ed O'Brien, Phil Selway and Thom Yorke
James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich
Brittany Howard
Steven Tyler
Neil Young
2 nominations
Fiona Apple
Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt and Tré Cool
Brad Arnold, Todd Harrell and Chris Henderson
Brian Burton
Gary Clark Jr. Kurt Cobain Charlie Colin, Patrick Monahan, Jimmy Stafford and Scott Underwood Rivers Cuomo Bob Dylan Duke Erikson, Shirley Manson, Steve Marker and Butch Vig Brandon Flowers, Dave Keuning, Mark Stoermer and Ronnie Vannucci Jr. John Hiatt Rami Jaffee Mick Jagger and Keith Richards Tyler Joseph Lenny Kravitz Chad Kroeger Dave Matthews Paul McCartney Richard Meyer, Ryan Meyer and Johnny Stevens Alanis Morissette Joe Perry Tom Petty Eddie Vedder
See also
List of Grammy Award categories
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Rock Songs
References
General
Note: User must select the "Rock" category as the genre under the search feature.