Grammy Award for Best Rock Album


The Grammy Award for Best Rock Album is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality albums in the rock music genre. Honors in several categories are presented at the ceremony annually 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 award for Best Rock Album was first presented to the band the Rolling Stones in 1995, and the name of the category has remained unchanged since then. According to the category description guide for the 52nd Grammy Awards, the award is presented to "vocal or instrumental rock, hard rock or metal albums containing at least 51% playing time of newly recorded material".
The award goes to the artist, producer and engineer/mixer, provided they were responsible for more than 50 percent of playing time on the album. The lead performing artist is the only one who receives an official nomination. Producers and/or engineers/mixers who are responsible for less than 50 percent, as well as the mastering engineer, can apply for a Winners Certificate. Before 2001, only the performing artist received an award.
The band Foo Fighters currently holds the records for both wins and nominations in this award, with five wins and eight nominations overall. Foo Fighters are also the only three-time, four-time, and five-time winners of the award. In the 2000s, the group famously won the award twice in the span of four years, with their albums There is Nothing Left to Lose in 2001 and One by One in 2004.
Two-time winners include Sheryl Crow, Green Day, U2, Cage the Elephant, and Muse. Neil Young holds the record for most nominations without a win, with seven. To date, only three women, Sheryl Crow, Alanis Morissette, and Hayley Williams of Paramore have won the award. Paramore became the first female-fronted rock band to win the award, at the 66th Annual Grammy Awards.

Recipients

YearWinnersWorkNomineesRef.
1995The Rolling Stones
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000Santana
2001Foo Fighters
2002U2
  • Brian Eno & Daniel Lanois
  • 2003
  • Brendan O'Brien
  • Brendan O'Brien & Nick Didia
  • 2004Foo Fighters
  • David Grohl, Taylor Hawkins, Nate Mendel, Nick Raskulinecz & Chris Shiflett
  • Jim Scott
  • 2005Green Day
  • Rob Cavallo & Green Day
  • Chris Lord-Alge & Doug McKean
  • 2006U2
  • Steve Lillywhite
  • 2007Red Hot Chili Peppers
  • Rick Rubin
  • Ryan Hewitt, Mark Linett & Andrew Scheps
  • 2008Foo Fighters
  • Gil Norton
  • Adrian Busbhy
  • 2009Coldplay
  • Markus Dravs, Brian Eno & Rik Simpson
  • 2010Green Day
  • Butch Vig & Green Day
  • Chris Dugan & Chris Lord-Alge
  • 2011Muse
  • Muse
  • Adrian Bushby & Mark " Spike" Stent
  • The Resistance
    2012Foo Fighters
  • Butch Vig
  • James Brown & Alan Moulder
  • Wasting Light
    2013The Black Keys
  • Danger Mouse & The Black Keys
  • Tchad Blake & Kennie Takahashi
  • El Camino
    2014Led Zeppelin
  • Dick Carruthers & Jim Parsons
  • John Catlin, Alan Moulder & Tim Summerhayes
  • Celebration Day
    2015Beck
  • Beck Hansen
  • Drew Brown, Tom Elmhirst, David Greenbaum, Cole Marsden Greif-Neill, Florian Lagatta, Robbie Nelson, Darrell Thorp, Cassidy Turbin & Joe Visciano
  • Morning Phase
    2016Muse
  • Robert John "Mutt" Lange & Muse
  • Drones
    2017Cage the Elephant
  • Dan Auerbach
  • Colin Dupuis & Tom Elmhirst
  • Tell Me I'm Pretty
    2018The War on Drugs
  • Shawn Everett
  • A Deeper Understanding
    2019Greta Van Fleet
  • Herschel Boone, Al Sutton & Marlon Young
  • Al Sutton
  • From the Fires
    2020Cage the Elephant
  • Rob Cohen & John Hill
  • Rob Cohen, Tom Elmhirst & Jeremy Ferguson
  • Social Cues
    2021The Strokes
  • Rick Rubin
  • Jason Lader
  • The New Abnormal
    2022Foo Fighters
  • Greg Kurstin & Foo Fighters
  • Julian Burg, Greg Kurstin, Alex Pasco, Mark "Spike" Stent & Darrell Thorp
  • Medicine at Midnight
    2023Ozzy Osbourne
  • Andrew Watt
  • Paul LaMalfa & Alan Moulder
  • Patient Number 9
    2024Paramore
  • Carlos de la Garza
  • Manny Marroquin & Tam Harriet
  • This Is Why
    2025The Rolling Stones
  • producers, engineers and mixers tbd
  • Hackney Diamonds
    2026
    Each year is linked to the article about the Grammy Awards held that year.

    Artists with multiple wins

    ;5 wins
    • Foo Fighters
    ;2 wins
    • Cage the Elephant
    • Sheryl Crow
    • Green Day
    • Muse
    • The Rolling Stones
    • U2

      Artists with multiple nominations

    ;8 nominations
    • Foo Fighters
    ;7 nominations
    • Neil Young
    ;5 nominations
    ;4 nominations
    ;3 nominations
    ;2 nominations