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The Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance is an award presented at the Grammy Awards to recording artists for works (songs or albums) containing quality performances in the heavy metal music genre. The Grammy Awards is an annual ceremony, where honors in several categories are presented 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”.[1] The ceremony was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards.[2]

The Recording Academy recognized heavy metal music artists for the first time at the 31st Annual Grammy Awards (1989). The category was originally presented as Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance Vocal or Instrumental, combining two of the most popular music genres of the 1980s.[3] Jethro Tull won that award for the album Crest of a Knave, beating Metallica, which were expected to win with the album …And Justice for All. This choice led to widespread criticism of The Recording Academy, as journalists suggested that the music of Jethro Tull did not belong in the hard rock or heavy metal genres.[4][5] In response, The Recording Academy created the categories Best Hard Rock Performance and Best Metal Performance, separating the genres.

The Best Metal Performance category was first presented at the 32nd Annual Grammy Awards in 1990, and was again the subject of controversy when rock musician Chris Cornell (lead vocalist for the band Soundgarden) was perplexed by the academy’s nomination of the band Dokken in this category.[6] Metallica won in the first three years. The awards were presented for the song “One“, a cover version of Queen‘s “Stone Cold Crazy“, and the album Metallica. During 2012–2013, the award was temporarily discontinued in a major overhaul of Grammy categories; all solo or duo/group performances in the hard rock and metal categories were shifted to the newly formed Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance category. However, in 2014, the Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance category was split, returning the Best Metal Performance category and recognizing quality hard rock performances in the Best Rock Performance category.[7]

The award goes to the artist. The producer, engineer and songwriter can apply for a Winners Certificate.[8]

Metallica holds the record for the most wins in this category, with a total of seven. Tool has received the award three times. Black Sabbath, Nine Inch Nails, Ozzy Osbourne and Slayer have each received the award twice. The band Ministry holds the record for the most nominations without a win, with six, while the band Megadeth holds the record for most nominations before their first win, winning on their 10th nomination. Poppy became the first solo female musician to receive a nomination in this category in 2021, 31 years after the establishment of the category. Marina Viotti is the first female recipient in this category, winning in 2025.

Recipients

Four men in dark clothing on a stage; the man on the left has his arm raised in the air, while the third man from the left has his arms around the second and fourth.
Members of the seven-time award-winning band Metallica
A man wearing a black shirt singing into a microphone, in front of a drum kit.
Trent Reznor of the two-time award-winning band Nine Inch Nails
A man with his eyes closed and mouth open, holding a microphone; he is wearing dark clothing and wrist bands.
Jonathan Davis of the 2003 award-winning band Korn
A man wearing a black shirt, looking down and playing a bass guitar.
Lemmy of the 2005 award-winning band Motörhead
Black and white image of three men wearing jackets and masks over their faces. The one in the forefront is bent over, holding a guitar.
Members of the 2006 award-winning band Slipknot
Three men on a stage, all holding guitars. All three are wearing black clothing, and audio equipment can be seen both in front of and behind them.
Members of the two-time award-winning band Slayer
Four men standing next to one another on a stage, three of which are holding guitars. All four men are wearing black clothing, and some of the articles of clothing are studded.
Members of the 2010 award-winning band Judas Priest
Members of the 2011 award-winning band Iron Maiden
Members of the two-time award-winning band Black Sabbath, including two-time award winner Ozzy Osbourne (right)
Marina Viotti is the first female recipient of this award, winning in 2025.

1990s

Year Artist Work
1990
[9]
Metallica “One”
Dokken Beast from the East
Faith No More The Real Thing
Queensrÿche “I Don’t Believe in Love”
Soundgarden Ultramega OK
1991
[10]
Metallica “Stone Cold Crazy”
Anthrax Persistence of Time
Judas Priest Painkiller
Megadeth Rust in Peace
Suicidal Tendencies Lights…Camera…Revolution!
1992
[11]
Metallica Metallica
Anthrax Attack of the Killer B’s
Megadeth “Hangar 18”
Motörhead 1916
Soundgarden Badmotorfinger
1993
[12]
Nine Inch Nails “Wish”
Helmet “In the Meantime”
Megadeth Countdown to Extinction
Ministry “N.W.O.”
Soundgarden “Into the Void (Sealth)”
1994
[13]
Ozzy Osbourne “I Don’t Want to Change the World” (Live)
Iron Maiden “Fear of the Dark” (Live)
Megadeth “Angry Again”
Suicidal Tendencies “Institutionalized”
White Zombie “Thunder Kiss ’65”
1995
[14]
Soundgarden “Spoonman”
Anthrax and Public Enemy “Bring the Noise” (Live)
Megadeth “99 Ways to Die”
Pantera “I’m Broken”
Rollins Band “Liar”
1996
[15]
[16]
Nine Inch Nails “Happiness in Slavery” (Live)
Gwar “S.F.W.”
Megadeth “Paranoid”
Metallica “For Whom the Bell Tolls” (Live)
White Zombie “More Human than Human”
1997
[17]
Rage Against the Machine “Tire Me”
Alice Cooper and Rob Zombie “Hands of Death (Burn Baby Burn)”
Korn “Shoots and Ladders”
Pantera “Suicide Note, Pt. I”
White Zombie “I’m Your Boogie Man”
1998
[18]
Tool “Ænema”
Corrosion of Conformity “Drowning in a Daydream”
Korn “No Place to Hide”
Megadeth “Trust”
Pantera “Cemetery Gates” (Live)
1999
[19]
Metallica “Better than You”
Judas Priest “Bullet Train”
Nashville Pussy “Fried Chicken and Coffee”
Rage Against the Machine “No Shelter”
Rammstein “Du hast”

2000s

Year Artist Work
2000
[20]
Black Sabbath “Iron Man” (Live)
Ministry “Bad Blood”
Motörhead “Enter Sandman”
Nine Inch Nails “Starfuckers, Inc.”
Rob Zombie “Superbeast”
2001
[21]
Deftones “Elite”
Iron Maiden “The Wicker Man”
Marilyn Manson “Astonishing Panorama of the Endtimes”
Pantera “Revolution Is My Name”
Slipknot “Wait and Bleed”
2002
[22]
Tool “Schism”
Black Sabbath “The Wizard” (Live)
Slayer “Disciple”
Slipknot “Left Behind”
System of a Down “Chop Suey!”
2003
[23]
Korn “Here to Stay”
P.O.D. “Portrait”
Slipknot “My Plague”
Stone Sour “Get Inside”
Rob Zombie “Never Gonna Stop (The Red Red Kroovy)”
2004
[24]
Metallica “St. Anger”
Korn “Did My Time”
Marilyn Manson “Mobscene”
Spineshank “Smothered”
Stone Sour “Inhale”
2005
[25]
Motörhead “Whiplash”
Cradle of Filth “Nymphetamine (Overdose)”
Hatebreed “Live for This”
Killswitch Engage “The End of Heartache”
Slipknot “Vermilion”
2006
[26]
Slipknot “Before I Forget”
Ministry “The Great Satan (Remix)”
Mudvayne “Determined”
Rammstein “Mein Teil”
Shadows Fall “What Drives the Weak”
2007
[27]
Slayer “Eyes of the Insane”
Lamb of God “Redneck”
Mastodon “Colony of Birchmen”
Ministry “LiesLiesLies”
Stone Sour “30/30-150”
2008
[28]
Slayer “Final Six”
As I Lay Dying “Nothing Left”
King Diamond “Never Ending Hill”
Machine Head “Aesthetics of Hate”
Shadows Fall “Redemption”
2009
[29]
Metallica “My Apocalypse”
DragonForce “Heroes of Our Time”
Judas Priest “Nostradamus”
Ministry “Under My Thumb”
Slipknot “Psychosocial”

2010s

Year Artist Work
2010
[30]
Judas Priest “Dissident Aggressor” (Live)
Lamb of God “Set to Fail”
Megadeth “Head Crusher”
Ministry “Señor Peligro” (Live)
Slayer “Hate Worldwide”
2011
[31]
Iron Maiden “El Dorado”
Korn “Let the Guilt Go”
Lamb of God “In Your Words”
Megadeth “Sudden Death”
Slayer “World Painted Blood”
2014
[32]
Black Sabbath “God Is Dead?”
Anthrax “T.N.T.”
Dream Theater “The Enemy Inside”
Killswitch Engage “In Due Time”
Volbeat featuring King Diamond “Room 24”
2015
[33]
Tenacious D “The Last in Line”
Anthrax “Neon Knights”
Mastodon “High Road”
Motörhead “Heartbreaker”
Slipknot “The Negative One”
2016
[34]
Ghost “Cirice”
August Burns Red “Identity”
Lamb of God “512”
Sevendust “Thank You”
Slipknot “Custer”
2017
[35]
Megadeth “Dystopia”
Baroness “Shock Me”
Gojira “Silvera”
Korn “Rotting in Vain”
Periphery “The Price Is Wrong”
2018
[36]
Mastodon “Sultan’s Curse”
August Burns Red “Invisible Enemy”
Body Count “Black Hoodie”
Code Orange “Forever”
Meshuggah “Clockworks”
2019
[37]
High on Fire “Electric Messiah”
Between the Buried and Me “Condemned to the Gallows”
Deafheaven “Honeycomb”
Trivium “Betrayer”
Underoath “On My Teeth”

2020s

Year Artist Work
2020
[38]
Tool “7empest”
Candlemass featuring Tony Iommi “Astorolus – The Great Octopus”
Death Angel “Humanicide”
I Prevail “Bow Down”
Killswitch Engage “Unleashed”
2021
[39]
Body Count “Bum-Rush”
Code Orange “Underneath”
In This Moment “The In-Between”
Poppy “Bloodmoney”
Power Trip “Executioner’s Tax (Swing of the Axe)” (Live)
2022
[40]
Dream Theater “The Alien”
Deftones “Genesis”
Gojira “Amazonia”
Mastodon “Pushing the Tides”
Rob Zombie “The Triumph of King Freak (A Crypt of Preservation and Superstition)”
2023
[41]
Ozzy Osbourne featuring Tony Iommi “Degradation Rules”
Ghost “Call Me Little Sunshine”
Megadeth “We’ll Be Back”
Muse “Kill or Be Killed”
Turnstile “Blackout”
2024
[42]
Metallica “72 Seasons”
Disturbed “Bad Man”
Ghost “Phantom of the Opera”
Slipknot “Hive Mind”
Spiritbox “Jaded”
2025
[43]
Gojira, Marina Viotti and Victor Le Masne “Mea Culpa (Ah! Ça ira!)”
Judas Priest “Crown of Horns”
Knocked Loose featuring Poppy “Suffocate”
Metallica “Screaming Suicide”
Spiritbox “Cellar Door”
2026
[44]
Turnstile “Birds”
Dream Theater “Night Terror”
Ghost “Lachryma”
Sleep Token “Emergence”
Spiritbox “Soft Spine”

^[I] Each year is linked to the article about the Grammy Awards held that year.

Multiple wins

Multiple nominations

See also

References

General
Specific
  1. ^ “Overview”. The Recording Academy. Archived from the original on January 3, 2011. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
  2. ^ “Grammy Awards at a Glance”. Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on March 9, 2012. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
  3. ^ Pareles, Jon (February 23, 1989). “Grammys to McFerrin and Chapman”. The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 18, 2013. Retrieved December 14, 2009.
  4. ^ Hoffmann, Frank, ed. (2005). Encyclopedia of Recorded Sound. Vol. 1 (2 ed.). CRC Press. p. 542. ISBN 978-0-415-93835-8. Retrieved December 11, 2009.
  5. ^ Holden, Stephen (February 14, 1990). “The Pop Life”. The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 18, 2013. Retrieved December 11, 2009.
  6. ^ Britt, Bruce (February 17, 1990). “It’s time again for the Grammy award gripes”. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Block Communications. Retrieved December 14, 2009.[permanent dead link]
  7. ^ “The Recording Academy Elects New National Officer and Approves Continuing Evolution of Grammy Awards Categories at Spring Trustees Meeting”. Recording Academy. June 4, 2013. Archived from the original on June 12, 2013. Retrieved June 4, 2013.
  8. ^ “Grammy Blue Book (edition 2021)” (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2020-06-10. Retrieved 2020-06-13.
  9. ^ MacDonald, Patrick (January 12, 1990). “Soundgarden Nomination: The Growth of Local Rock”. The Seattle Times. Archived from the original on September 26, 2012. Retrieved December 17, 2009.
  10. ^ Morse, Steve (January 11, 1991). “Grammys focus on fresh faces, jilt Madonna” (fee required). The Boston Globe. The New York Times Company. Archived from the original on July 1, 2019. Retrieved December 17, 2009.
  11. ^ “Grammy nominations span Streisand, Seal, Seattle Symphony”. The Seattle Times. January 8, 1992. Archived from the original on September 26, 2012. Retrieved December 17, 2009.
  12. ^ MacDonald, Patrick (January 8, 1993). “Grammys show influence of Seattle music”. The Seattle Times. Archived from the original on October 28, 2011. Retrieved December 17, 2009.
  13. ^ Campbell, Mary (January 7, 1994). “Sting, Joel top Grammy nominations”. Star-News. Wilmington, North Carolina: The New York Times Company. Retrieved December 17, 2009. [dead link]
  14. ^ Wilker, Deborah (January 6, 1995). “Stars dominate Grammy nominations”. South Florida Sun-Sentinel. Tribune Company. Archived from the original (fee required) on October 24, 2012. Retrieved December 17, 2009.
  15. ^ MacDonald, Patrick (January 5, 1996). “Presidents of the U.S. are riding high in the musical polls”. The Seattle Times. Archived from the original on September 26, 2012. Retrieved December 17, 2009.
  16. ^ Harris, Chris (January 29, 2010). “The Grammys Don’t Understand Metal”. Noisecreep. Archived from the original on April 4, 2010. Retrieved July 31, 2010.
  17. ^ Campbell, Mary (January 8, 1997). “Babyface is up for 12 Grammy awards”. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. p. 8B. Retrieved June 24, 2010.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  18. ^ Morse, Steve (January 7, 1998). “Paula Cole a leader in Grammys” (fee required). The Boston Globe. The New York Times Company. Archived from the original on October 21, 2012. Retrieved December 17, 2009.
  19. ^ Kot, Greg (January 6, 1999). “10 nominations put Lauryn Hill atop Grammy heap”. Chicago Tribune. Tribune Company. Archived from the original (fee required) on October 24, 2012. Retrieved December 17, 2009.
  20. ^ Kot, Greg (January 5, 2000). “Guitarist Santana is 1 on Grammys’ chart of nominees” (fee required). Chicago Tribune. Tribune Company. Retrieved December 17, 2009.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  21. ^ Bream, Jon (January 4, 2001). “Rapper Eminem earns 4 Grammy nods”. Star Tribune. The Star Tribune Company. Archived from the original (fee required) on November 2, 2012. Retrieved December 17, 2009.
  22. ^ “Complete List Of Grammy Nominees”. CBS News. January 4, 2002. Archived from the original on October 10, 2003. Retrieved June 24, 2010.
  23. ^ Goldstein, Ben (January 15, 2003). “Grammy Nominees Announced”. Blender. Alpha Media Group. Archived from the original on May 25, 2013. Retrieved June 24, 2010.
  24. ^ “They’re All Contenders”. The New York Times. December 5, 2003. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved June 24, 2010.
  25. ^ “Kanye West is at top of Grammy list”. The Seattle Times. December 8, 2004. Archived from the original on June 29, 2011. Retrieved June 24, 2010.
  26. ^ “The Complete List of Grammy Nominations”. The New York Times. December 8, 2005. p. 1. Archived from the original on May 3, 2015. Retrieved June 24, 2010.
  27. ^ “49th Annual Grammy Awards Winners List”. National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on December 20, 2006. Retrieved June 24, 2010.
  28. ^ “Grammy 2008 Winners List”. MTV. February 10, 2008. Archived from the original on June 5, 2009. Retrieved December 1, 2009.
  29. ^ “Grammy 2009 Winners List”. MTV. February 8, 2009. Archived from the original on October 1, 2010. Retrieved December 1, 2009.
  30. ^ “The 52nd Annual Grammy Awards Nominees List”. National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on June 18, 2010. Retrieved June 24, 2010.
  31. ^ “53rd Annual Grammy Awards nominees list”. Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on July 13, 2011. Retrieved December 2, 2010.
  32. ^ “Grammys 2014: The complete list of nominees and winners”. Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on March 4, 2015. Retrieved December 7, 2015.
  33. ^ “TENACIOUS D Wins ‘Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance’ GRAMMY Award”. Blabbermouth.net. February 8, 2015. Archived from the original on February 9, 2015. Retrieved February 8, 2015.
  34. ^ “The 58th Annual Grammy Awards Nominees List” (PDF). National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Archived (PDF) from the original on December 8, 2015. Retrieved December 7, 2015.
  35. ^ “MEGADETH Wins ‘Best Metal Performance’ GRAMMY Award”. Blabbermouth.net. February 12, 2017. Archived from the original on October 17, 2017. Retrieved November 28, 2017.
  36. ^ “60th Grammy Nominees”. Grammy.com. Archived from the original on 28 November 2017. Retrieved 28 November 2017.
  37. ^ Kaufman, Spencer (December 7, 2018). “2019 metal and hard rock Grammy nominees include Greta Van Fleet, Ghost, Deafheaven, High on Fire, Halestorm, and more”. Consequence of Sound. Archived from the original on December 7, 2018. Retrieved December 7, 2018.
  38. ^ “2020 Best Metal Performance Grammy Awards Nominees Revealed”. Loudwire. January 22, 2020. Archived from the original on December 7, 2018. Retrieved January 22, 2020.
  39. ^ Pasbani, Robert (November 24, 2020). “Here Are The Nominees For Best Metal Performance at the 2021 GRAMMYs”. Metal Injection. Archived from the original on November 24, 2020. Retrieved November 24, 2020.
  40. ^ “2022 GRAMMYs Awards: Complete Nominations List”. GRAMMY.com. 2021-11-23. Archived from the original on 2021-11-25. Retrieved 2021-12-07.
  41. ^ “2023 GRAMMY Nominations: See The Complete Nominees List”. GRAMMY.com. 2022-11-15. Archived from the original on 2022-11-16. Retrieved 2022-11-16.
  42. ^ “2024 GRAMMY Nominations: See The Complete Nominees List”. GRAMMY.com. 2022-11-15. Archived from the original on 2023-11-10. Retrieved 2023-11-10.
  43. ^ “2025 GRAMMYs: See The OFFICIAL Full Nominations List | GRAMMY.com”. grammy.com. Retrieved 2024-12-29.
  44. ^ Faulkner, Clara (November 7, 2025). “2026 Grammys: See The Full Nominations List”. The Recording Academy. Retrieved November 8, 2025.