Grammy Award for Best Rock Song


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 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 can apply for a Winners Certificate.
Bruce Springsteen holds the records for the most wins and nominations, having won four awards from nine nominations. Other winners of multiple awards include Alanis Morissette as well as the bands Red Hot Chili Peppers and U2, 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. Coldplay holds the record for the most nominations without a win, with four.

Recipients

YearSongwriterTitleArtistNominees
Ref.
1992StingSting
1993Jim Gordon
1994Soul Asylum
  • Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, Taylor Rhodes – "Cryin'"
  • Tyler, Perry, Mark Hudson – "Livin' on the Edge"
  • Lenny Kravitz, Craig Ross – "Are You Gonna Go My Way"
  • Jim Steinman – "I'd Do Anything for Love "
    • 1995
  • Melissa Etheridge – "Come to My Window"
  • Etheridge – "I'm the Only One"
  • Kurt Cobain – "All Apologies"
  • Chris Cornell – "Black Hole Sun"
    • 1996Glen Ballard
    1997
  • Dave Matthews Band – "Too Much"
  • Garbage – "Stupid Girl"
  • John Hiatt – "Cry Love"
  • Noel Gallagher – "Wonderwall"
  • Jakob Dylan – "6th Avenue Heartache"
    • 1998The Wallflowers
  • Fiona Apple – "Criminal"
  • Meredith Brooks, Shelly Peiken – "Bitch"
  • Dave Matthews – "Crash into Me"
  • Jakob Dylan – "The Difference"
    • 1999
  • John Hiatt – "Have a Little Faith in Me"
  • Billy Corgan, Eric Erlandson, Courtney Love – "Celebrity Skin"
  • Dan Wilson – "Closing Time"
  • Richard Ashcroft, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards – "Bitter Sweet Symphony"
    • 2000Red Hot Chili PeppersRed Hot Chili Peppers
  • Melissa Etheridge, John Shanks – "Angels Would Fall"
  • Garbage – "Special"
  • Tom Petty – "Room at the Top"
  • Bruce Springsteen – "The Promise"
    • 2001Mark TremontiCreed
    2002TrainTrain
  • Marti Frederiksen, Steven Tyler – "Jaded"
  • Guy Berryman, Jonny Buckland, Will Champion, Chris Martin – "Yellow"
  • U2 – "Elevation"
  • U2 – "Walk On"
    • 2003
  • Brad Arnold, Todd Harrell, Chris Henderson, Matt Roberts – "When I'm Gone"
  • Foo Fighters – "All My Life"
  • Sully Erna – "I Stand Alone"
  • Chad Kroeger – "Hero"
    • 2004The White Stripes
  • David Hodges, Amy Lee, Ben Moody – "Bring Me to Life"
  • Chad Kroeger, Mike Kroeger, Ryan Peake, Ryan Vikedal – "Someday"
  • Jorge Calderón, Warren Zevon – "Disorder in the House"
  • Charlie Colin, Patrick Monahan, Jimmy Stafford, Scott Underwood – "Calling All Angels"
    • 2005U2U2
  • Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt, Tré Cool – "American Idiot"
  • Brandon Flowers, Dave Keuning, Mark Stoermer, Ronnie Vannucci Jr. – "Somebody Told Me"
  • Isaac Brock, Dann Gallucci, Eric Judy, Benjamin Weikel – "Float On"
  • Duff, Dave Kushner, Slash, Matt Sorum, Scott Weiland – "Fall to Pieces"
    • 2006U2U2
  • Guy Berryman, Jonny Buckland, Will Champion, Chris Martin – "Speed of Sound"
  • Foo Fighters – "Best of You"
  • Bruce Springsteen – "Devils & Dust"
  • Rivers Cuomo – "Beverly Hills"
    • 2007Red Hot Chili PeppersRed Hot Chili Peppers
  • Bob Dylan – "Someday Baby"
  • Brandon Flowers, Dave Keuning, Mark Stoermer, Ronnie Vannucci Jr. – "When You Were Young"
  • Nathan Connolly, Gary Lightbody, Jonny Quinn, Tom Simpson – "Chasing Cars"
  • Neil Young – "Lookin' for a Leader"
    • 2008
  • Chris Daughtry, Gregg Wattenberg, Mark Wilkerson, Brett Young – "It's Not Over"
  • Dave Grohl, Taylor Hawkins, Nate Mendel, Chris Shiflett – "The Pretender"
  • Jack White – "Icky Thump"
  • Lucinda Williams – "Come On"
    • 2009
  • Guy Berryman, Jonny Buckland, Will Champion, Chris Martin – "Violet Hill"
  • Ben Gibbard, Nick Harmer, Jason McGerr, Chris Walla– "I Will Possess Your Heart"
  • Kings of Leon – "Sex on Fire"
  • Radiohead – "House of Cards"
    • 2010Kings of LeonKings of Leon
  • Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt, Tré Cool – "21 Guns"
  • Matt Cameron, Stone Gossard, Mike McCready, Eddie Vedder – "The Fixer"
  • Bruce Springsteen – "Working on a Dream"
  • Bono, Adam Clayton, The Edge, Larry Mullen, Jr. – "I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight"
    • 2011Neil Young
  • Dan Auerbach, Patrick Carney – "Tighten Up"
  • Caleb Followill, Jared Followill, Matthew Followill, Nathan Followill – "Radioactive"
  • Ted Dwane, Ben Lovett, Marcus Mumford, "Country" Winston Marshall – "Little Lion Man"
  • Matthew Bellamy – "Resistance"
    • 2012Foo Fighters"Walk"Foo Fighters
  • Guy Berryman, Jonny Buckland, Will Champion, Chris Martin – "Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall"
  • Ted Dwane, Ben Lovett, Marcus Mumford & Country Winston – "The Cave"
  • Colin Meloy – "Down by the Water"
  • Colin Greenwood, Jonny Greenwood, Ed O'Brien, Phil Selway & Thom Yorke – "Lotus Flower"
    • 2013The Black KeysBrian Burton"Lonely Boy"The Black Keys
    • Matthew Bellamy – "Madness"
    • Ted Dwane, Ben Lovett, Winston Marshall, & Marcus Mumford – "I Will Wait"
    • Bruce Springsteen – "We Take Care of Our Own"
    • Jack White – "Freedom at 21"
    2014Dave GrohlPaul McCartney
    Krist Novoselic
    Pat Smear    		"Cut Me Some Slack"Paul McCartney, Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselic & Pat Smear
    2015Hayley WilliamsTaylor York"Ain't It Fun"Paramore
    • Ryan Adams – "Gimme Something Good"
    • Dan Auerbach, Brian Burton & Patrick Carney – "Fever"
    • Beck Hansen – "Blue Moon"
    • Jack White – "Lazaretto"
    2016Alabama Shakes"Don't Wanna Fight"Alabama Shakes
  • Dave Bassett & Elle King – "Ex's & Oh's"
  • Iain Archer & James Bay – "Hold Back the River"
  • Richard Meyer, Ryan Meyer & Johnny Stevens – "Lydia"
  • John Hill, Tom Hull & Florence Welch – "What Kind of Man"
    • 2017David Bowie"Blackstar"David Bowie
  • Radiohead – "Burn the Witch"
  • James Hetfield & Lars Ulrich – "Hardwired"
  • Tyler Joseph – "Heathens"
  • Richard Meyer, Ryan Meyer & Johnny Stevens – "My Name Is Human"
    • 2018Foo Fighters"Run"Foo Fighters
  • James Hetfield & Lars Ulrich – "Atlas, Rise!"
  • Kristine Flaherty & Justin Daly – "Blood In the Cut"
  • Nothing More – "Go to War"
  • Avenged Sevenfold – "The Stage"
    • 2019Jack Antonoff Annie Clark"Masseduction"St. Vincent
    2020Gary Clark Jr."This Land"Gary Clark Jr.
  • Danny Carey, Justin Chancellor, Adam Jones & Maynard James Keenan – "Fear Inoculum"
  • George Daniel, Adam Hann, Matthew Healy & Ross MacDonald – "Give Yourself a Try"
  • Ezra Koenig – "Harmony Hall"
  • Brittany Howard – "History Repeats"
  • The performing artist is only listed but does not receive the award.
  • Showing the name of the songwriter, the nominated song and in parentheses the performer's name.