Grammy Award for Best Rock Song facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Grammy Award for Best Rock Song |
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"As Alive as You Need Me to Be" by Nine Inch Nails is the most recent recipient
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| Presented by | National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences |
| Country | United States |
| First awarded | 1992 |
| Currently held by | Nine Inch Nails — "As Alive as You Need Me to Be" (2026) |
The Grammy Award for Best Rock Song is a super cool honor given out at the Grammy Awards! The Grammys are a big annual event that started way back in 1958. They celebrate amazing music and talented artists. This special award is given to songwriters who create awesome songs in the rock music style.
The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences in the United States presents these awards every year. They want to celebrate the best artistic work, technical skills, and overall excellence in the music world. It doesn't matter how many copies an album sells or how high a song gets on the charts; it's all about the quality of the music!
This award is specifically for the people who write the songs. It was first given out in 1992 to the English musician Sting. To be considered for this award, a song needs to be new, with both a melody and lyrics, or it needs to have become really popular during the time it was eligible. Songs that use parts of other songs (called "samples" or "interpolations") usually aren't eligible for this award.
The Grammy for Best Rock Song goes directly to the songwriter. If a song does happen to use parts of older songs, the original writers and publishers can still get a special certificate to recognize their contribution.
Some rock superstars have won this award many times! Bruce Springsteen, Dave Grohl, and Pat Smear have each won four times, which is a record! Bruce Springsteen also holds the record for the most nominations, with nine. Other artists who have won multiple times include the other members of Foo Fighters (Taylor Hawkins, Nate Mendel, and Chris Shiflett) with three wins, and Alanis Morissette, along with the bands Red Hot Chili Peppers and U2, each with two wins.
Most of the winning songs have been performed by American artists. However, musicians and groups from Canada, Ireland, and the United Kingdom have also won. It's pretty rare, but sometimes an artist or group gets nominated for two different songs in the same year! This happened with Aerosmith in 1994, Melissa Etheridge in 1995, Jakob Dylan (from the Wallflowers) in 1998, and U2 in 2002. More recently, Chad Smith received two nominations in 2023 for his songwriting work with the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Ozzy Osbourne. The band Coldplay has been nominated four times but hasn't won this award yet.
Award Winners
Here's a list of the amazing songwriters and their songs that have won the Grammy Award for Best Rock Song over the years!
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| Year | Recipient(s) | Winning Song | Performing Artist(s) | Other Nominees | Ref. |
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| 1992 | Sting | "The Soul Cages" | Sting |
Many other talented rock artists and their songs were also nominated.
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| 1993 | Eric Clapton Jim Gordon |
"Layla" (Unplugged version) | Eric Clapton |
Many other talented rock artists and their songs were also nominated.
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| 1994 | Dave Pirner | "Runaway Train" | Soul Asylum |
Many other talented rock artists and their songs were also nominated.
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| 1995 | Bruce Springsteen | "Streets of Philadelphia" | Bruce Springsteen |
Many other talented rock artists and their songs were also nominated.
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| 1996 | Alanis Morissette Glen Ballard |
"You Oughta Know" | Alanis Morissette |
Many other talented rock artists and their songs were also nominated.
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| 1997 | Tracy Chapman | "Give Me One Reason" | Tracy Chapman |
Many other talented rock artists and their songs were also nominated.
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| 1998 | Jakob Dylan | "One Headlight" | The Wallflowers |
Many other talented rock artists and their songs were also nominated.
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| 1999 | Alanis Morissette | "Uninvited" | Alanis Morissette |
Many other talented rock artists and their songs were also nominated.
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| 2000 | Flea John Frusciante Anthony Kiedis Chad Smith |
"Scar Tissue" | Red Hot Chili Peppers |
Many other talented rock artists and their songs were also nominated.
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| 2001 | Scott Stapp Mark Tremonti |
"With Arms Wide Open" | Creed |
Many other talented rock artists and their songs were also nominated.
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| 2002 | Charlie Colin Rob Hotchkiss Pat Monahan Jimmy Stafford Scott Underwood |
"Drops of Jupiter (Tell Me)" | Train |
Many other talented rock artists and their songs were also nominated.
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| 2003 | Bruce Springsteen | "The Rising" | Bruce Springsteen |
Many other talented rock artists and their songs were also nominated.
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| 2004 | Jack White | "Seven Nation Army" | The White Stripes |
Many other talented rock artists and their songs were also nominated.
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| 2005 | Bono Adam Clayton The Edge Larry Mullen, Jr. |
"Vertigo" | U2 |
Many other talented rock artists and their songs were also nominated.
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| 2006 | Bono Adam Clayton The Edge Larry Mullen, Jr. |
"City of Blinding Lights" | U2 |
Many other talented rock artists and their songs were also nominated.
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| 2007 | Flea John Frusciante Anthony Kiedis Chad Smith |
"Dani California" | Red Hot Chili Peppers |
Many other talented rock artists and their songs were also nominated.
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| 2008 | Bruce Springsteen | "Radio Nowhere" | Bruce Springsteen |
Many other talented rock artists and their songs were also nominated.
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| 2009 | Bruce Springsteen | "Girls in Their Summer Clothes" | Bruce Springsteen |
Many other talented rock artists and their songs were also nominated.
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| 2010 | Caleb Followill Jared Followill Matthew Followill Nathan Followill |
"Use Somebody" | Kings of Leon |
Many other talented rock artists and their songs were also nominated.
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| 2011 | Neil Young | "Angry World" | Neil Young |
Many other talented rock artists and their songs were also nominated.
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| 2012 | Dave Grohl Taylor Hawkins Nate Mendel Chris Shiflett Pat Smear |
"Walk" | Foo Fighters |
Many other talented rock artists and their songs were also nominated.
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| 2013 | Dan Auerbach Brian Burton Patrick Carney |
"Lonely Boy" | The Black Keys |
Many other talented rock artists and their songs were also nominated.
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| 2014 | Dave Grohl Paul McCartney Krist Novoselic Pat Smear |
"Cut Me Some Slack" | Paul McCartney and Nirvana |
Many other talented rock artists and their songs were also nominated.
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| 2015 | Hayley Williams Taylor York |
"Ain't It Fun" | Paramore |
Many other talented rock artists and their songs were also nominated.
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| 2016 | Zac Cockrell Heath Fogg Brittany Howard Steve Johnson |
"Don't Wanna Fight" | Alabama Shakes |
Many other talented rock artists and their songs were also nominated.
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| 2017 | David Bowie | "Blackstar" | David Bowie |
Many other talented rock artists and their songs were also nominated.
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| 2018 | Dave Grohl Taylor Hawkins Rami Jaffee Nate Mendel Chris Shiflett Pat Smear |
"Run" | Foo Fighters |
Many other talented rock artists and their songs were also nominated.
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| 2019 | Jack Antonoff Annie Clark |
"Masseduction" | St. Vincent |
Many other talented rock artists and their songs were also nominated.
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| 2020 | Gary Clark Jr. | "This Land" | Gary Clark Jr. |
Many other talented rock artists and their songs were also nominated.
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| 2021 | Brittany Howard | "Stay High" | Brittany Howard |
Many other talented rock artists and their songs were also nominated.
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| 2022 | Dave Grohl Taylor Hawkins Rami Jaffee Nate Mendel Chris Shiflett Pat Smear |
"Waiting on a War" | Foo Fighters |
Many other talented rock artists and their songs were also nominated.
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| 2023 | Brandi Carlile Phil Hanseroth Tim Hanseroth |
"Broken Horses" | Brandi Carlile |
Many other talented rock artists and their songs were also nominated.
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| 2024 | Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus | "Not Strong Enough" | Boygenius |
Many other talented rock artists and their songs were also nominated.
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| 2025 | Annie Clark | "Broken Man" | St. Vincent |
Many other talented rock artists and their songs were also nominated.
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| 2026 | Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross | "As Alive as You Need Me to Be" | Nine Inch Nails |
Many other talented rock artists and their songs were also nominated.
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- The performing artist is only listed but does not receive the award.
- The "Other Nominees" column lists other great rock songs that were nominated in the same year.
Artists with Multiple Wins
Some songwriters have won the Grammy for Best Rock Song more than once!
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Artists with Multiple Nominations
Being nominated for a Grammy is a huge honor! These songwriters have been recognized many times for their rock songs.
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See also
In Spanish: Anexo:Premio Grammy a la mejor canción rock para niños
- List of Grammy Award categories
- Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
- Rock Songs
 | Victor J. Glover |
 | Yvonne Cagle |
 | Jeanette Epps |
 | Bernard A. Harris Jr. |
