Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance
"Birds" by Turnstile is the most recent recipient
Awarded forQuality performances in the heavy metal music genre
CountryUnited States
Presented byThe Recording Academy
First award1990
Currently held byTurnstile, "Birds" (2026)
Websitegrammy.com

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

Year[I] Performing artist(s) Work Nominees Ref.
1990 Metallica "One"
  • Dokken – Beast from the East
  • Faith No More – The Real Thing
  • Queensrÿche – "I Don't Believe in Love"
  • Soundgarden – Ultramega OK
 [9]
1991 Metallica "Stone Cold Crazy" [10]
1992 Metallica Metallica [11]
1993 Nine Inch Nails "Wish" [12]
1994 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"
 [13]
1995 Soundgarden "Spoonman" [14]
1996 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"
 [15]
[16]
1997 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"
 [17]
1998 Tool "Ænema"
  • Corrosion of Conformity – "Drowning in a Daydream"
  • Korn – "No Place to Hide"
  • Megadeth – "Trust"
  • Pantera – "Cemetery Gates" (live)
 [18]
1999 Metallica "Better than You" [19]
2000 Black Sabbath "Iron Man" (live) [20]
2001 Deftones "Elite" [21]
2002 Tool "Schism" [22]
2003 Korn "Here to Stay"
  • P.O.D. – "Portrait"
  • Slipknot – "My Plague"
  • Stone Sour – "Get Inside"
  • Rob Zombie – "Never Gonna Stop (The Red Red Kroovy)"
 [23]
2004 Metallica "St. Anger"
  • Korn – "Did My Time"
  • Marilyn Manson – "Mobscene"
  • Spineshank – "Smothered"
  • Stone Sour – "Inhale"
 [24]
2005 Motörhead "Whiplash"
  • Cradle of Filth – "Nymphetamine (Overdose)" (featuring Liv Kristine)
  • Hatebreed – "Live for This"
  • Killswitch Engage – "The End of Heartache"
  • Slipknot – "Vermilion"
 [25]
2006 Slipknot "Before I Forget"
  • Ministry – "The Great Satan (Remix)"
  • Mudvayne – "Determined"
  • Rammstein – "Mein Teil"
  • Shadows Fall – "What Drives the Weak"
 [26]
2007 Slayer "Eyes of the Insane"
  • Lamb of God – "Redneck"
  • Mastodon – "Colony of Birchmen"
  • Ministry – "LiesLiesLies"
  • Stone Sour – "30/30-150"
 [27]
2008 Slayer "Final Six" [28]
2009 Metallica "My Apocalypse"
  • DragonForce – "Heroes of Our Time"
  • Judas Priest – "Nostradamus"
  • Ministry – "Under My Thumb"
  • Slipknot – "Psychosocial"
 [29]
2010 Judas Priest "Dissident Aggressor" (live)
  • Lamb of God – "Set to Fail"
  • Megadeth – "Head Crusher"
  • Ministry – "Señor Peligro" (live)
  • Slayer – "Hate Worldwide"
 [30]
2011 Iron Maiden "El Dorado"
  • Korn – "Let the Guilt Go"
  • Lamb of God – "In Your Words"
  • Megadeth – "Sudden Death"
  • Slayer – "World Painted Blood"
 [31]
2014 Black Sabbath "God Is Dead?"
  • Anthrax – "T.N.T."
  • Dream Theater – "The Enemy Inside"
  • Killswitch Engage – "In Due Time"
  • Volbeat – "Room 24" (featuring King Diamond)
 [32]
2015 Tenacious D "The Last in Line" [33]
2016 Ghost "Cirice"
  • August Burns Red – "Identity"
  • Lamb of God – "512"
  • Sevendust – "Thank You"
  • Slipknot – "Custer"
 [34]
2017 Megadeth "Dystopia"
  • Baroness – "Shock Me"
  • Gojira – "Silvera"
  • Korn – "Rotting in Vain"
  • Periphery – "The Price Is Wrong"
 [35]
2018 Mastodon "Sultan's Curse"
  • August Burns Red – "Invisible Enemy"
  • Body Count – "Black Hoodie"
  • Code Orange – "Forever"
  • Meshuggah – "Clockworks"
 [36]
2019 High on Fire "Electric Messiah"
  • Between the Buried and Me – "Condemned to the Gallows"
  • Deafheaven – "Honeycomb"
  • Trivium – "Betrayer"
  • Underoath – "On My Teeth"
 [37]
2020 Tool "7empest"
  • Candlemass – "Astorolus - The Great Octopus" (featuring Tony Iommi)
  • Death Angel – "Humanicide"
  • I Prevail – "Bow Down"
  • Killswitch Engage – "Unleashed"
 [38]
2021 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)
 [39]
2022 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)"
 [40]
2023 Ozzy Osbourne "Degradation Rules" (featuring Tony Iommi)
  • Ghost – "Call Me Little Sunshine"
  • Megadeth – "We'll Be Back"
  • Muse – "Kill or Be Killed"
  • Turnstile – "Blackout"
 [41]
2024 Metallica "72 Seasons"
  • Disturbed – "Bad Man"
  • Ghost – "Phantom of the Opera"
  • Slipknot – "Hive Mind"
  • Spiritbox – "Jaded"
 [42]
2025 Gojira, Marina Viotti and Victor Le Masne "Mea Culpa (Ah! Ça ira!)"
  • Judas Priest - "Crown of Horns"
  • Knocked Loose - "Suffocate" (featuring Poppy)
  • Metallica - "Screaming Suicide"
  • Spiritbox - "Cellar Door"
 [43]
2026 Turnstile "Birds"
  • Dream Theater – "Night Terror"
  • Ghost – "Lachryma"
  • Sleep Token – "Emergence"
  • Spiritbox – "Soft Spine"
 [44]

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

Multiple wins

7 wins
3 wins
2 wins

Multiple nominations

11 nominations
9 nominations
6 nominations
5 nominations
4 nominations
3 nominations
2 nominations

See also

References

General
Specific
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