Biggest Grammy Blunders of All Time

Brian McKnight of Anytime fame has been nominated 16 times for the awards, but has never won a Grammy.

The 62nd Grammy Awards were handed out in 2020 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Since the first Grammy Awards that were held in 1959, there have been several occasions when the winners did not match the public opinion. A case of popular choice not matching the jury's, can either be the panel's misjudgment or just a matter of differing opinions.

Here we have put together some of the greatest Grammy upsets of all time - winners that were thought to be undeserving by the majority. You may not agree with the mention of some of these. And you have a right to your opinion.

* Note: The events are arranged in chronological order.

Nominees

♬ Goldfinger by John Barry
♬ A Hard Day's Night by John Lennon and Paul McCartney
♬ The Pink Panther by Henry Mancini
♬ Robin and the 7 Hoods by Sammy Cahn and Jimmy Van Heusen
♬ Mary Poppins by Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman

The 7th Grammy Awards considered Mary Poppins as the better one over the Beatles' A Hard Day's Night. The soundtrack of Mary Poppins was definitely good, but not as great as the Beatles' song. May be, the voters should have listened to the songs properly before declaring the winner!

Nominees

♬ Michel Legrand, Norman Gimbel and Jacques Demy for I Will Wait for You
♬ Jimmy Van Heusen and Sammy Cahn for The September of My Years

♬ John Lennon & Paul McCartney for Yesterday
♬ Roger Miller for King of the Road
♬ Paul Francis Webster & Johnny Mandel for The Shadow of Your Smile

Tony Bennett's The Shadow of Your Smile won the Song of the Year award that year, and it was the Beatles' Yesterday that was defeated. Yes, you read it correctly; Beatles were not declared the winners! The same incident was repeated in 1969 when Beatles' Hey Jude lost to O.C. Smith's Little Green Apples.

Nominees

♬ Glass Houses by Billy Joel
♬ The Wall by Pink Floyd
♬ Trilogy: Past Present Future by Frank Sinatra
♬ Guilty by Barbra Streisand
♬ Christopher Cross by Christopher Cross

Christopher Cross had an amazing Grammy night in 1981 as he won 5 Grammys including the best album. Pink Floyd's The Wall was in the nominees' list, and the Grammy voters didn't find the album better than the one by Christopher Cross! Also, he was a newcomer that year. Phew! What were the voters thinking?

Nominees

♬ She's So Unusual by Cyndi Lauper
♬ Purple Rain by Prince & The Revolution
♬ Born in the U.S.A. by Bruce Springsteen
♬ Private Dancer by Tina Turner
♬ Can't Slow Down by Lionel Richie

At the 27th Grammys, Lionel Ritchie won the award beating Bruce Springsteen's Born in the U.S.A. This was one of the biggest blunders, which even the members of the Academy realized after the ceremony. May be, that is the reason why Bruce has been felicitated with 20 Grammys, and all of them were given out to him after the 1985 debacle!

Nominees

♬ Blow Up Your Video by AC/DC
♬ Cold Metal by Iggy Pop (from the album Instinct)
♬ Nothing's Shocking by Jane's Addiction
♬ ...And Justice for All by Metallica
♬ Crest of a Knave by Jethro Tull

The first ever Grammy award for the best hard rock/metal performance was introduced in 1989. With their metal masterpieces and incredible fan following, Metallica was being considered as the winner and rightly so. But, Grammy members thought Jethro Tull's Crest of a Knave was better than Metallica. You gotta be kidding guys! How could ...And Justice for All not be the best metal performance?

Nominees

♬ Neneh Cherry
♬ Indigo Girls
♬ Soul II Soul
♬ Tone Lōc
♬ Milli Vanilli

I wonder if anyone could ever forget this award. In 1990, the jury had to choose the best new artist from a pool of some remarkable talents, like Neneh Cherry, Soul II Soul, and Tone Lōc. But of all the artists, the Girl You Know It's True performers, Robert Pilatus and Fabrice Morvan (Milli Vanilli), were handed over the title.

This German duo didn't even sing a note in the entire album! The same year, however, in November, the duo admitted the same, and their Grammy was revoked. Better late than never is what I would say to the members of the Academy.

Nominees

♬ Odelay by Beck
♬ The Score by The Fugees
♬ Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness by The Smashing Pumpkins
♬ Waiting to Exhale: Original Soundtrack Album by Various Artists
♬ Falling into You by Celine Dion

For all you Celine Dion fans out there, I agree she is a fab singer, but the album couldn't surpass the standards set by The Fugees' The Score. The Score was awarded a platinum certificate six times! And the Academy members didn't acknowledge this great album with a Grammy!

Nominees

♬ Busta Rhymes for Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Could See
♬ LL Cool J for Ain't Nobody
♬ Missy Elliott for The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)
♬ The Notorious B.I.G. for Hypnotize
♬ Will Smith for Men in Black

May be, you will not be shocked to see Will Smith's name in the winning category, but you will change your views once you know the nominees included Missy Elliott's The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly) and Notorious B.I.G.'s Hypnotize among the others. With these nominees in place, you probably did not expect Will Smith to win the Grammy!

Nominees

♬ Eiffel 65 for Blue (Da Ba Dee)
♬ Enrique Iglesias for Be with You
♬ Jennifer Lopez for Let's Get Loud
♬ Moby for Natural Blues
♬ Baha Men for Who Let the Dogs Out?

The song Who Let the Dogs Out? may have been a huge hit and was played everywhere, but handing over the best dance song award was definitely a mistake. If you have a look at the nominees, you will know why this is considered a blunder. With Enrique Iglesias' Be with You in the nominee list, the winner is surely a blunder!

Nominees

♬ 50 Cent
♬ Fountains of Wayne
♬ Heather Headley
♬ Sean Paul
♬ Evanescence

Evanescence won the new artist award that year, and guess who ended up on the losing side? 50 Cent! Yes, the rap sensation lost the award that year even after selling loads of records that year. And if this wasn't enough, the sensation didn't win an award until 2010 even after getting nominated 13 times!

Diana Ross never won a Grammy except for the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2012. Despite beautiful songs, like Ain't No Mountain High Enough, Remember Me, Touch Me in the Morning, and many more, she wasn't good enough for the members at the Academy.

• Queen, the British rock band, also didn't win the golden gramophone even though they were nominated in 1976 for Bohemian Rhapsody and again in 1980 for Another One Bites the Dust.

• Bob Marley, the king of reggae music, never won a Grammy! Even after some immortal songs, like No Woman, No Cry, Three Little Birds, Stir It Up, Jammin', and many others, he didn't win one in his career. However, after his death, he received the Lifetime Achievement Award.

• Bjork, the Iceland music expert, has been nominated 15 times, but is still waiting for her first statue. In spite of having hits, like It's Oh So Quiet, she didn't receive the honor.

Few others who didn't get the golden gramophone are:
♪ Jimi Hendrix
♪ Snoop Dogg
♪ Guns N' Roses
♪ Deep Purple
♪ Journey
♪ The Smiths
♪ Oasis
♪ The Doors

Grammy Awards being the biggest music awards that it is, recognition should be given for the best players of that year. However, every year after the awards night, all we can say is Phew, here they go again! I hope the next time, the Grammys don't disappoint and come up with some really deserving winners.