9 Times The Grammy Awards Chose Its Metal Poorly

9. 1989: Jethro Tull- Crest Of A Knave

While most of the entries on this list boil down to preference and bias, this is one of the few wins universally acknowledged as a travesty. 1989 was the first year the Grammy Awards acknowledged heavy metal, including it alongside Hard Rock under the category “Best Hard Rock / Heavy Metal Performance Vocal or Instrumental.”

Metallica’s “And Justice For All” was the heavy favorite going into the show, up against Jane’s Addiction “Nothing Shocking,” AC/DC’s “Blow Up Your Video,” Iggy Pop’s “Cold Metal” and Jethro Tull’s “Crest of a Knave,” the last of which taking home the award that evening despite being the least appropriate for the nomination.

The controversy from this upset was enough to warrant a separation of Hard Rock and Heavy Metal into different categories and upon winning the award the following year for “One,” Metallica thanked Jethro Tull for not releasing another album during that time.