Grammy Award for Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance
Awarded forQuality vocal performances in the rock music genre
CountryUnited States
Presented byNational Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences
First awarded1988
Last awarded2011
Currently held byPaul McCartney, "Helter Skelter" (2011)
Websitegrammy.com

The Grammy Award for Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance was an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards,[1] to recording artists for works (songs or albums) containing quality vocal performances 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".[2]

Originally called the Grammy Award for Best Rock Vocal Performance, Solo, the award was first presented to Bruce Springsteen in 1988 for the album Tunnel of Love. Since then, the award was presented in 1992 and 1994, and has been awarded each year since 2005. Beginning with the 2005 ceremony, the name of the award was changed to Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance. For these years, the award combined and replaced the gender-specific awards for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance and Best Female Rock Vocal Performance. This fusion has been criticized, especially when females are not nominated under the solo category.[3][4] The Academy has cited a lack of eligible recordings in the female rock category as the reason for the mergers.[5]

The award was discontinued in 2012 in a major overhaul of Grammy categories. All solo or duo/group performances in the rock category are now honored in the Best Rock Performance category.[6] Springsteen holds the record for the most wins in this category, with five (he has also received three awards for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance).[7] No other performing artists had received the award more than once. Neil Young holds the record for the most nominations without a win, with four.

Recipients

A man holding a guitar, wearing a blue shirt and a dark vest
Five-time award winner Bruce Springsteen, performing in 2012
A woman with curly red hair wearing a blue shirt holding a guitar.
1992 award winner Bonnie Raitt performing in 2010.
A man behind a microphone stand, wearing a white hat and black suit. The man is playing the guitar and singing into the microphone.
2007 award winner Bob Dylan, performing in 2006
A black and white image of man holding a guitar.
2011 award winner Paul McCartney
Year[I] Performing artist Work Nominees Ref.
1988 Bruce Springsteen Tunnel of Love [8]
1989–1991[II] — — — [9]
[10]
[11]
1992 Bonnie Raitt Luck of the Draw [12]
1993[II] — — — [13]
1994 Meat Loaf "I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)" [14]
1995–2004[II] — — — —
2005 Bruce Springsteen "Code of Silence"
[15]
2006 Bruce Springsteen "Devils & Dust" [16]
2007 Bob Dylan "Someday Baby" [17]
2008 Bruce Springsteen "Radio Nowhere" [18]
2009 John Mayer "Gravity" [19]
2010 Bruce Springsteen "Working on a Dream"
[20]
2011 Paul McCartney "Helter Skelter"
[21]

^[I] Each year is linked to the article about the Grammy Awards held that year.
^[II] Award was separated into the gender-specific awards for Best Rock Vocal Performance, Male and Best Rock Vocal Performance, Female.

See also

References

General
  • "Past Winners Search". National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Retrieved March 4, 2011. Note: User must select the "Rock" category as the genre under the search feature.
  • "Grammy Awards: Best Rock Vocal Solo Performance". Rock on the Net. Retrieved June 8, 2010.
Specific
  1. ^ "Grammy Awards at a Glance". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on March 9, 2012. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
  2. ^ "Overview". National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on October 27, 2009. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
  3. ^ Rodman, Sarah (February 8, 2009). "All my rocking ladies, don't bother putting your hands up". The Boston Globe. The New York Times Company. Archived from the original on July 4, 2009. Retrieved April 26, 2010.
  4. ^ Strauss, Neil (January 6, 1995). "'94 Grammy Nominations: Not Just the Familiar". The New York Times. Archived from the original on September 28, 2013. Retrieved November 29, 2010.
  5. ^ Hunt, Dennis (January 15, 1988). "U2, Jackson Top Grammy Nominees: Simon, Winwood Seek Reprise of '87 Wins". Los Angeles Times. p. 2. Archived from the original on October 15, 2012. Retrieved April 26, 2010.
  6. ^ "Explanation For Category Restructuring". GRAMMY.org. Archived from the original on 2011-12-03. Retrieved 2011-11-05.
  7. ^ "Grammy Awards: Best Rock Vocal Performance – Male". Rock on the Net. Archived from the original on October 6, 2010. Retrieved January 6, 2011.
  8. ^ McShane, Larry (January 15, 1988). "Irish rockers among Grammy nominees". The Telegraph. Nashua, New Hampshire: Telegraph Publishing Company. Archived from the original on March 13, 2016. Retrieved June 8, 2010.
  9. ^ "Complete list of Grammy nominees". Times-News. Hendersonville, North Carolina: The New York Times Company. January 13, 1989. Archived from the original on March 13, 2016. Retrieved June 9, 2010.
  10. ^ "Here's list of nominees from all 77 categories". Deseret News. Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret News Publishing Company. January 12, 1990. Archived from the original on March 13, 2016. Retrieved June 9, 2010.
  11. ^ "List of Grammy Award nominations". Times-News. Hendersonville, North Carolina: The New York Times Company. January 11, 1991. Archived from the original on March 13, 2016. Retrieved June 9, 2010.
  12. ^ "Nominees announced for Grammy Awards". TimesDaily. Florence, Alabama: Tennessee Valley Printing. January 8, 1992. Archived from the original on March 13, 2016. Retrieved June 9, 2010.
  13. ^ "Grammy nominees". The Baltimore Sun. Tribune Company. January 8, 1993. p. 1. Archived from the original on September 2, 2012. Retrieved June 9, 2010.
  14. ^ Campbell, Mary (January 7, 1994). "Sting, Joel top Grammy nominations". Star-News. Wilmington, North Carolina: The New York Times Company. Archived from the original on March 13, 2016. Retrieved June 9, 2010.
  15. ^ "Kanye West is at top of Grammy list". The Seattle Times. The Seattle Times Company. December 8, 2004. Archived from the original on June 29, 2011. Retrieved June 9, 2010.
  16. ^ "Complete list of Grammy nominees". The New York Times. December 12, 2005. p. 1. Retrieved June 9, 2010.
  17. ^ "Grammys 2007: The Nominees". Entertainment Weekly. Time Inc. December 7, 2006. Archived from the original on July 29, 2009. Retrieved June 9, 2010.
  18. ^ Leeds, Jeff (December 7, 2007). "Kanye West and Amy Winehouse lead Grammy nominees". Cape Cod Times. News Corporation. Archived from the original on June 17, 2011. Retrieved June 9, 2010.
  19. ^ "The 51st Annual Grammy Awards Winners List". National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on January 2, 2010. Retrieved June 9, 2010.
  20. ^ "The 52nd Annual Grammy Awards Nominees List". National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on June 18, 2010. Retrieved June 9, 2010.
  21. ^ "Grammy Awards: Complete Coverage". Rolling Stone. February 13, 2011. Archived from the original on April 16, 2016. Retrieved June 7, 2017.

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