Since 1959 the Grammy Awards have been the most prestigious musical awards given to musical artists. The process of deciding who receives the award is largely the same as it was 50 years ago. Members of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences vote on the winners in 70+ categories. Every voting member is either a producer, a performer or a sound engineer in the music industry. So you’d think they’d give credit where credit is due. They often get it right, but not always. The following artists have never won an award in regular competition. The Beach Boys (7 nominations) Though The Beach Boys single-handedly changed the music industry, the group’s never won the big award. They were nominated in 4 different categories for their album “Good Vibrations” in 1967 including Best Rock and Roll Recording, Best Rock and Roll Group Performance and Best Vocal Group Performance. So who beat out The Beach Boys? The New Vaudeville, The Anita Kern Quartet and The Mamas and the Papas. Chuck Berry Chuck Berry, the father of rock and roll, revolutionized the way the electric guitar was played. His hits Roll Over Beethoven (1956) and Johnny B. Good (1958) unfortunately predated the award. Chuck Berry has appeared on several prestigious lists including Rolling Stone’s Top 100 Best Guitarists and The 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. However, not all is lost, Berry received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1984. The Doors The Doors may be the world’s first punk rockers. The band’s eclectic style and Jim Morrison’s poetic lyrics skyrocketed The Doors into stardom. The buzz lasted until Morrison’s death in 1971. The Door’s never received a Grammy Award until 2007 when the band was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award. Jimi Hendrix (1 nomination) Jimi Hendrix is another example of a genius guitar player who was snubbed by the Grammys during his lifetime. He was nominated in 1971 for Best Contemporary Instrumental Performance for Star Spangled Banner, but lost to Henry Mancini for his theme from Z and other film music. Hendrix was finally awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award in 1993. Janis Joplin (2 nominations) Janis Joplin was another flame that burned too bright. She was nominated twice in 1972 once for “Me and Bobby Mcgee” and another time for “Pearl”. She was up against stiff competition. Aretha Franklin won the Best Rhythm & Blues Vocal Performance and Carol King won the Best Pop Vocal Performance. Joplin was eventually awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2005. Led Zeppelin (6 nominations) Don’t let Zeppelin’s six nominations fool you, only one of the nominations was music related, Best New Artist. Zeppelin’s other nominations were for Best Album Package, not something to be particularly proud of. It seems like the music industry simply threw the band a few bones with nominations in the packaging category. In 2005 the band was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award. Rock and guys, rock on. Lynyrd Skynyrd Though the band had a plethora of hit songs including “Sweet Home Alabama”, “The Ballad of Curtis Jones” and “Free Bird”, the nominating committee never nominated Skynyrd for any awards. Maybe it was the fact that nobody knew how to pronounce the band’s name. Anyways, the band still hasn’t seen any awards come their way. Total bummer. Bob Marley (1 nomination) Bob Marley is responsible for exposing millions of people around the world to Reggae music. The only problem is, during Marley’s lifetime, there was never a Grammy category that his style of music qualified for. The award for Best Reggae Album was established in 1985, Marley’s last album released in 1983. He finally won a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2001. Queen (3 nominations) Freddy Mercury’s creative outlet was nominated for Best Pop Vocal Group, Best Arrangement for Voices and Best Rock Vocal Group, but lost to Chicago, Starland Vocal Band and Bob Seger. Are you freaking kidding me?! Bob Seger beat Queen for a Grammy? Queen to this date has never been awarded a Grammy of any kind. The Who (2 nominations) The masters of stage destruction, The Who was nominated once in 1975 for, hold your breath, Best Album Packaging. Do you see a pattern here? The Who is the voice for an entire generation, yet The Grammy’s failed to ignore the band’s importance. The Grammy’s finally got it right in 2001 when they awarded the band a Lifetime Achievement Award. Diana Ross (8 nominations) Perhaps no artist in history has been snubbed more by The Grammys than Diana Ross. She’s been nominated 8 times in the vocal performance categories. Here’s a list of artists who’ve taken the trophy from Ross: Dionne Warwick, Aretha Franklin, Roberta Flack, Paul McCartney, Natalie Cole and others. The only awards Diana Ross has won are American Music Awards. Keep up the good fight Diana! What other famous musical acts should have made the list? Sound off in the comments! Photo by: ktylerconk