HelloAngel
ONE love, blood, life
By Bruce Kitchens
2005.04
When asked which rock ‘n’ roll band is the greatest of all time everyone has an opinion. The music industry has its own standard for this, commonly known as the Grammy Award. By the standard of Grammy, the greatest rock band may be U2, to whom the Recording Academy has, to date, awarded a total of 17 Grammys.
The Recording Academy began giving out Grammy awards in 1959. These awards now cover 105 categories including rock, rap, classical and folk.
Record companies and Recording Academy members can award recordings and music videos released between October 1st and September 30th the following year. Recording Academy members then vote in their areas of expertise. Finalists are sent for the second and final vote. Results are kept secret from everyone until the winners are announced during the Grammy telecast.
The Grammy Awards and The Beatles entered the public sphere around the same time. And what about The Beatles—largely considered the most important rock band of all time? The Beatles historic career brought many awards and much praise, including having three albums in the top 10 of the Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list; with “Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” at number one, “Revolver” at number three and “The Beatles” (commonly known as the “White Album”) at number 10.
Interestingly enough, over the course of the group’s lifetime, The Beatles only won seven Grammys, including Album of the Year for “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” in 1967. "Sgt. Pepper's" was also named 1967's Contemporary Album of the Year. At the 1964 Grammys, the band won Best New Artists and Best Performance by a Vocal Group for “A Hard Day’s Night.” The Beatles won three more awards for 1996's "Anthology," including Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals and Best Short Form Video for "Free as a Bird."
U2 has won Album of the Year once for the Daniel Lanois/Brian Eno produced “The Joshua Tree” in 1988, but the band’s total of 17 Grammy awards places it well ahead of the Beatles. U2 also won Best Alternative Album for 1993's “Zooropa.”
The Rolling Stones, considered by many to be the quintessential rock band, shouldn't be ignored, but, apparently the group can be by the Recording Academy. The Rolling Stones have only been awarded two Grammys, winning 1994’s Best Rock Album for “Voodoo Lounge” and Best Music Video, Short Form for “Love is Strong.”
No one can reasonably question Bob Dylan’s place in music history. The Grammys gave Dylan the Album of the Year for “Time out of Mind,” produced by frequent U2 collaborator Lanois in 1997. What many remember to this day is that during Dylan’s performance of "Love Sick" the shirtless “Soy Bomb” dancer made his appearance. Dylan also won seven additional Grammy awards, his being for contributions to 1972's Album of the Year "Concert for Bangla Desh."
A man who has won more Grammy awards than Bob Dylan or the Beatles is “The Boss,” Bruce Springsteen. Springsteen has never won the prized Album of the Year (his “The Rising” did win Rock Album of the Year in 2002, though) but is one of a few rock performers to break double digits in Grammy awards with 11 Grammy wins.
Ol’ Blue Eyes and strong arm of the Rat Pack himself, Frank Sinatra may not be considered rock but he is an eternal great. The Chairman of the Board won a total of 10 Grammys in his storied lifetime. Where Sinatra did get the most respect is the three Album of the Year awards he was given in 1959, 1965 and 1966.
Embattled King of Pop Michael Jackson has won 13 Grammys including one Album of the Year 1983 for “Thriller.” Jackson cannot lay a glove, however, on late composer George Solti who is the all time leader in Grammy wins with 38 awards for classical recordings including “ Bach: Mass in B Minor.”
U2 doesn’t have 38 Grammy awards but what the band does have is the most wins in the Best Rock Duo or Group Performance category with victories in 1988 (“The Joshua Tree”), 1989 (“Desire”), 1993 (“Achtung Baby”), 2001 (“Beautiful Day”), 2002 (“Elevation”) and 2005 (“Vertigo”). U2 and Roberta Flack are the only artists to win Record of the Year two years in a row. U2 won in 2001 for ”Beautiful Day” and in 2002 for “Walk On,” while Flack won in 1973 for “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” and in 1974 for “Killing Me Softly with His Song.”
U2 isn’t the biggest winner in Grammy history, however, it has won more awards than the Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley (with three wins, all in gospel/inspirational categories), The Who (no wins) and Led Zeppelin (no wins). U2 also has the advantage of being in the prime of its career, with nominations being assured next year for the "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb" album and subsequent singles, plus nods for any future U2 works yet to be dreamed up.
Seventeen wins later, U2 may just be the favorite rock band of the Recording Academy.
Information for this article was gathered from Grammy.com and rockonthenet.com.
2005.04
When asked which rock ‘n’ roll band is the greatest of all time everyone has an opinion. The music industry has its own standard for this, commonly known as the Grammy Award. By the standard of Grammy, the greatest rock band may be U2, to whom the Recording Academy has, to date, awarded a total of 17 Grammys.
The Recording Academy began giving out Grammy awards in 1959. These awards now cover 105 categories including rock, rap, classical and folk.
Record companies and Recording Academy members can award recordings and music videos released between October 1st and September 30th the following year. Recording Academy members then vote in their areas of expertise. Finalists are sent for the second and final vote. Results are kept secret from everyone until the winners are announced during the Grammy telecast.
The Grammy Awards and The Beatles entered the public sphere around the same time. And what about The Beatles—largely considered the most important rock band of all time? The Beatles historic career brought many awards and much praise, including having three albums in the top 10 of the Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list; with “Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” at number one, “Revolver” at number three and “The Beatles” (commonly known as the “White Album”) at number 10.
Interestingly enough, over the course of the group’s lifetime, The Beatles only won seven Grammys, including Album of the Year for “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” in 1967. "Sgt. Pepper's" was also named 1967's Contemporary Album of the Year. At the 1964 Grammys, the band won Best New Artists and Best Performance by a Vocal Group for “A Hard Day’s Night.” The Beatles won three more awards for 1996's "Anthology," including Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals and Best Short Form Video for "Free as a Bird."
U2 has won Album of the Year once for the Daniel Lanois/Brian Eno produced “The Joshua Tree” in 1988, but the band’s total of 17 Grammy awards places it well ahead of the Beatles. U2 also won Best Alternative Album for 1993's “Zooropa.”
The Rolling Stones, considered by many to be the quintessential rock band, shouldn't be ignored, but, apparently the group can be by the Recording Academy. The Rolling Stones have only been awarded two Grammys, winning 1994’s Best Rock Album for “Voodoo Lounge” and Best Music Video, Short Form for “Love is Strong.”
No one can reasonably question Bob Dylan’s place in music history. The Grammys gave Dylan the Album of the Year for “Time out of Mind,” produced by frequent U2 collaborator Lanois in 1997. What many remember to this day is that during Dylan’s performance of "Love Sick" the shirtless “Soy Bomb” dancer made his appearance. Dylan also won seven additional Grammy awards, his being for contributions to 1972's Album of the Year "Concert for Bangla Desh."
A man who has won more Grammy awards than Bob Dylan or the Beatles is “The Boss,” Bruce Springsteen. Springsteen has never won the prized Album of the Year (his “The Rising” did win Rock Album of the Year in 2002, though) but is one of a few rock performers to break double digits in Grammy awards with 11 Grammy wins.
Ol’ Blue Eyes and strong arm of the Rat Pack himself, Frank Sinatra may not be considered rock but he is an eternal great. The Chairman of the Board won a total of 10 Grammys in his storied lifetime. Where Sinatra did get the most respect is the three Album of the Year awards he was given in 1959, 1965 and 1966.
Embattled King of Pop Michael Jackson has won 13 Grammys including one Album of the Year 1983 for “Thriller.” Jackson cannot lay a glove, however, on late composer George Solti who is the all time leader in Grammy wins with 38 awards for classical recordings including “ Bach: Mass in B Minor.”
U2 doesn’t have 38 Grammy awards but what the band does have is the most wins in the Best Rock Duo or Group Performance category with victories in 1988 (“The Joshua Tree”), 1989 (“Desire”), 1993 (“Achtung Baby”), 2001 (“Beautiful Day”), 2002 (“Elevation”) and 2005 (“Vertigo”). U2 and Roberta Flack are the only artists to win Record of the Year two years in a row. U2 won in 2001 for ”Beautiful Day” and in 2002 for “Walk On,” while Flack won in 1973 for “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” and in 1974 for “Killing Me Softly with His Song.”
U2 isn’t the biggest winner in Grammy history, however, it has won more awards than the Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley (with three wins, all in gospel/inspirational categories), The Who (no wins) and Led Zeppelin (no wins). U2 also has the advantage of being in the prime of its career, with nominations being assured next year for the "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb" album and subsequent singles, plus nods for any future U2 works yet to be dreamed up.
Seventeen wins later, U2 may just be the favorite rock band of the Recording Academy.
Information for this article was gathered from Grammy.com and rockonthenet.com.
