1989: First Grammy® for Hard Rock/Heavy Metal goes to…

…Jethro Tull!

I can’t remember exactly when the ceremony was 30 years ago but it’s a solid memory of the year the Eighties closed out. I do clearly remember that the inaugural award went to an act which was neither Hard nor Metal. Hell, few thought the band still existed.

Meanwhile, Metallica’s popularity had been on the rise. They were no longer a sub-genre act living in the shadow of what was more accepted as Metal; Motley Crue, Poison, Ratt, Quiet Riot, etc. They were more widely known and accepted by larger audiences alongside Rap. Everyone figured they were a shoe in for the trophy, plus Metallica performed their hit “One” at the ceremonies.

Nope. The people who choose the winners demonstrated their overall cluelessness much like FM radio and Rolling Stone. Hell, if the latter decided the winner, they would’ve picked Bob Dylan going electric.

They sort of redeemed themselves when Metallica won three years later for the album which started the band’s decline into becoming Alice in Chains.

As for those who think the Grammys lost their credibility with this don’t know much about popular music history. It happened decades earlier when the winner for the first Rock n’ Roll award went to Henry Mancini.

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