For many years, the Grammys didn’t actually have an award for Best Rock Album. That changed in 1995, when the Academy added several genre album awards, including Best Country Album and Best Pop Album.
This category often rewards veteran bands that have been around for decades. Yet, on occasion, newer acts like Greta Van Fleet, The War on Drugs, and Turnstile will emerge victorious.
Most career Best Rock Album nominations
Foo Fighters 8
Neil Young 7
Tom Petty 5
U2 5
Pearl Jam 4
Rolling Stones 4
Most career Best Rock Album wins
Foo Fighters 5
Cage the Elephant 2
Sheryl Crow 2
Rolling Stones 2
Green Day 2
Muse 2
U2 2
Grammy Awards: Best Rock Album Winners and Nominees By Year
Winners in bold; other nominees listed beneath.
2026: Never Enough, Turnstile
Private Music, Deftones
I Quit, Haim
From Zero, Linkin Park
Idols, Yungblud
2025: Hackney Diamonds, Rolling Stones
Happiness Bastards, Black Crowes
Romance, Fontaines DC
Saviors, Green Day
Tangk, Idles
Dark Matter, Pearl Jam
No Name, Jack White
2024: This is Why, Paramore
But Here We Are, Foo Fighters
Starcatcher, Greta Van Fleet
72 Seasons, Metallica
In Times New Roman, Queens of the Stone Age
2023: Patient Number 9, Ozzy Osbourne
Dropout Boogie, Black Keys
The Boy Named If, Elvis Costello & the Imposters
Crawler, Idles
Mainstream Sellout, Machine Gun Kelly
Lucifer on the Sofa, Spoon
2022: Medicine at Midnight, Foo Fighters
Power Up, AC/DC
Capitol Cuts – Live from Studio A, Black Pumas
No One Sings Like You Anymore, Vol. 1, Chris Cornell
McCartney III, Paul McCartney
2021: The New Abnormal, the Strokes
A Hero’s Death, Fontaines DC
Kiwanuka, Michael Kiwanuka
Daylight, Grace Potter
Sound & Fury, Sturgill Simpson
2020: Social Cues, Cage the Elephant
Amo, Bring Me the Horizon
In the End, Cranberries
Trauma, I Prevail
Feral Roots, Rival Sons
2019: From the Fire, Greta Van Fleet
Rainier Fog, Alice in Chains
Mania, Fall Out Boy
Prequelle, Ghost
Pacific Daydream, Weezer
2018: A Deeper Understand, the War on Drugs
Emperor of Sand, Mastodon
Hardwired… to Self-Destruct, Metallica
The Stories We Tell Ourselves, Nothing More
Villains, Queens of the Stone Age
2017: Tell Me I’m Pretty, Cage the Elephant
California, Blink-182
Magma, Gojira
Death of a Bachelor, Panic! at the Disco
Weezer (White Album), Weezer
2016: Drones, Muse
Chaos and the Calm, James Bay
Kintsugi, Death Cab for Cutie
Mister Asylum, Highly Suspect
.5: The Gray Chapter, Slipknot
2015: Morning Phase, Beck
Ryan Adams, Ryan Adams
Turn Blue, Black Keys
Hypnotic Eye, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers
Songs of Innocence, U2
2014: Celebration Day, Led Zeppelin
13, Black Sabbath
The Next Day, David Bowie
Mechanical Bull, Kings of Leon
Like Clockwork, Queens of the Stone Age
Psychedelic Pill, Neil Young with Crazy Horse
2013: El Camino, Black Keys
Mylo Xyloto, Coldplay
The 2nd Law, Muse
Wrecking Ball, Bruce Springsteen
Blunderbuss, Jack White
2012: Wasting Light, Foo Fighters
Rock ‘n’ Roll Party (Honoring Les Paul), Jeff Beck
Come Around Sundown, Kings of Leon
I’m With You, Red Hot Chili Peppers
The Whole Love, Wilco
2011: The Resistance, Muse
Emotion & Commotion, Jeff Beck
Backspacer, Pearl Jam
Mojo, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers
Le Noise, Neil Young
2010: 21st Century Breakdown, Green Day
Black Ice, AC/DC
Live from Madison Square Garden, Eric Clapton & Steve Winwood
Big Whiskey & the GrooGrux King, Dave Matthews Band
No Line on the Horizon, U2
2009: Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends, Coldplay
Rock n Roll Jesus, Kid Rock
Only by the Night, Kings of Leon
Death Magnetic, Metallica
Consolers of the Lonely, Raconteurs
2008: Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace, Foo Fighters
Daughtry, Daughtry
Revival, John Fogerty
Magic, Bruce Springsteen
Sky Blue Sky, Wilco
2007: Stadium Arcadium, Red Hot Chili Peppers
Try!, John Mayer Trio
Highway Companion, Tom Petty
Broken Boy Soldiers, Raconteurs
Living With War, Neil Young
2006: How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, U2
X&Y, Coldplay
In Your Honor, Foo Fighters
A Bigger Bang, Rolling Stones
Prairie Wind, Neil Young
2005: American Idiot, Green Day
The Delivery Man, Elvis Costello & the Imposters
The Reason, Hoobastank
Hot Fuss, Killers
Contraband, Velvet Revolver
2004: One by One, Foo Fighters
Audioslave, Audioslave
Fallen, Evanescence
More Than You Think You Are, Matchbox Twenty
The Long Road, Nickelback
2003: The Rising, Bruce Springsteen
When I Was Cruel, Elvis Costello
C’mon, C’mon, Sheryl Crow
Dreamland, Robert Plant
Head on Straight, Tonic
2002: All That You Can’t Leave Behind, U2
Gold, Ryan Adams
Just Push Play, Aerosmith
Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea, PJ Harvey
Hybrid Theory, Linkin Park
2001: There is Nothing Left to Lose, Foo Fighters
Crush, Bon Jovi
Mad Season, Matchbox Twenty
Return of Saturn, No Doubt
The Battle of Los Angeles, Rage Against the Machine
2000: Supernatural, Santana
Breakdown, Melissa Etheridge
Significant Other, Limp Bizkit
Californication, Red Hot Chili Peppers
Echo, Tomy Petty & the Heartbreakers
1999: The Globe Sessions, Sheryl Crow
Before These Crowded Streets, Dave Matthews Band
Premonition, John Fogerty
Version 2.0, Garbage
Celebrity Skin, Hole
1998: Blue Moon Swamp, John Fogerty
Nine Lives, Aerosmith
The Colour and the Shape, Foo Fighters
Bridges to Babylon, Rolling Stones
Pop, U2
1997: Sheryl Crow, Sheryl Crow
Crash, Dave Matthews Band
Tragic Kingdom, No Doubt
Road Tested, Bonnie Raitt
Broken Arrow, Neil Young and Crazy Horse
1996: Jagged Little Pill, Alanis Morissette
Forever Blue, Chris Isaak
Vitalogy, Pearl Jam
Wildflowers, Tom Petty
Mirror Ball, Neil Young
1995: Voodoo Lounge, Rolling Stones
Vs., Pearl Jam
Monster, R.E.M.
Superunknown, Soundgarden
Sleeps With Angels, Neil Young and Crazy Horse
Find the Grammy Awards at grammy.com.
Last Updated on July 10, 2026