11 Worst Grammy Snubs of All Time
By April Jones
The Ramones
If they didn’t add any punk music categories to the Grammys in the ’70s and ’80s, they probably never will. Most punk artists would probably say that’s okay because the Grammys are the exact opposite of everything that punk music stands for anyway. Still, it would be great to see the genre included, even if it was just to recognize punk’s contribution to the history of music. The closest they’ve ever gotten was giving Henry Rollins an award for Best Spoken Word Album and a few awards to Green Day in the rock categories.
If there had been any kind of punk music Grammy awards, The Ramones would have undoubtedly been nominated and probably would have won a few. They’ve often been credited as pioneers of the punk sound that grew from the New York music scene in the 1970s. The original Ramones — Johnny, Dee Dee, Joey, Tommy — spent 22 years recording and touring together. Other members during that time included Marky, Richie, and C.J. Ramone. Their most well-known single, “I Wanna Be Sedated,” was included in Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Songs of All Time and the NPR 100, a list of the one hundred most important pieces of American music from the 20th century.
It wasn’t until after three of the four original members had died that the Grammys finally recognized The Ramones. In 2011, The Ramones were honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award. Tommy Ramone was the only original member still living at the time, and he was joined by Marky and Richie, marking the first time that all three of the band’s drummers were in the same room together.