Grammy flashback: Remembering Prince’s greatest triumphs and his most unforgivable snubs

Jaime Rodriguez
·5 min read
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You’d think an artist as influential and groundbreaking as Prince would have been showered in Grammys, but that’s far from the truth. Throughout his career, Prince was only awarded seven times. Indeed, while the Grammys certainly weren’t dismissive of him, you would probably expect him to have won more than that, or at least to have won in a major category. Throughout his career, the eclectic musician only got three general field nominations: Album of the Year for “Purple Rain” and “Sign O’ the Times,” both of which he infamously lost, and Song of the Year for penning Sinéad O’Connor’s smash hit “Nothing Compares 2 U.” Still, there’s a lot to unpack from Prince’s wild Grammy history, including wins that you might not expect and losses that leave us wondering what exactly voters were on.

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Prince’s Grammy history begins in 1984, when he received two nominations. The album “1999,” for which he was nominated for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance, was Prince’s major breakthrough to the general public after years of acclaim but sporadic commercial success, so it makes sense that it was his first time at the awards. It’s hard to be mad at Prince’s losses that year, though: he lost to Michael Jackson both times, for “Thriller” in pop and “Billie Jean” in R&B.

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The following year would be huge for Prince with the release of his soundtrack for “Purple Rain.” The album solidified his legacy and ruled the charts for weeks on end. At the Grammys, it took home two awards, including Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal. Prince also won for Best R&B Song for “I Feel For You,” a song he penned that was made popular by Chaka Khan. However, many would argue Prince was robbed of an Album of the Year win, especially with “Purple Rain” now being considered an all-time classic. The album lost to Lionel Richie’s “Can’t Slow Down,” perhaps the safer choice for the often musically conservative Grammys (not to discount what a big hit it was as well).

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The rest of the ’80s would garner Prince more nominations but not so many wins. In 1988, he earned two bids for his chart-topper “Kiss,” which won him Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals. His next album, the acclaimed “Sign O’ the Times,” brought him his second Album of the Year nom as well as two additional bids in the R&B field, although he ended up losing all of them. The ’90s were even more brutal to Prince with 10 nominations yet zero wins. Perhaps the biggest losses were his 1990 defeat for his number-one single “Batdance,” which lost Best Male R&B Vocal Performance to Bobby Brown’s “Every Little Step,” and his 1991 Song of the Year loss for “Nothing Compares 2 U,” which was bested by Bette Midler’s “From a Distance.”

Prince’s next Grammy wins would come in 2005 for his successful “Musicology” era. The album, which was a commercial comeback for Prince, earned five nominations, maxing out on bids across the R&B field as well as earning an additional nom for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. Ultimately, Prince took home two awards: Best Male R&B Vocal Performance (“Call My Name”) and Best Traditional R&B Performance (“Musicology”). Prince also received five nominations two years later at the 2007 Grammys, but failed to win any of them. His last win came a year after that: another Best Male R&B Vocal Performance trophy for his track “Future Baby Mama.” Prince got two more nominations, with his final being Best Engineered Album for “Hit N Run Phase Two” in 2017, after his passing.

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Prince’s nominations reflected his versatility as an artist. He was nominated for R&B, rock, and pop, three genres he greatly influenced. He was also nominated as a songwriter and a composer, including a nom for an instrumental album (“N.E.W.S.,” Best Contemporary Instrumental Album in 2004). He was also recognized for his incredible work as a producer, picking up a Producer of the Year, Non-Classical bid for his work on “Purple Rain,” as well as the aforementioned engineering nom for “Hit N Run Phase Two.” Prince’s film work was also recognized thoroughly, with noms for Best Song Written for Visual Media for “Partyman” from “Batman” and “The Song from the Heart” from “Happy Feet.” His legacy was further cemented with three Grammy Hall of Fame inductions: “1999,” “Purple Rain,” and “Sign O’ the Times.”

While he perhaps didn’t win as many awards as he should have, Prince’s legacy lives on at the Grammys. This year’s Record of the Year winner Lizzo (“About Damn Time”) took a moment during her speech to thank Prince, explaining how his sudden death inspired her to make feel-good music during a time when it was not as popular. In the end, good music lives on forever, so I am sure Lizzo won’t be the last winner to give Prince his flowers from the big stage. Long live The Artist.

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