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Grammys 2020: 16 Huge Music Stars Who've Never Won An Award

Katy Perry has been waiting a long time for a Grammys win, but not as long as Snoop Dogg...

For most musicians, there’s no sign that they’ve made it quite like a win at the Grammys.

This year, new artists are dominating, with Lizzo, Billie Eilish and Lil Nas X among the top-nominated stars hoping to scoop their first Grammy in Sunday night’s ceremony.

However, a select few artists have proven over the years that you can still have a huge music career without taking home one of those coveted gold gramophones.

From multi-nominated rappers to legendary singers and groups who managed to slip through the awards show’s net, here are 16 huge artists that have made a massive impact in the music world, but still have space on their mantelpiece for a Grammy...

Diana Ross

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Despite more than 50 years in the entertainment industry, Diana Ross never won any of the 12 Grammys that she was nominated for.

However, her contribution to the music world is so un-ignorable that the Recording Academy eventually granted her a Lifetime Achievement award in 2012.

Bob Marley

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Despite being a trailblazer in the world of reggae music, Bob Marley was never even nominated for a Grammy in his lifetime, let alone awarded one.

The award for Best Reggae Album was introduced at the Grammys in 1985, with the late star’s son Ziggy Marley the artist who has won in this category the most times.

Katy Perry

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Since I Kissed A Girl was released in 2008, Katy Perry has been nominated for 13 Grammys, including a coveted nod in the Album Of The Year category for Teenage Dream.

As of yet, she’s yet to win an award, and was last nominated for one in 2015.

Nicki Minaj

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Nicki Minaj is slightly behind her former collaborator on 10 nominations without a win, last receiving a nomination in 2016 for her The Pinkprint album.

In 2019, she accused the Recording Academy of deliberately snubbing her, claiming: “I was bullied into staying quiet for seven years out of fear.”

Snoop Dogg

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Snoop Dogg is the Glenn Close of the Grammys, as he’s the artist with the most nominations and zero wins (joint with singer-songwriter Brian McKnight).

The rapper has 17 Grammy nominations to his name, and was last nominated in 2016, for his contribution to Kendrick Lamar’s album To Pimp A Butterfly.

Queen

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In Freddie Mercury’s lifetime, Queen received a total of four Grammy nominations – for Bohemian Rhapsody and Another One Bites The Dust – though none of them translated into a win.

The band was eventually awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2018, the same year their album A Night At The Opera was inducted into the Grammys Hall Of Fame.

ABBA

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Let’s just have a look at ABBA’s stats, shall we?

Nine UK number one singles. 385 million records sold. Not one but two jukebox musicals that solely feature their music.

Zero Grammy nominations.

In all honesty, we can’t help but think this renders the entire Grammys pointless, but the Academy did kind of make up for their oversight by inducting Dancing Queen into their Hall Of Fame in 2015.

The Beach Boys

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Tupac Shakur

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The band has only been nominated for four Grammys in their career, three of which were for Good Vibrations, while the other was for Kokomo.

And while they still don’t have any wins (not even for Pet Sounds), they were awarded with an honorary Grammy for Lifetime Achievement in 2011.

Jimi Hendrix

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Sadly, the legendary musician is another artist who the Recording Academy only recognised after his death (unless you count his sole nomination for his guitar of The Star-Spangled Banner).

After being awarded Lifetime Achievement in 1992, he’s since won posthumous Grammys and had his work inducted into the Hall Of Fame on more than one occasion.

Björk

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Known for her unique and avant-garde approach to music, Björk has an impressive 15 Grammy nominations to her name, placing her high on the list of musicians who’ve received the most recognition without an actual win.

Among her nominations are Best Alternative Album nods for her last six albums, although none of these resulted in a win.

Pet Shop Boys

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Undoubtedly one of the most celebrated pop acts Britain has ever produced, with 14 albums to their name and a Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution, Pet Shop Boys have never won a Grammy.

They have been nominated on six occasions, though, most recently in 2010 for their Xenomania-produced Yes album.

Miley Cyrus

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She might be one of the most famous women in pop, but Miley Cyrus has actually only ever been nominated for one Grammy.

In 2015, she was up for Best Pop Vocal Album for her infamous Bangerz release, but lost out to Sam Smith’s In The Lonely Hour.

Lana Del Rey

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Spread out over six years, Lana Del Rey has a total of six Grammy nominations to her name.

Although so far she’s without a win, 2020 could well be her name, as she’s up for two of the so-called “big three” thanks to her album Norman Fucking Rockwell, and its title track, which is up for Song Of The Year.

Sia

Sia
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Sia

She’s known as much for her own music as she is for her songwriting credits for artists including Beyoncé and Rihanna. But despite six nominations, Sia is yet to win a Grammy for any of her musical offerings.

Robbie Williams

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It’s been well-documented that Robbie Williams’ mammoth UK success has not translated overseas, and despite having the most Brit Awards of any singers in history, he’s never managed to win a Grammy.

Interestingly, he has been nominated for two in the past, but neither were actually for his music.

His first nomination was for the music video for 1 Giant Leap’s My Culture, on which he was a featured artist, while his second was in the Best Music Film category for his live show at the Royal Albert Hall.

Travis Scott and Kylie Jenner

Grammys Red Carpet 2019

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This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.