Katy Perry
She’s pretty without any makeup on, but Katy Perry has 13 nominations, including Album of the Year for 2010’s Teenage Dream, and no wins.
Blake Shelton
Blake Shelton’s got armloads of country-specific awards, but—much to Kelly Clarkson’s surprise—the Grammys have left him hanging nine times.
ABBA
Mamma mia! The cheery Swedish pop group ABBA racked up hits in the 1970s, but the Recording Academy didn’t even take a chance on ABBA until 2022 when they received their first nomination, Record of the Year for “I Still Have Faith in You.” Which, alas, they lost to Silk Sonic’s “Leave the Door Open.”
But then they were nominated for four more the next year, including Album of the Year for Voyage, so the journey continues.
Jennifer Lopez
Maybe that look on Ben Affleck’s face at the 2023 Grammys was from finding out then-wife Jennifer Lopez didn’t win either of the Grammys she was nominated for in 2000 and 2001.
The Beach Boys
Brian Wilson has two, but wouldn’t it be nice if The Beach Boys had ridden one of their four nominations—three for 1966’s “Good Vibrations” and another for 1988’s “Kokomo,” off the Cocktail soundtrack—to a win? The signature SoCal group was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award when they were older in 2001.
The Who
While they’re Lifetime Achievement Award recipients, The Who only have two Grammy nominations to the group’s name and no wins.
To which we say, What?
Backstreet Boys
The Recording Academy kept on playing games with the Backstreet Boys’ hearts, leaving them 0-for-9 between 1999 (when, fair, they lost Best New Artist to Lauryn Hill) and 2019.
*NSYNC
Well, at least the Backstreet Boys can take solace knowing *NSYNC didn’t win any of their nine nominations either. Otherwise they might drive themselves crazy.
One Direction
But yeesh, at least BSB and *NSYNC were nominated. (Of course, One Direction alum Harry Styles has since won three, including Album of the Year in 2023 for Harry’s House.)
Bob Marley
One love, no Grammy nominations for revered Jamaican artist Bob Marley, who cranked out countless worthy tunes before his untimely death in 1981 at the age of 36. He was posthumously awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2001.
Chuck Berry
It’s fine, Chuck Berry just helped invent rock and roll, no big deal. The “Johnny B. Goode” singer was ultimately given the Lifetime Achievement Award in 1984.
Queen
Lifetime Achievement Award recipients in 2018, Queen was nominated for four Grammys in frontman Freddie Mercury’s lifetime, but they were never the champions.
Lana Del Rey
Of course Taylor Swift meant well when she insisted Lana del Rey join her onstage in accepting Album of the Year in 2024 for Midnights, but surely Lana would rather have made the trip to accept one of her own Grammys after 11 nominations in 10 years.
Nicki Minaj
Nicki Minaj, then 0-for-10 in her career at the Grammys (now 0-for-12 since 2024), had thoughts after her song “Super Freaky Girl” was categorized as a pop vocal instead of a rap performance in 2022.
“They don't want the people who they have in the industry to have to go up against me,” she wrote on Instagram. “But why? If you're great, if a song is great, you should be able to be put together in the same category.”
Toby Keith
Toby Keith, who died in 2024, was one of the biggest country artists of all time, but his seven nominations never resulted in the ultimate tip of the hat.
Josh Groban
You’ve just been running around, living your life, assuming Josh Groban was a Grammy winner for “You Raise Me Up.” But no. And he’s only been nominated that one time in 2005, for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance.
The Supremes
Reflections of the way the Grammys used to be: Diana Ross, Florence Ballard and Mary Wilson of The Supremes were only nominated twice—for Motown bangers “Baby Love” and “Stop! in the Name of Love”—and never won.
Ross, meanwhile, has 11 competitive nominations outside of her work with the trio, most recently in 2023, and no wins. But she has two Lifetime Achievement Awards, one as a solo artist and one with the Supremes.