Grammy Award for Best Rock Song

The Grammy Award for Best Rock Song is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality songs in the rock music genre. Honors in several categories are presented at the ceremony annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without regard to album sales or chart position".

The award, reserved for songwriters, was first presented to English musician Sting in 1992. According to the category description guide for the 52nd Grammy Awards, the award honors new songs (containing both melody and lyrics) or songs "first achieving prominence" during the period of eligibility. Songs containing prominent samples or interpolations are not eligible.

The award goes to the songwriter. If the song contains samples or interpolations of earlier songs, the publisher and the original songwriter(s) can apply for a Winners Certificate.

Bruce Springsteen, Dave Grohl and Pat Smear hold the record for the most wins, having won four awards each. Springsteen also holds the record for most nominations with nine. Other winners of multiple awards include the other members of Foo Fighters (Taylor Hawkins, Nate Mendel and Chris Shiflett) with three wins, and Alanis Morissette and the bands Red Hot Chili Peppers and U2, each with two. Award-winning songs have been performed by American artists more than any other nationality, though they have also been performed by musicians or groups originating from Canada, Ireland, and the United Kingdom. There have been four instances in which one artist or group was nominated for two works in the same year: the group Aerosmith was nominated for both "Cryin'" and "Livin' on the Edge" in 1994, Melissa Etheridge received nominations for "Come to My Window" and "I'm the Only One" in 1995, Jakob Dylan of the Wallflowers won for "One Headlight" and was also nominated for "The Difference" in 1998, and U2 was nominated for the songs "Elevation" and "Walk On" in 2002. Chad Smith also received two nominations in 2023, receiving songwriting credits for the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Ozzy Osbourne songs nominated. Coldplay holds the record for the most nominations without a win, with four.

Recipients



 * undefined The performing artist is only listed but does not receive the award.
 * undefined Showing the name of the songwriter(s), the nominated song and in parentheses the performer's name(s).

Multiple wins

 * 4 wins
 * Dave Grohl
 * Pat Smear
 * Bruce Springsteen


 * 3 wins
 * Taylor Hawkins, Nate Mendel and Chris Shiflett


 * 2 wins
 * Bono, Adam Clayton, The Edge and Larry Mullen, Jr.
 * Flea, John Frusciante, Anthony Kiedis and Chad Smith
 * Rami Jaffee
 * Alanis Morissette
 * Brittany Howard

Multiple nominations

 * 10 nominations
 * Bruce Springsteen


 * 8 nominations
 * Dave Grohl


 * 7 nominations
 * Nate Mendel and Chris Shiflett


 * 6 nominations
 * Bono
 * Taylor Hawkins


 * 5 nominations
 * Adam Clayton, The Edge and Larry Mullen, Jr.
 * Pat Smear
 * Chad Smith


 * 4 nominations
 * Guy Berryman, Jonny Buckland, Will Champion and Chris Martin
 * Flea, John Frusciante and Anthony Kiedis
 * Caleb Followill, Jared Followill, Matthew Followill and Nathan Followill
 * Jack White


 * 3 nominations
 * Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney
 * Matthew Bellamy
 * Ted Dwane, Ben Lovett, Marcus Mumford and Winston Marshall
 * Jakob Dylan
 * Melissa Etheridge
 * Colin Greenwood, Jonny Greenwood, Ed O'Brien, Phil Selway and Thom Yorke
 * James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich
 * Brittany Howard
 * Rami Jaffee
 * Mick Jagger and Keith Richards
 * Steven Tyler
 * Neil Young


 * 2 nominations
 * Fiona Apple
 * Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt and Tré Cool
 * Brad Arnold, Todd Harrell and Chris Henderson
 * Phoebe Bridgers
 * Brian Burton
 * Gary Clark Jr.
 * Kurt Cobain
 * Charlie Colin, Patrick Monahan, Jimmy Stafford and Scott Underwood
 * Rivers Cuomo
 * Bob Dylan
 * Duke Erikson, Shirley Manson, Steve Marker and Butch Vig
 * Brandon Flowers, Dave Keuning, Mark Stoermer and Ronnie Vannucci Jr.
 * John Hiatt
 * Tyler Joseph
 * Lenny Kravitz
 * Chad Kroeger
 * Dave Matthews
 * Paul McCartney
 * Richard Meyer, Ryan Meyer and Johnny Stevens
 * Alanis Morissette
 * Joe Perry
 * Tom Petty
 * Eddie Vedder