Remembering When the Grammys’ Efforts To Broaden Their Musical Horizons Backfired Majorly in 1989

We music fans probably shouldn’t get as upset as we tend to do about the Grammy Awards’ occasional missteps. They won’t ever please everyone with their choices. And music is a subjective enterprise anyway.

That said, they occasionally drop the ball so epically that we can’t help but wonder what they were thinking. Consider the ceremony held in 1989. That year, their effort to broaden the scope of the music considered Grammy-worthy ended up majorly backfiring on them.

Rap and Metal Recognized

For many years, a popular complaint about the Grammys was that they didn’t do enough to recognize narrower genres of music. Standbys like rock, R&B, country, and pop received all the attention. Niche artists were left high and dry because they didn’t really have a category that fit them.

After hearing that criticism for a while, the powers that be behind the awards decided to do something about it. For the 1989 ceremony, they added awards for heavy metal and rap, two genres that had busted onto the mainstream late in the decade after years of being somewhat under the radar.

But what should have been a triumph for the Grammys turned into a bit of a PR mess. That was especially true when it came to the heavy metal award. And, in years to come, an omission from the rap category also looked quite glaring.

A Tull Upset

Let’s start with metal, or as the category card read that fateful night in 1989, Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance Vocal or Instrumental. Most assumed that Metallica, long the leading light of the heavy metal world by that time, would walk away with the trophy for their monumental …And Justice For All album.

But Grammy voters, likely some of those longer in the tooth who didn’t know Metallica from Megadeth and likely had heard the name Jethro Tull from tuning in briefly to a classic rock station, handed the veteran British rockers the trophy. No matter that they weren’t remotely heavy metal.

Boos could be heard on stage when the award was announced. Jethro Tull wasn’t there to accept the award because the band understandably thought they had no chance of winning. And the Grammys were soon dealing with blowback from angry metal fans, claiming they were way out of touch.

The PE Snub

To rectify the problem of the metal category, the Grammys began separating the genre from hard rock. And to atone for their injustice, they handed Metallica the next three trophies for Best Metal Performance.

On the same night that Jethro Tull pulled off the bizarre upset, the first-ever Grammy for Best Rap Performance was awarded. Considering the nominees that night, it wasn’t altogether surprising that “Parents Just Don’t Understand”, a big crossover hit for DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince, took the trophy.

The more egregious error came when the nominees were announced. Somehow, Public Enemy, whose It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back LP revolutionized the genre and took top spot on countless best-of lists in 1988, didn’t get nominated for any of the songs from the record. In other words, the Grammys went 0-for-2 in their efforts to branch out that evening.

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