Fifty years ago in 1965, The Beatles won the Grammy for Best New Artist and Best Performance by a Vocal Group for its “Hard Day’s Night.” Imagine receiving accolades at a time gritty, rock-heavy Rolling Stones and Mick Jagger were the famous? Leading to the Grammys, quite contrary to modern practices, their dinners in various places including New York, Nashville, Chicago and Los Angeles were not televised. Yet the band commanded the music scene at the time. They were the highlight at The Best on Records, after Grammy TV special. John Lennon was only 24 when The Beatles first touchdown in the United States. The Rolling Stones won the Grammy for Best Rock Album in 1995 for their album Voodoo Lounge, the first time that the category was introduced and the category stays unchanged ever since. The band Foo Fighters hold the record by winning four Grammys in this category. Neil Young holds the record of most nominations as well as the record of most nominated without a win.
Was this represents an anti-rock sentiment at the time? Nobody knows exactly why. Today’s Grammy has 11 awards for the Rock Category including the Grammy Award for the Best Rock Album.