Paul McCartney and the Rolling Stones could be headed for a showdown in 2027

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The 69th Grammy Awards will take place in Los Angeles on February 7, 2027, drawing attention from music fans worldwide. If the award categories remain the same as last year, the Recording Academy will present six awards specifically for Rock, Metal, and Alternative Rock music.

Artists competing in specific genre categories are also considered for the main awards – Record, Album, and Song of the Year, plus Best New Artist. However, realistically, it’s extremely unlikely a rock, metal, or alternative artist will win one of those top prizes. Those awards are now consistently won by pop, hyperpop, and hip-hop artists.

The four main Grammy categories also tend to be where up-and-coming artists get noticed. While hip-hop already frequently recognizes young talent – artists like Latto, Jordan Adetunji, Playboi Carti, and Doechii were nominated last year – rock music and related genres generally favor more established artists.

Much like the unintentionally slow and awkward action in the movie Speed 2: Cruise Control (and if you haven’t seen it, you’re lucky!), the 69th Grammy Awards are shaping up to be a potential disaster.

The Grammys are doing everything they can to ensure Rock music withers and dies

I’m a big concertgoer, and I often see classic rock artists still performing. Last year, I enjoyed shows by Jonathan Richman and Willie Nile. I also saw Dinosaur Jr., and honestly, they’ve been around long enough that they could probably drop the ‘Jr.’ from their name – I don’t think anyone would even notice anymore.

These artists consistently deliver fantastic performances. While they won’t be receiving any Grammys from me anytime soon (though Richman always stands out with a uniquely eccentric show), I’m happy to see them continuing to make energetic rock music.

I saw a lot more shows by up-and-coming rock bands – groups with members in their twenties and early thirties. These included both internationally known artists like Wet Leg and Viagra Boys, and many smaller bands from my area in the Mid-Atlantic.

Growing up in the 1970s, I understand that rock music isn’t the most popular genre anymore – it hasn’t been for a long time. However, I don’t believe it’s disappeared or lost its value.

But the Grammys would have you believe otherwise.

Let’s start with their confusing awards system – it’s so complicated, even a team of monkeys couldn’t figure it out. I’ll be brief.

The Recording Academy presents six awards for Rock, Metal, and Alternative music. These awards recognize the best performances in each genre. Both Rock and Alternative artists can win a Best Album award, but Metal does not have that category. Additionally, there’s a Best Song award specifically for Rock music.

Why those six? I’m sorry. I am not fielding questions at this time.

There are rules determining which artists are considered for opportunities, but no one really understands how they work in practice. Artists often choose which opportunities to pursue themselves, and might try to strategize to increase their chances, with little connection to the quality or style of their music.

Last year, Baltimore band Turnstile was nominated for five awards. They won for both Metal Performance and Rock Song, but didn’t win in the Rock Performance, Alternative Performance, or Rock Song categories. They also weren’t nominated for Alternative Album.

It’s worth noting that Turnstile’s success last year actually challenges my main point. They’re a fairly new band, and Yungblud, a British rocker who received three nominations and one win last year, is even newer. This shows the Grammys aren’t entirely overlooking up-and-coming artists in rock music.

They generally favor powerful, dramatic music, similar to what you’d hear in an epic war scene. Last year’s other top artists – people like Trent Reznor and Robert Smith – are all around my age.

On its own, the 68th Grammy Awards don’t fully support my point, as it featured a good mix of established and new artists. However, if you consider the 67th Grammy Awards from 2025, you’ll see a clearer pattern.

Okay, so I was looking at the winners, and it was cool to see a lot of people in their 40s and up getting recognized. Honestly, I was super happy for Annie Clark, St. Vincent – she totally deserved all three of her awards. She’s in her early 40s, which is a great age for an artist, you know? My only real disappointment was that she didn’t snag a fourth award that year. She was that good.

She was beaten out for Best Rock Performance by the Beatles’ “Now and Then.”

This is easily the worst decision the Grammys have made in the last ten years. It’s not even about Clark losing; any of the other nominees would have been a perfectly acceptable winner, even the more established acts like The Black Keys or Green Day.

Okay, so “Now and Then” is cool because of how they made it, honestly. It’s amazing they could even pull it off with old recordings. But let’s be real, as a Beatles fan, it’s not going to be in my top ten, or even top hundred, favorite songs. It’s a neat trick, but it doesn’t quite feel like a truly great performance, you know?

Interestingly, the Academy also nominated it for Record of the Year. It’s quite a turn of events – they’ve finally recognized a rock song in a major category, but it’s a fairly unremarkable Beatles track that isn’t particularly memorable, even considering it was recorded over 60 years ago.

The Rolling Stones’ Hackney Diamonds won Best Rock Album that year. I’m going to be careful how I say this, as I’ve gotten criticism for my opinion before. It’s not that Hackney Diamonds is a bad album – it’s actually quite good.

The album has a mix of strong and weaker songs. Compared to the Rolling Stones’ entire catalog, I’d place it somewhere in the lower half. But when looking at all rock albums released this year, it’s still within the top 40, though closer to the bottom of that list.

Honestly, this wasn’t the strongest rock album of the year. You’d have to be very generous with your scoring, or really prioritize past favorites, to call it the best. I thought both Romance by Fontaines D.C. and No Name by Jack White were much better albums among the nominees, and the other four nominated albums were also stronger overall.

Honestly, I’ve been way more into some of the newer rock bands that came out recently – artists like M.J. Lenderman, Font, The Last Dinner Party, and Mannequin Pussy. And I’ve definitely given the latest album from local band Ekko Astral a ton of plays. I’ve probably listened to each of those albums way more in the last year than I’ve listened to the new Rolling Stones album, Hackney Diamonds. (To be fair, I haven’t listened to the Stones album at all!)

Perhaps 2025 was an unusual event, but I’m worried something similar might happen again.

It wouldn’t be shocking to see Paul McCartney, at 84 years old, competing against Mick Jagger and Keith Richards for a rock Grammy on February 7, 2027 – their combined age would be an impressive 166!

Look, I get it – people are worried about me sounding like I think older artists are past their prime, but honestly, if these guys in their eighties deserve awards, great! I’ve heard the first couple of songs from the Rolling Stones’ new album, Foreign Tongues, and I actually like them more than a lot of the tracks on Hackney Diamonds. But that doesn’t mean the whole album is going to be amazing. We’ll just have to wait and see how it all comes together.

The first two songs Macca has released from his upcoming album, The Boys of Dungeon Lane, are really enjoyable. While they don’t necessarily indicate the album will be among my favorites of the year, it’s still too early to say for sure.

When the albums are finally released, it’s perfectly fine to appreciate them as part of the artist’s overall work. Especially Dungeon Lane, which could be a wonderful way to conclude a truly impressive career.

The issue arises when we let our preconceived notions – or biases – influence award shows like the Grammys. We need to focus on the music itself, and disregard who created it.

I expect most of the rock albums I’ve loved so far this year – including titles like Known Associates, Bleeds, and God Save the Gun – will likely be nominated in the alternative music categories at the 2026 Grammys (covering releases from fall 2025 onward).

It’s frustrating when popular artists like Paul McCartney, especially with a collaboration like his song “Home to Us” featuring Ringo Starr, get nominated for awards while deserving, but lesser-known, bands like The Paranoid Style (“DFL”) or The Paradox (“Do It Again”) are overlooked. This creates a false impression that rock music is dying, when it’s actually still vibrant and relevant. When deserving songs don’t get recognized, it reinforces the idea that rock is no longer important, which isn’t true.

Even though I think the Bobby Lees’ new album, New Self, is better than most rock albums coming out this year, I don’t expect it to be nominated for any rock awards. The Grammys have always struggled with punk and haven’t had much more success with metal.

Listeners can expect to see artists like Geese nominated in multiple categories, reflecting the Recording Academy’s attempt to connect with younger audiences. However, many other rising artists also deserve recognition for their music.

The Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney, Foo Fighters, and U2 all deserve to be strongly considered. I just worry that a preference for established, predictable acts might unfairly influence the decision. Rock and roll should be about taking risks and celebrating energy, not just playing it safe.

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2026-05-10 14:01