Metallica, Judas Priest, Gojira, Knocked Loose, and Spiritbox have been nominated for “Best Metal Performance” at the 67th Grammy Awards, airing February 2, 2025, from Los Angeles’ Crypto.com Arena on CBS and Paramount+. Voting members will select winners during the final voting round from December 12, 2024, to January 3, 2025. This year, the Recording Academy introduced updates to eligibility criteria and category names, plus the new “Harry Belafonte Best Song For Social Change Award,” honoring the late advocate and entertainment icon Harry Belafonte.
The Grammy nominations remind us that anything goes, including bringing a historic act back to the present-day surface. The Beatles are contenders in two major categories, Best Rock Performance and Record of the Year for “Now and Then,” nearly three decades since their last Grammy nomination. Known as “The Last Beatles Song,” this track preserves John Lennon’s original vocals from 1970, with Artificial Intelligence enhancing the audio. Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr collaborated on new contributions, incorporating the late George Harrison’s work to bring the piece to life over fifty years later. The choice to nominate a preserved song in these categories raises questions about where AI and legacy tracks fit in Grammy classifications.
The Grammys continue to surprise—and sometimes overlook—active, hardworking bands that struggle for recognition. While recent nominations and winners for artists like Spiritbox, Mastodon, and High on Fire are a step forward, there’s still room for growth in supporting today’s rock and metal scene.
Other heavy-alternative nominees include Green Day, Idles, Pearl Jam, The Rolling Stones, and Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross for the Challengers soundtrack.
See the metal-alternative nominees below and check out the complete list here:
Best Metal Performance
01) “Mea Culpa (Ah! Ça ira!)” – Gojira, Marina Viotti & Victor Le Masne
02) “Crown of Horns” – Judas Priest
03) “Suffocate” – Knocked Loose Featuring Poppy
04) “Screaming Suicide” – Metallica
05) “Cellar Door” – Spiritbox
Best Rock Performance
01) “Now And Then” – The Beatles
02) “Beautiful People (Stay High)” – The Black Keys
03) “The American Dream Is Killing Me” – Green Day
04) “Gift Horse” – IDLES
05) “Dark Matter” – Pearl Jam
06) “Broken Man” – St. Vincent
Best Rock Song Category
01) “Beautiful People (Stay High)” – Dan Auerbach, Patrick Carney, Beck Hansen & Daniel Nakamura, songwriters (The Black Keys)
02) “Broken Man Annie Clark” – songwriter (St. Vincent)
03) “Dark Matter” – Jeff Ament, Matt Cameron, Stone Gossard, Mike McCready, Eddie Vedder & Andrew Watt, songwriters (Pearl Jam)
04) “Dilemma Billie” – Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt & Tré Cool, songwriters (Green Day)
05) “Gift Horse” – Jon Beavis, Mark Bowen, Adam Devonshire, Lee Kiernan & Joe Talbot, songwriters (IDLES)
Best Rock Album
01) Happiness Bastards, The Black Crowes
02) Romance, Fontaines D.C
03) Saviors, Green Day
04) TANGK, IDLES
05) Dark Matter, Pearl Jam
06) Hackney Diamonds, The Rolling Stones
07) No Name, Jack White
Best Alternative Music Performance
01) “Neon Pill” – Cage The Elephant
02) “Song Of The Lake” – Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
03) “Starburster” – Fontaines D.C.
04) “BYE BYE” – Kim Gordon
05) “Flea” – St. Vincent
Best Alternative Music Album
01) Wild God, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
02) Charm, Clairo
03) The Collective, Kim Gordon
04) What Now, Brittany Howard
05) All Born Screaming, St. Vincent
Best Score Soundtrack For Visual Media
01) American Fiction, Laura Karpman
02) Challengers, Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross
03) The Color Purple Kris Bowers
04) Dune: Part Two, Hans Zimmer
05) Shōgun, Nick Chuba, Atticus Ross & Leopold Ross, composers
Best Boxed Or Special Limited Edition Package
01) Half Living Things, Patrick Galvin, art director (Alpha Wolf)
02) Hounds Of Love The Boxes Of Lost At Sea, Kate Bush & Albert McIntosh, art directors (Kate Bush)
03) In Utero, Doug Cunningham & Jason Noto, art directors (Nirvana)
04) Mind Games, Simon Hilton & Sean Ono Lennon, art directors (John Lennon)
05) Unsuk Chin, Takahiro Kurashima & Marek Polewski, art directors (Unsuk Chin & Berliner Philharmoniker)
06) We Blame Chicago, Rebeka Arce & Farbod Kokabi, art directors (90 Day Men)
