Grammy Award For Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance Vocal or Instrumental - Award

Award

In 1988, the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences decided to add a Hard Rock/Metal Performance category for the 31st Grammy Awards. Nominated works for the award included Blow Up Your Video by AC/DC, "Cold Metal" by Iggy Pop (from the album Instinct), Nothing's Shocking by Jane's Addiction, Crest of a Knave by Jethro Tull, and ...And Justice for All by Metallica. Jethro Tull's lead singer Ian Anderson was surprised by the band's nomination, as both Anderson and music critics did not consider the group's music to be part of the heavy metal genre.

Metallica's performance at the ceremony, held in February 1989 at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, marked the first time a heavy metal group performed during the Grammy Awards. Metallica was expected to win the award, and members of Jethro Tull were told by their record label Chrysalis Records not to bother attending the ceremony because they "weren't likely to win." Jethro Tull received the award (recipients included members Ian Anderson, Martin Barre, and Dave Pegg), and when presenters Alice Cooper and Lita Ford announced the result, booing could be heard from the crowd. Anderson, who assumed that the band was being recognized for their twenty year history as opposed to a single album, later stated that he was "lucky" for not attending the ceremony, admitting that there was "no way could have accepted under those circumstances."