The Grammys are supposed to celebrate excellence in music. But the Recording Academy misses the mark so frequently that they're almost a joke among music fans.
As one old "Simpsons" line shows, the Grammys aren't considered to be as prestigious as an Oscar or a Tony. There are currently 80 categories, which dilutes the value of the awards. And they've made so many slip-ups that they're not easy to take seriously.
But still, the Grammys hold a rarefied place in music — Chance the Rapper said he wanted to "snatch the Grammy" in a guest rap on Kanye West's "Ultralight Beam" (and then did) — so it's a shame they get it so wrong so frequently.
Here are the 20 most undeserving winners in Grammy history.
Ed Sheeran didn't even show up to pick up his Grammys.
Ed Sheeran won two Grammys at the 2018 ceremony, the least deserving of which was in the pop solo performance category. "Shape of You" is a catchy but anemic pop song. It has nothing on "Praying" by Kesha, who did show up and gave a devastating performance of her song.
A 20-year-old Eric Clapton song won instead of "Smells Like Teen Spirit."
"Layla" is a great song. There's no denying that. But it just doesn't make sense that Clapton's acoustic cover of his own song, 20 years later, beat Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit," the defining song of a decade, in the 1993 best rock song category.
Kings of Leon should have never won over Beyoncé or Lady Gaga.
Little more than an anemic one-hit wonder band, Kings of Leon had a remarkable stretch of Grammy success in the lat 2000s — but the victories for "Use Somebody" went too far.
At the 2010 Grammys, the band won the best record award for "Use Somebody," over Beyoncé's "Halo," Lady Gaga's "Poker Face,""I Gotta Feeling" by Black Eyed Peas, and "You Belong With Me" by Taylor Swift. Fortunately, they lost the Song of the Year Award to "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on it)" by Beyoncé.
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