16 iconic artists who have never won album of the year at the Grammys

Despite being one of this century's most creative, consistent, and culturally significant album artists, Queen Bey has never won the top prize at the Grammys.

She was nominated in 2010 for "I Am... Sasha Fierce," 2015 for "Beyoncé," 2017 for "Lemonade," and 2023 for "Renaissance," but lost to Taylor Swift, Beck, Adele, and Harry Styles, respectively.

Save for his debut, all of Kendrick Lamar's studio albums were contenders for the biggest Grammy Award: "Good Kid, M.A.A.D City," "To Pimp a Butterfly," "Damn," and most recently, "Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers."

He has won best rap album three times — not to mention a Pulitzer Prize — but never album of the year.

Björk has only received nods in genre-specific categories — most recently best alternative music album for "Fossora" in 2023 — but has lost all 16 of her nominations.

Just two albums in Drake's record-breaking catalog have been up for album of the year: "Views" in 2017 and "Scorpion" in 2019.

In fact, the rapper recently pulled his music from Grammy consideration and declined to submit his seventh album, "Honestly, Nevermind," after criticizing the nomination process.

"4:44" is the only album in Jay-Z's legendary discography that has been nominated for album of the year. (It lost to "24K Magic" by Bruno Mars in 2018.)

Jay-Z himself has been up for the award five other times as a contributor or producer on other people's albums ("Tha Carter III," "Good Kid, M.A.A.D City," "Beyoncé," "Donda," and "Renaissance"), but he didn't win any of those, either.

Rihanna's "Loud" lost her sole bid for album of the year to Adele's "21" in 2012. Her eighth and most acclaimed album to date, "Anti," somehow wasn't up for the award.

Eminem received his first nod for album of the year in 2001 for "The Marshall Mathers LP," but lost to "Two Against Nature" by Steely Dan."

He has been nominated two more times, in 2003 for "The Eminem Show" and in 2011 for "Recovery," but lost to Norah Jones and Arcade Fire, respectively.

Bruce Springsteen is one of the most-awarded musicians in Grammys history with 20 wins, but he has never won album of the year.

The Boss has been nominated just twice: in 1985 for "Born in the U.S.A." and in 2003 for "Rising."

Lauryn Hill took home the biggest Grammy Award in 1999 for "The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill," becoming the first hip-hop artist to do so.

Many of Madonna's groundbreaking albums, including "Like a Prayer," "Erotica," and "Confessions on a Dance Floor," never received a nod for album of the year — or, for that matter, a nod in any of the high-profile general-field categories.

Nirvana received just five Grammy nominations during Kurt Cobain's lifetime, and none were in the "Big Four" categories.

The groundbreaking band won just one award: best alternative music performance for "MTV Unplugged in New York," bestowed nearly one year after Cobain's death.

"Purple Rain" was bested by Lionel Richie's "Can't Slow Down" in 1985, while "Sign o' the Times" lost to U2's "The Joshua Tree" in 1988.

David Bowie's "Let's Dance" lost to Michael Jackson's "Thriller" in 1984.

Many of Bowie's most inventive and beloved albums, including "Hunky Dory," "The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars," and "Station to Station," didn't get any Grammy nominations at all.

Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On" has been hailed as the best album of all time, but it didn't get a chance to compete for album of the year.

Gaye only won two Grammys in his lifetime — best R&B vocal performance and best R&B instrumental performance for "Sexual Healing" in 1982 — but was never nominated in a major category. He was posthumously given the Recording Academy's lifetime achievement award in 1996.

It's hard to believe that Pink Floyd's seminal concept record lost to Christopher Cross, who swept the "Big Four" categories in 1981 with his self-titled album.

Cross became the only artist in Grammys history to win all four general-field awards on the same night and remained the only artist to do so for nearly four decades until Billie Eilish joined the ranks in 2020. He never won another.

Only one album by the best-selling British band has ever been up for album of the year: "Some Girls" in 1979. It was their first-ever Grammy nomination and they have yet to compete for the top prize again.

In fact, The Rolling Stones have only won three Grammys to date, and none in a major category.

Elton John received his first nod for album of the year in 1971 for his self-titled LP, but lost to Simon & Garfunkel's "Bridge Over Troubled Water."

He has been nominated two more times, in 1975 for "Caribou" and 1976 for "Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy," but lost to Stevie Wonder and Paul Simon, respectively.