History has repeated in the rock category at this week’s 67th Grammy Awards. Best rock performance was awarded to the Beatles for their song Now and Then, while the Rolling Stones took home best rock album for Hackney Diamonds.
The Beatles’ track, finished and released by the fab four’s remaining members with the assistance of artificial intelligence, has been recognised by the Recording Academy 55 years after the band broke up. This comes as their eighth Grammy win and 27th nomination since their 1962 debut.
The Beatles’ long time rivals, the Rolling Stones, have received many accolades over their six decade career, including five Grammys. Their 24th studio album includes cameos from other legacy artists like Elton John and Stevie Wonder.
These victories are historic – but they also reveal a broader truth about rock music’s biggest institutions. The same artists who defined the genre decades ago continue to dominate its highest honours, leaving little space for contemporary acts to break through.
The new wave
The past year has seen a resurgence in rock. Streaming services and radio have reflected a rise in the popularity of the genre and reunions of rock’s most popular bands are making headlines.
This renewed enthusiasm toward rock has brought newcomers to the genre, including an emergence of new popular talent.
Newer rock talent was present at the Grammys, with St Vincent (who broke out in 2006) winning Best rock song and Fontaines D.C. receiving their first best rock album nomination since their debut in 2014.
Both of these artists have been recognised for breathing new life into the rock genre. With a willingness to confront discomfort and vulnerability coupled with distinctive guitar work and production choices, St. Vincent has been positioned as a trailblazer in modern rock.
Fontaines D.C’s nominated album Romance has been praised by critics for its energetic embrace of a diverse musical palette with compelling lyrics, a sound which has grabbed the attention of those outside and within the rock audience.
But they were up against a nominee pool largely composed of long career legacy acts such as Green Day, Pearl Jam, Jack White and the Black Crowes, who all broke out in the last millennium.
Along with the Beatles’ and the Rolling Stones’ wins, this reflects a trend in rock’s institutional recognition, where industry awards, hall of fame inductions, and media retrospectives continue to reaffirm the same monumental figures – often to the exclusion of artists shaping rock today. This phenomenon is a symptom of the rock canon, otherwise known as “the best of all time”.
The old canon
The rock canon is a set of artists, albums and songs that have been collectively deemed as the genre’s greatest.
This canon was solidified by the late 1960s and 1970s and is sustained predominantly by media outlets and awards organisations like the Grammys. Publications that rank “the best” also help shape the rock canon by repeatedly spotlighting the same classic albums and artists.
To be considered “the best” in rock, artists typically need to meet an (often unwritten) criteria of long-term critical acclaim, commercial success and influence on future generations. Artists like the Beatles and the Rolling Stones meet this criteria, frequently appearing in the top ranks of “best of” lists and maintaining their position at the top of the rock hierarchy.
But the Grammy wins for the Beatles and the Rolling Stones raise concerns about how rigid this canon remains. Artists who enter the rock canon rarely leave it, making it difficult for newcomers to garner the same levels of critical and commercial success. It has also been criticised for its preferential treatment towards whiteness and masculinity.
If the canon represents the highest levels of artistic quality in rock, its inability to change poses concerns for the future of the genre.
Australia has not remained untouched by these issues. While the Grammys are an American institution, the rock canon’s influence extends globally.
Australian institutions such as Triple J’s Hottest 100 of All Time have demonstrated this influence, showing us that the canon plays a role in shaping Australian music culture. Artists like the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin often appear on these lists, voted on by Australian listeners. Local audiences overwhelmingly favour a more standard, mainstream canon of older international rock acts over our own Australian talent.
The preference towards artists who have long been in the canon in today’s “best of” lists makes it harder for local artists – particularly those from marginalised backgrounds – to gain widespread recognition.
Crafting a vital genre
The Grammy success of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones reflects both the strength and the stagnation of rock’s institutional gate-keeping.
On one hand, these wins celebrate artists whose influence has endured for generations. On the other, they reveal how difficult it is for new acts to gain recognition when institutions continue looking backward rather than forward.
As rock continues its resurgence, the vitality of the genre may rely on expanding a more inclusive definition of greatness: one that makes room for innovation and diversity, not just nostalgia.
Will future Grammy ceremonies still be awarding the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, or will we finally see rock’s institutions evolve?
