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A visual history · Grammys

The winners who defined Rock Album.

31 ceremonies, 1995–2025. 21 different winners.

Who won most recently?
The Rolling Stones in 2025 for Hackney Diamonds.
Who has won the most?
Foo Fighters, 5 wins (2001, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2022).
  1. Hackney DiamondsThe Rolling Stones
  2. This Is WhyParamore
  3. Patient Number 9Ozzy Osbourne
  4. Medicine at MidnightFoo Fighters
  5. The New AbnormalThe Strokes
  6. Social CuesCage the Elephant
Years explored
1995–2025
Different winners
21
Category leader
Foo Fighters · 5
About this record

Best Rock Album was first awarded in 1995, so it does not run the full 1959–2025 window.

2000–2025

26 ceremonies

19952025

01 / The reigns

18 winners shaped this category.

The timeline turns the 2000–2025 record into a sequence of reigns. Longer bands reveal sustained runs; color shows the credited label.

  1. 01
    Foo Fighters5 wins
  2. 02
    Cage the Elephant2 wins
  3. 03
    Green Day2 wins
  4. 04
    Muse2 wins
  5. 05
    U22 wins
One band per year, because no winner has gone back-to-back in the years on record. Colored by label; scroll sideways for the full run.
Santana'00
Foo Fighters'01
U2'02
Bruce Springsteen'03
Foo Fighters'04
Green Day'05
U2'06
Red Hot Chili Peppers'07
Foo Fighters'08
Coldplay'09
Green Day'10
Muse'11
Foo Fighters'12
The Black Keys'13
Led Zeppelin'14
Beck'15
Muse'16
Cage the Elephant'17
The War on Drugs'18
Greta Van Fleet'19
Cage the Elephant'20
The Strokes'21
Foo Fighters'22
Ozzy Osbourne'23
Paramore'24
The Rolling Stones'25

02 / The power map

Who stood behind the winners?

Warner leads the recorded label credits with 14 wins, 2000–2025. The full distribution shows whether power was concentrated or shared.

Warner14 wins
Sony5 wins
Universal5 wins
Cult1 win
Swan Song1 win
Wins by label
  1. Warner1454%
  2. Sony519%
  3. Universal519%
  4. Cult14%
  5. Swan Song14%

03 / The near misses

The names that kept coming back without the ending they wanted.

Counting nominations in this category only, 2000–2025.

Most nominated, never won this award

  1. 01
    Kings of Leon
    3 noms
  2. 02
    Metallica
    3 noms
  3. 03
    Neil Young
    3 noms
  4. 04
    Queens of the Stone Age
    3 noms
  5. 05
    Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
    3 noms
  6. 06
    AC/DC
    2 noms

Most losses in this category

  1. 01
    Kings of Leon
    3L · 0W
  2. 02
    Metallica
    3L · 0W
  3. 03
    Neil Young
    3L · 0W
  4. 04
    Queens of the Stone Age
    3L · 0W
  5. 05
    Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
    3L · 0W
  6. 06
    AC/DC
    2L · 0W

04 / The archive

Every year.
Every winner.

The complete reference behind the story, showing 2000–2025. Open any year to see the rest of the field when nominee records are available.

YearWinnerLabel
2025The Rolling Stones (Hackney Diamonds)
beat 6 others
  • Pearl Jam (Dark Matter)
  • The Black Crowes (Happiness Bastards)
  • Jack White (No Name)
  • Fontaines D.C. (Romance)
  • Green Day (Saviors)
  • Idles (Tangk)
Polydor/Geffen
2024Paramore (This Is Why)
beat 4 others
  • Metallica (72 Seasons)
  • Foo Fighters (But Here We Are)
  • Queens of the Stone Age (In Times New Roman...)
  • Greta Van Fleet (Starcatcher)
Atlantic
2023Ozzy Osbourne (Patient Number 9)
beat 5 others
  • Elvis Costello and the Imposters (The Boy Named If)
  • Idles (Crawler)
  • The Black Keys (Dropout Boogie)
  • Spoon (Lucifer on the Sofa)
  • Machine Gun Kelly (Mainstream Sellout)
Epic
2022Foo Fighters (Medicine at Midnight)
beat 4 others
  • Black Pumas (Capitol Cuts – Live from Studio A)
  • Paul McCartney (McCartney III)
  • Chris Cornell (No One Sings Like You Anymore, Vol. 1)
  • AC/DC (Power Up)
Roswell/RCA
2021The Strokes (The New Abnormal)
beat 4 others
  • Grace Potter (Daylight)
  • Fontaines D.C. (A Hero's Death)
  • Michael Kiwanuka (Kiwanuka)
  • Sturgill Simpson (Sound & Fury)
Cult/RCA
2020Cage the Elephant (Social Cues)
beat 4 others
  • Bring Me the Horizon (Amo)
  • Rival Sons (Feral Roots)
  • The Cranberries (In the End)
  • I Prevail (Trauma)
RCA
2019Greta Van Fleet (From the Fires)
beat 4 others
  • Fall Out Boy (Mania)
  • Weezer (Pacific Daydream)
  • Ghost (Prequelle)
  • Alice in Chains (Rainier Fog)
Lava/Republic
2018The War on Drugs (A Deeper Understanding)
beat 4 others
  • Mastodon (Emperor of Sand)
  • Metallica (Hardwired... to Self-Destruct)
  • Nothing More (The Stories We Tell Ourselves)
  • Queens of the Stone Age (Villains)
Atlantic
2017Cage the Elephant (Tell Me I'm Pretty)
beat 4 others
  • Blink-182 (California)
  • Panic! at the Disco (Death of a Bachelor)
  • Gojira (Magma)
  • Weezer (Weezer)
RCA
2016Muse (Drones)
beat 4 others
  • Slipknot (.5: The Gray Chapter)
  • James Bay (Chaos and the Calm)
  • Death Cab for Cutie (Kintsugi)
  • Highly Suspect (Mister Asylum)
Warner Bros./Helium-3
2015Beck (Morning Phase)
beat 4 others
  • Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (Hypnotic Eye)
  • Ryan Adams (Ryan Adams)
  • U2 (Songs of Innocence)
  • The Black Keys (Turn Blue)
Capitol
2014Led Zeppelin (Celebration Day)
beat 5 others
  • Black Sabbath (13)
  • Queens of the Stone Age (...Like Clockwork)
  • Kings of Leon (Mechanical Bull)
  • David Bowie (The Next Day)
  • Neil Young with Crazy Horse (Psychedelic Pill)
Swan Song/Atlantic
2013The Black Keys (El Camino)
beat 4 others
  • Muse (The 2nd Law)
  • Jack White (Blunderbuss)
  • Coldplay (Mylo Xyloto)
  • Bruce Springsteen (Wrecking Ball)
Nonesuch
2012Foo Fighters (Wasting Light)
beat 4 others
  • Kings of Leon (Come Around Sundown)
  • Red Hot Chili Peppers (I'm with You)
  • Jeff Beck (Rock 'n' Roll Party (Honoring Les Paul))
  • Wilco (The Whole Love)
Roswell/RCA
2011Muse (The Resistance)
beat 4 others
  • Pearl Jam (Backspacer)
  • Jeff Beck (Emotion & Commotion)
  • Neil Young (Le Noise)
  • Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (Mojo)
Warner Bros./Helium-3
2010Green Day (21st Century Breakdown)
beat 4 others
  • Dave Matthews Band (Big Whiskey & the GrooGrux King)
  • AC/DC (Black Ice)
  • Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood (Live from Madison Square Garden)
  • U2 (No Line on the Horizon)
Reprise
2009Coldplay (Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends)
beat 4 others
  • The Raconteurs (Consolers of the Lonely)
  • Metallica (Death Magnetic)
  • Kings of Leon (Only by the Night)
  • Kid Rock (Rock n Roll Jesus)
Parlophone/Capitol
2008Foo Fighters (Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace)
beat 4 others
  • Daughtry (Daughtry)
  • Bruce Springsteen (Magic)
  • John Fogerty (Revival)
  • Wilco (Sky Blue Sky)
Roswell/RCA
2007Red Hot Chili Peppers (Stadium Arcadium)
beat 4 others
  • The Raconteurs (Broken Boy Soldiers)
  • Tom Petty (Highway Companion)
  • Neil Young (Living with War)
  • John Mayer Trio (Try!)
Warner Bros.
2006U2 (How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb)
beat 4 others
  • The Rolling Stones (A Bigger Bang)
  • Foo Fighters (In Your Honor)
  • Neil Young (Prairie Wind)
  • Coldplay (X&Y)
Interscope/Island
2005Green Day (American Idiot)
beat 4 others
  • Velvet Revolver (Contraband)
  • Elvis Costello and the Imposters (The Delivery Man)
  • The Killers (Hot Fuss)
  • Hoobastank (The Reason)
Reprise
2004Foo Fighters (One by One)
beat 4 others
  • Audioslave (Audioslave)
  • Evanescence (Fallen)
  • Nickelback (The Long Road)
  • Matchbox Twenty (More Than You Think You Are)
Roswell/RCA
2003Bruce Springsteen (The Rising)
beat 4 others
  • Sheryl Crow (C'mon, C'mon)
  • Robert Plant (Dreamland)
  • Tonic (Head on Straight)
  • Elvis Costello (When I Was Cruel)
Columbia
2002U2 (All That You Can't Leave Behind)
beat 4 others
  • Ryan Adams (Gold)
  • Linkin Park (Hybrid Theory)
  • Aerosmith (Just Push Play)
  • PJ Harvey (Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea)
Interscope/Island
2001Foo Fighters (There Is Nothing Left to Lose)
beat 4 others
  • Rage Against the Machine (The Battle of Los Angeles)
  • Bon Jovi (Crush)
  • Matchbox Twenty (Mad Season)
  • No Doubt (Return of Saturn)
Roswell/RCA
2000Santana (Supernatural)
beat 4 others
  • Melissa Etheridge (Breakdown)
  • Red Hot Chili Peppers (Californication)
  • Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (Echo)
  • Limp Bizkit (Significant Other)
Arista