Snubbed!: Five great artists who never won a Grammy Award

BLONDIE

Not only did Debbie Harry and Chris Stein form the core of an outstanding rock & roll band – not only did they chart four number-one singles and four top twenty albums during their heyday. They were arguably among the most influential bands of the 1970s and ‘80s because of their incorporation of different types of music into their repertoire.

Blondie began as a punk band, but they ruled the New York City club scene due to their ability to make disco seem cool. Garage and surf rock also contributed to their initial sound, and by the time of the time they reached the ‘80s, they were scoring number-one songs with their own takes on reggae (“The Tide is High”) and rap (“Rapture”). If this wasn’t the best reggae or rap, it was good enough to open up new ears to the sounds. If it was cultural appropriation, Fab Five Freddy didn’t seem to mind. He was blown away that he found his way into a good song by a great band.

Blondie has only received two Grammy nominations to date, one for “Call Me,” and another for the video of “Eat to the Beat.” Their single “Heart of Glass” was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, and the band itself was voted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame almost twenty years ago. But still no Grammy for Blondie.