Winning is harder for some than others. It took Leonardo DiCaprio over 20 years to finally win best actor at the Academy Awards. As it turns out, this isn't just a Leo problem. Miley Cyrus has been releasing music since 2007, but according to posts on social media, she hadn't won a Grammy until 2024, when her song "Flowers" won Record of the Year.
.@MileyCyrus has won her first ever #GRAMMYs award. pic.twitter.com/uO7VYcp95f
— chart data (@chartdata) February 5, 2024
For a pop star as big as Cyrus, this surprised us, so we dug around. We found the claim to be true.
Of course, a lot of musicians never reach the levels of acclaim their talent might imply. But there is also a surprisingly long list of artists whose names have been solidified into the history of pop, rap or rock music without Grammy wins.
Sometimes, the Recording Academy realizes that it really messed up. Artists like The Beach Boys, Queen and Diana Ross never won a competitive Grammy for their music, but have all earned Lifetime Achievement Awards since. Sometimes, the Recording Academy doesn't come around, and the artists in question have some really, really, really bad luck. Take Snoop Dogg and Björk, who have been nominated 17 and 16 times respectively without a win to show for their efforts.
But perhaps even more surprisingly, until 2024, Cyrus had just two Grammy nominations in a career spanning over 15 years. Her 2013 album "Bangerz" was nominated for best pop vocal album (she lost to Sam Smith) and she was included in the credits for album of the year nominee "Montero" by Lil Nas X.
This is despite, of course, Cyrus being one of the biggest names in music throughout her entire career, from her "Hannah Montana" days to the smash hit "Party In The USA," from raucous pop songs like "We Can't Stop" to the more reserved sounds of "Malibu," from the synth-pop of "Midnight Sky" to the disco-inspired and infinitely catchy "Flowers."
And after all that work, Cyrus finally got her due in 2024, when she was nominated for six awards. "Flowers" won both Record of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance," giving her two wins in eight nominations.