Surprising Stars Who've Never Won a GRAMMY: Nicki Minaj, Blake Shelton and More

Rhetorical question here: Snoop Dogg has 16 GRAMMY nominations and he's never scored the music's coveted gold-plated phonograph? As hard as it is to fathom, it's astonishingly true. Just ask Katy Perry, who similarly shares in his pain after coming up empty following 13 nods.

And that's just the beginning.

Miley Cyrus, Dierks Bentley, Nicki Minaj, Martina McBride and Blake Shelton are just some of music's royalty who have never relished the overwhelming feeling that's followed after presenters utter, "And the GRAMMY goes to ..." As Trevor Noah gears up to host his fourth GRAMMYs Awards show this Sunday at Crypto.com Arena in downtown Los Angeles, ET takes a look back at some some of the surprising snubs in recent years.

Miley Cyrus (8 Nominations)

The "Flowers" songstress is nominated for six GRAMMYs this year, including Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Album of the Year. She was nominated for her first GRAMMY in 2015 when Bangers was nominated for Best Pop Vocal Album. She earned her second nom in 2022 for Album of the Year as a featured artist on Lil Nas X's Montero.

ET was with Cyrus, who was 22 at the time, when she was nominated for her first GRAMMY.

"My friend was in my room and he said, 'Hey, you just got nominated for a GRAMMY,'" Cyrus recalled at the time. "And I was just like ... I thought it was a joke."

Dierks Bentley (15 Nominations)

His first two nominations came in 2007 for Best Male Country Vocal Performance and Best Country Song for his work in "Every Mile a Memory."

Since then, the country crooner's been nominated 13 more times, four of which came in 2008 for Best Country Album (Long Trip Alone), Best Male Country Vocal Performance ("Long Trip Alone"), Best Country Song ("Long Trip Alone) and Best Long Form Music Video (Live & Loud at The Fillmore).

He's nominated again this year for Best Country Duo/Group Performance for "High Note," featuring Billy Strings.

Nicki Minaj (12 Nominations)

The "Chun-Li" rapper has been nominated for a total of 12 GRAMMYs, including two this year for Best Rap Song ("Barbie World" featuring Ice Spice and Aqua) and Best Song Written for Visual Media ("Barbie World").

Despite the recognition as one of music's biggest superstars, Minaj has beef with The Recording Academy after it labeled her 2023 hit "Super Freaky Girl" as pop. Her team had submitted the track to the Academy for consideration in rap categories.

Following the move, Minaj called out The Recording Academy by accusing them of "moving the goal posts."

Jennifer Lopez (2 Nominations)

It's been more than two decades since Jenny from the Block was nominated for GRAMMYs. She earned her first nom in 2000 for "Waiting for Tonight," which was nominated in the Best Dance Recording category. The following year, "Let's Get Loud" also got a nom in the same category.

"One day, hopefully, who knows," said Lopez smiling when ET spoke with her at the GRAMMYs in 1999.

Over in the Latin GRAMMYs side of things, she earned a nomination in 2000 for "No Me Ames" for Best Pop Performance by a Duo/Group with Vocals.

Demi Lovato (2 Nominations)

The year was 2017, and the "Sorry Not Sorry" songstress was nominated for her first GRAMMY, as Confident was nominated for Best Pop Vocal Album. But it wouldn't be a celebration night for Lovato, who instead saw Adele take home the award in that category, along with four more GRAMMYs.

Lovato earned a second GRAMMY nomination in 2019 with "Fall in Line" featuring Christina Aguilera for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance.

Sia (9 Nominations)

She burst onto the music scene in 2013 when her collaboration with Flo Rida for "Wild Ones" earned her a nomination in the Best Rap/Sung Collaboration category. Two years later, the songstress came back with a vengeance with four nominations for Chandelier -- Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Pop Solo Performance and Best Music Video.

And, again, two years later Sia earned three noms and, once again, she came up empty. She earned her ninth nomination in 2018 with "Never Give Up" for Best Song Written for Visual Media.

Katy Perry (13 Nominations)

"I Kissed a Girl" propelled Perry atop the music scene and she's never looked back since. But the "Roar" singer is still waiting to hear her name as a winner at the GRAMMYs. So far, she has 13 nominations to her name, the last of which came in 2015 for "Dark Horse" (Best Pop Duo/Group Performance) and Prism (Best Pop Vocal Album).

"You can get all kinds of other nominations and awards but once you get that GRAMMY nomination it's just like, 'Alright. Respect," she once recalled to ET in 2008.

Snoop Dogg (16 Nominations)

The pride of Long Beach has gotten nuthin' but an "L" thang since his first nomination in 1994 which, of course, was for his collaboration on Dr. Dre's "Nuthin' but a 'G' Thang." He earned another nom the following year when "Gin and Juice" was nominated for Best Rap Solo Performance, which made the former 213 frontman a threat in the rap game all on his own.

The "Gangsta Party" rapper would ultimately become one of the most sought-after collaborators, teaming up with everyone from Dr. Dre and Pharrell to Bruno Mars and Katy Perry. Snoop to the D-O double Gizzle has a whopping 16 nominations to his name, the last of which came in 2016 for To Pimp a Butterfly (Album of the Year) as a featured artist.

And talk about showing range. The Doggfather's earned nominations across three genres -- rap, reggae and pop.

Martina McBride (14 Nominations)

The country legend has racked up 14 nominations since 1995, including Best Female Country Vocal Performance ("Independence Day") and Best Country Solo Performance ("I'm Gonna Love You Through It"), which came in 2012.

It should be noted that in 1995, McBride was among a slew of artists (Shenandoah, John Berry, Lari White, among others) who contributed to the album Amazing Grace -- A Country Salute to Gospel.

For that album, McBride lent her voice for the track "How Great Thou Art." The album would go on to win a GRAMMY in the Best Southern, Country or Bluegrass Gospel Album. That award, however, went to the producer, Bill Hearn.

Blake Shelton (8 Nominations)

The "God's Country" singer earned his first nomination (Best Country Collaboration With Vocals) in 2011 with "Hillbilly Bone" featuring his good bud Trace Adkins. That same year, Red River Blue was also nominated for Best Country Album.

He's earned six more nominations since then, the last of which came in 2020 for "God's Country" in the Best Country Solo Performance category.

"I'll look around that room that night and I'm gonna see a lot of young artists -- a lot of kids, that are just young and successful artists -- and I hope they look at me and go, 'Oh my god that old bastard he still hasn't won a GRAMMY and he's still up there trying?!'" Shelton quipped to ET back in 2019.

Avril Lavigne (8 Nominations)

Let Go, "Complicated," and "Sk8er Boi" propelled a young Avril as the it girl in 2003 with nominations for Best Pop Vocal Album, Song of the Year, Best Female Pop Vocal Performance and Best Female Rock Vocal Performance.

Going into the 2003 show, Lavigne spoke to ET on the red carpet and shared she wasn't confident about coming away a winner.

"I have a feeling I won't win anything but that's OK," she said at the time. "Just being nominated is big enough on its own."

She'd earn two more nominations in 2004 with "I'm With You" (Song of the Year, Best Female Pop Vocal Performance) and "Losing Grip" (Best Female Rock Vocal Performance).

The 2024 GRAMMY Awards is on Sunday, Feb. 4, at 5 p.m. PT/8 p.m. ET and being broadcast and streamed live on CBS and Paramount+ from Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. Follow along at ETonline.com for full coverage from music's biggest night, including performances, GRAMMY winners and more.

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