The Grammys have a long history of getting rock wrong, but this year they’ve at least remembered one crucial truth: Nine Inch Nails still matter.
At the 2026 Grammy Awards, Nine Inch Nails took home the trophy for Best Rock Song with ‘As Alive As You Need Me to Be’, beating out a nominee pool stacked with modern heavyweights and new school favourites.
It’s the kind of win that feels less like a comeback and more like a reminder, Trent Reznor doesn’t need to chase trends, because half the genre still sounds like it’s chasing him.
Nine Inch Nails ‘As Alive As You Need Me To Be’ lyric video
The other nominees included Hayley Williams (‘Glum’), Sleep Token (‘Caramel’), Turnstile (‘Never Enough’), and Yungblud (‘Zombie’), a lineup that basically maps out where rock is currently splintering, pop-punk heart on sleeve confessionals, masked arena metal drama, hardcore leaning genre mashups, and the industrial godfather standing in the middle like a cold steel monument.
This was Nine Inch Nails’ only nomination this year, but it adds another chapter to a Grammy relationship that’s been going for decades (per Loudwire).
Across their career, the band have been nominated 13 times, previously winning Best Metal Performance for ‘Wish’ (1992) and ‘Happiness in Slavery’ (1995), not bad for a project that’s always sounded like it was built to set fire to polite society.
New wave
It’s also worth noting this year was a first for a couple of the other names in the category, Sleep Token earned their first ever Grammy nomination, while Yungblud came into the night with three nods across multiple rock categories.
Whether you love or loathe the new wave, it’s clear the genre’s bloodstream is changing again, and Nine Inch Nails just proved the old gods can still swing.
2026 Best Rock Song
- WINNER: “As Alive As You Need Me to Be” – Nine Inch Nails
- “Caramel” – Sleep Token
- “Glum” – Hayley Williams
- “Never Enough” – Turnstile
- “Zombie” – Yungblud
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