Metallica was the first band to win the Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance.
The award was presented at the 1989 Grammy Awards, when Metallica won for the song “One.” The track appeared on the band’s 1988 album ...And Justice for All and was inspired by the 1971 anti-war film Johnny Got His Gun.
The Grammy category was created to recognise metal recordings separately from broader rock awards. Metallica’s victory helped confirm the band’s position at the centre of the late-1980s thrash-metal movement.
The result is sometimes mixed up with the 1990 ceremony, when Metallica won the same category for “One” after a disputed presentation involving the award’s classification. The first official winner in the category was Jethro Tull in a different category, while Metallica won the first Best Metal Performance award.