SZA, Taylor Swift, Olivia Rodrigo, indie supergroup Boygenius and versatile bandleader Jon Batiste are among the top nominees for the 66th annual Grammy Awards, leading a class of candidates dominated by young women.
SZA, R&B singer-songwriter Solána Rowe, received nine awards – more than any other artist this year – for her album “SOS,” which topped the Billboard charts for 10 weeks and spawned a sought-after arena tour. “Kill Bill,” his breakout hit, will be named both record and song of the year at the next ceremony on February 4 in Los Angeles.
Swift and Rodrigo will compete against SZA in all three top categories, with Swift’s “Midnights” – the studio LP she released last year between a series of re-recordings – and Rodrigo’s “Guts” nominated for best album and Swift’s ” Anti-Hero” and Rodrigo’s “Vampire” competed for record and song respectively.
The awards were announced Friday morning in an online stream by the Recording Academy, the nonprofit organization behind the Grammys.
Miley Cyrus and Batiste are also nominees in each of the most prestigious categories. Cyrus’ soft, disco hit “Flowers” is on the record and song of the year lists, and “Endless Summer Vacation” is on the album list. Batiste, 2022’s surprise album of 2022 for We Are – a quaint, uplifting collection that barely made a dent in the charts – received a slew of nominations, including Best Album for World Music Radio, a top score -Conceptual mix of global pop, which was also anything but a hit. His track “Worship” is available for recording and “Butterfly” is available as a song. (The Record of the Year award honors an individual recording; the Song of the Year award honors a songwriter.)
Boygenius, the project of three of indie rock’s leading young women – Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus, all in their late 20s – is up for record of the year with Not Strong Enough and best album with The Record compete.”
Swift, Rodrigo, Cyrus, boygenius, Batiste and Americana singer-songwriter Brandy Clark each have six nods, as does Billie Eilish, another Grammy favorite; Victoria Monét, an R&B singer and songwriter, has seven. boygenius’ Bridgers also secured a seventh place finish with a collaboration with SZA.
The “Barbie” soundtrack, curated by producer Mark Ronson and full of female artists — including Eilish, Dua Lipa and Nicki Minaj — has a total of 11 nominations in seven categories. For example, in the top songs written for visual media, “Barbie” tracks take four of the five spots.
Contenders for best new artist include Monét; banjo-playing pop-folkie Noah Kahan; Jelly Roll, who started out as a rapper before finding fame in Nashville; the British dance producer, again known as Fred.; R&B singer and actress Coco Jones; the soul couple “The War and Treaty”; and two artists who received a boost from their collaborations with Swift — singer Gracie Abrams and Bronx drill-meets-pop rapper Ice Spice.
In recent years, the Grammys have been criticized for failing to properly reward female artists, and this year’s nominations, which include many women, will likely be welcomed in the industry as a sign of progress. Still, the key will be who wins in the end.
As always, there were some surprises at the top of the nominations, particularly among country artists.
Luke Combs, who scored a generation-spanning hit with a reverently faithful version of Tracy Chapman’s 1988 song “Fast Car,” won an award for his country solo performance, but not for record of the year, which many in the industry did had expected. (“Fast Car,” however, was not eligible for Song of the Year because it had already been nominated for that award in the 1980s.)
Zach Bryan, an admired songwriter who found chart success this year with a self-titled album, was recognized only in the country categories, for that LP and for “I Remember Everything,” a duet with Kacey Musgraves. And Morgan Wallen, a streaming titan whose album “One Thing at a Time” was a blockbuster this year, is completely missing — perhaps a sign that the mainstream coastal industry hasn’t forgiven Wallen for his racist insult two years ago, as it is the establishment in Nashville apparently has. (Wallen’s hit “Last Night” is nominated for best country song, although Wallen was not one of the four writers.)
Harvey Mason Jr., the Recording Academy’s executive director, said in an interview that the nominations simply reflect the musical judgment of the academy’s roughly 11,000 voting members.
“There’s really no other explanation or calculation here,” Mason said. “Voters come in, listen to the music and vote for the things they like best and think are the best.”
The nominations come two days after Neil Portnow, a former academy leader, was sued in a New York court by an anonymous musician who accused him of drugging and raping her five years ago. The lawsuit also accused the academy of negligence.
Portnow has denied the accusation and the academy on Wednesday called the woman’s claims “baseless.” Mason declined to comment on the case.
This year’s big Grammy nominations are all about popular hits, with female artists significantly overrated, although country and hip-hop are few and far between in the top categories.
In addition to LPs from SZA, Swift, Rodrigo, Cyrus, boygenius and Batiste, the Album of the Year list includes Lana Del Rey’s “Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd” and Janelle Monáe’s “The Age of Pleasure.”
Recordings of the year also include Monét’s “On My Mama” and Eilish’s “What Was I Made For?” from “Barbie.” Del Rey’s “A&W,” “What Was I Made For?” and another “Barbie” number, Lipa’s “Dance the Night,” round out the song of the year.
The number of spots on the ballot for the top four Grammy categories has been a moving target for years. This year the academy set the value at eight, and after two years it was set at ten. It was the third such change in five years.
Among other rule changes this year, the Academy moved the Producer and Songwriter of the Year categories to the general area, allowing all voting members to vote on these awards.
The nominees for non-classical producer of the year include Jack Antonoff, known for his work with Swift and Del Rey; Daniel Nigro (Rodrigo); Hit Boy (Nas, Don Toliver); Dernst Emile II, known as D’Mile (Monét); and Metro Boomin (Travis Scott; Drake & 21 Savage). The songwriter of the year award, intended to honor writers who work largely behind the scenes, has names for Edgar Barrera, Jessie Jo Dillon, Shane McAnally, Theron Thomas and Justin Tranter.
For best pop vocal album, Swift’s “Midnights,” Rodrigo’s “Guts” and Cyrus’ “Endless Summer Vacation” are up against Kelly Clarkson’s “Chemistry” and Ed Sheeran’s “-” (called “Subtract”).
In the rap album category, Drake & 21 Savage’s “Her Loss” and Travis Scott’s “Utopia” compete with Killer Mike’s “Michael,” Nas’ “King’s Disease III” and Metro Boomin’s “Heroes & Villains.”
As for country albums, Bryan’s LP is on offer, as are Kelsea Ballerini’s “Rolling Up the Welcome Mat,” Lainey Wilson’s “Bell Bottom Country,” Tyler Childers’ “Rustin’ in the Rain” and the Brothers Osborne’s self-titled album.
The candidates for best rock album are “But Here We Are” by the Foo Fighters, “Starcatcher” by Greta Van Fleet, “72 Seasons” by Metallica, “This Is Why” by Paramore and “In Times New Roman…” by Queens of the Stone Age.
For best African music performance, a new category, the nominees are Asake & Olamide’s “Amapiano,” Burna Boy’s “City Boys,” Ayra Starr’s “Rush,” Tyla’s “Water” and Davido’s “Unavailable” featuring Musa Keys .
In the audio book category, Michelle Obama and Senator Bernie Sanders compete against Meryl Streep, William Shatner and music producer Rick Rubin.
At the ceremony in February, the academy will award prizes in 94 categories – the most in 13 years. The organization cut many awards in 2011, but the number has gradually increased since then
The 66th Grammys will honor recordings released from October 1, 2022 to September 15, 2023 – an unusual eligibility period of 11.5 months. This year, almost 16,000 entries were submitted for consideration, slightly fewer than last year.