November means the start of classic end-of-year traditions: preparing for the holidays, seeing family… and finally seeing which artists did (or didn’t) get nominated for Grammys.
On Friday (Nov. 10), the Recording Academy unveiled the full list of nominees for the 2024 Grammy Awards, set to take place Sunday, Feb. 4. In the latest round of nominations, SZA emerged with more than any other artist, receiving nine nominations, including album, record and song of the year. Phoebe Bridgers, Victoria Monét and engineer Serban Ghenea followed SZA with seven nominations each, while superstars like Olivia Rodrigo, Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish and Miley Cyrus all earned six nods apiece.
As with every other year, the list of Grammy nominees contained a series of snubs and surprises — for the 2024 ranking specifically, critics were shocked to see that country and Latin artists lacked a major presence in the Big Four categories, despite both genres dominating cultural conversations for the bulk of 2023. Even Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. expressed his surprise at not seeing Latin and country represented in the major categories, telling Billboard that the organization is working with leaders in both genres to make sure “we have the right amount of membership and representation.”
But as with the past few years, fans noticed that this years’ Grammy nominations also featured plenty of LGBTQ artists. Below, Billboard takes a look at some of the biggest takeaways for the LGBTQ community from the 2024 Grammy nominations, including Monét’s first solo nominations, representation for queer country artists, and much more:
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Victoria Monét Brings the ‘Smoke’
After releasing her long-awaited debut album Jaguar II, Victoria Monét did more than “Alright” when it came time for Grammy nominations. The pop singer-songwriter earned a whopping seven nominations on Friday, the second-most of any artist at the annual ceremony (only behind SZA with nine nominations). Among those accolades were nods for record of the year and best R&B song, for her first solo Hot 100 hit “On My Mama”; best new artist; and best R&B album for Jaguar II. This marks the first time that Monét has received nominations for her solo work — she previously received nods for her work as a songwriter on Ariana Grande’s Thank U, Next, and on Chloe x Halle’s song “Do It.”
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Boygenius Prove They’re More Than ‘Strong Enough’
After a blockbuster 2023, the women of Boygenius — Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus — rounded out their big year with six nominations on Friday. The trio were recognized in two of the Big Four categories, earning nominations for album and record of the year for The Record and “Not Strong Enough,” respectively. Boygenius also led rock categories with nods in best rock performance, best rock song for “Not Strong Enough,” best alternative music performance for “Cool About It” and best alternative music album for The Record. The nominations marked the firsts in Dacus’ and Baker’s respective careers, while Bridgers earned four nominations in 2021 for her album Punisher and her song “Kyoto.” Bridgers also earned an additional nomination at the annual ceremony for her collaboration with SZA on the R&B superstar’s “Ghost in the Machine,” tying her with Monét and engineer/mixer Serban Ghenea for the second-most nominations of 2024.
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Brandy Clark, Allison Russell Represent in Country/Americana Categories
After a headline-making year for country music, fans were surprised to see the genre shut out when it came to the top categories. But in the genre-specific showing, LGBTQ artists managed to earn at least one nod across all country categories in 2024. Brandy Clark secured six nominations, including best country solo performance and best country song for “Buried,” as well as best Americana performance and best American roots song for “Dear Insecurity” with Brandi Carlile and best Americana album for her self-titled album. Allison Russell also notched four nominations in Americana categories for her album The Returner and its songs “Eve Was Black” and “The Returner.” Meanwhile, Brothers Osborne nabbed two nods in the remaining country categories of best country duo/group performance for “Nobody’s Nobody” and best country album for their self-titled LP.
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Troye Sivan, Romy Nail First-Time Noms
While many past LGBTQ nominees like Miley Cyrus and Justin Tranter earned more nominations for the 2024 Grammys, a pair of queer artists earned their first-ever noms this year. Troye Sivan walked away with two nominations on Friday, in best pop dance recording and best music video for his breakout hit “Rush,” released earlier this year. Meanwhile, The xx frontwoman Romy earned her first-ever nod, as a solo artist or band member, in best dance/electronic recording for “Strong,” featuring dance superstar Fred Again..
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Kali Uchis, Reneé Rapp & More Get Snubbed
As with any Grammy season, plenty of artists didn’t make the cut for the annual ceremony, including those that everyone expected to see nominated. Alongside many other Latin artists who didn’t receive a nomination in 2024, Kali Uchis earned no nominations for her work on Red Moon in Venus, despite its universal acclaim among critics and No. 4 debut on the Billboard 200. After a breakthrough year in her solo career, Reneé Rapp didn’t manage to earn nominations for her talked-about debut album Snow Angel. And while Chappell Roan’s frequent collaborator Dan Nigro earned a number of nominations for his work with Olivia Rodrigo, the fast-rising pop phenom remained unacknowledged among Grammy nominees.
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