Awards
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Taylor Swift performed her weekend shows in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on an awards season high following the news she’d received six Grammy nominations for her album Midnights — something she cheerfully celebrated onstage with the thousands of fans at Estadio River Plate.
Sitting at her moss-covered piano during the Evermore set of her ongoing Eras Tour, the 33-year-old pop star took a moment to thank Swifties for rallying so hard around her 2022 album. “I started off my morning by getting the extraordinary news that because of you, and because of the way you’ve supported my album Midnights, it just got nominated for six Grammys!” she told the crowd.
Swift went on to do an adorable happy dance to convey how she feels about the half-dozen nods, holding up six fingers and pumping her fists in triumph.
Midnights, which spent six weeks atop the Billboard 200 and became the first album to occupy all 10 of the top 10 spots on the Billboard Hot 100, received Grammy nominations for album of the year and best pop vocal album in the Friday (Nov. 10) announcement. Its lead single, “Anti-Hero,” is also up for record of the year, song of the year and best pop solo performance, while “Karma” featuring Ice Spice is in the running for best duo/group performance.
Swift set a couple Grammy records this year, becoming the first songwriter in history to earn seven nods for song of the year — although she still hasn’t won in the category — while also tying Barbra Streisand for the most album of the year nominations for a female artist, Midnights marking her sixth AOTY candidate. In addition to the Grammys, the pop superstar is also the top finalist with 20 nods for the 2023 Billboard Music Awards, which will stream on Sunday, Nov. 19. (The BBMAs will stream from BBMAs.watch, as well as Billboard and the BBMAs social channels.)
The Grammy recognition was far from the only newsworthy thing about Swift’s Argentina shows, however. Not only did the singer perform her 1989 (Taylor’s Version) chart-topper “Is It Over Now?” for the first time at the Saturday (Nov. 11) show, but she also changed up the lyrics to “Karma” to give her new beau Travis Kelce a special shoutout: “Karma is the guy on the Chiefs, coming straight home to me.”
Kelce and Swift were spotted kissing after the show, with the musician running into the Kansas City tight end’s arms.
Watch Swift react to her Grammy nominations onstage below:
Jon Batiste got some very good news on Friday (Nov. 10). World Music Radio, his follow-up to We Are, which won album of the year at the Grammy Awards two years ago, was nominated in that same category.
The victory for We Are two years ago surprised most observers, as did the nomination this year for World Music Radio. The album has so far peaked at No. 104 on the Billboard 200.
In the Grammys’ 66-year history, 20 follow-ups to album of the year winners have been nominated for that same award. Frank Sinatra, Stevie Wonder and Adele each did it multiple times.
The follow-ups to several other recent album of the year winners have been nominated in their own right, including Billie Eilish’s Happier Than Ever, her follow-up to When We All Asleep, Where Do We Go?, and Taylor Swift’s evermore, her follow-up to Folklore. (The fact that the number of nominees in each of the Big Four categories expanded from five to eight in 2018, and went as high as 10 before dropping back to eight again this year, is one of the reasons for this, along with Grammy voters’ longtime tendency to stick with a familiar favorite.)
Note: Before 1970, artists often released multiple albums in the same Grammy eligibility year. In some cases, the albums we show were not the artists’ direct follow-up albums, but they were released in the following eligibility year. For example, Barbra Streisand‘s follow-up to the Grammy-winning The Barbra Streisand Album was The Second Barbra Streisand Album, which was released in the same eligibility year (1963). In the following eligibility year, she released The Third Album, followed by People. The latter got an album of the year nod. Since it was the very next year after she won, we’re counting it. It doesn’t seem fair to leave artists out of the conversation just because at that time, albums were released at what we would now consider a torrid pace.
Meanwhile, we’re still waiting for the follow-up albums to three album of the year winners – Lauryn Hill’s The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, Bruno Mars’ 24K Magic and Harry Styles’ Harry’s House.
Here are all the follow-ups (or following year releases) to album of the year Grammy winners that were nominated in that same category. We show the title of the follow-up that was nominated in this category, mention the Grammy winner for album of the year that it followed, and reveal how this follow-up did in the category.
Henry Mancini’s More Music From Peter Gunn (1959)
A total of 11 songs are in the running for record of the year at the 2023 Latin Grammy Awards. The nominated tracks up for one of the most coveted awards of the night are Christina Aguilera‘s “No Es Que Te Extrañe”; Pablo Alborán‘s “Carretera y Manta”; Paula Arenas “Déjame Llorarte” featuring Jesús Navarro; Bizarrap‘s “Shakira: Bzrp […]
Lana Del Rey checked in from Nashville to share her reaction to the five nominations she received for the 2024 Grammy Awards. Although she’s been nominated for a six Grammys previously, she apparently only personally became aware of the process of submitting material for consideration this year.
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“I woke up so surprised,” Del Rey said with a giggle in a black-and-white clip posted on Instagram Friday (Nov. 10). “Very excited about these Grammy nominations. Five!”
Del Rey is nominated for album of the year and best alternative album for Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd; song of the year and best alternative music performance for “A&W,” and best pop duo/group performance for “Candy Necklace” feat. Jon Batiste.“And we’re singing on I think two of the other albums that are nominated, with Jon and Taylor,” she added, referencing her contributions to Jon Batiste‘s World Live Radio (“Life Lesson”) and Taylor Swift‘s Midnights (“Snow on the Beach”).
Plus, Jack Antonoff is nominated for producer of the year for his work on Del Rey’s Did You Know…, Swift’s Midnights, as well as The 1975‘s Being Funny in a Foreign Language.
Smiling in the Instagram clip, Del Rey said, “It’s just such a fun day. It’s really just about how excited everybody else is, and everybody calling, getting in touch and saying hi. All about the process and just one more exciting thing that’s happening.”
Adding that she was “genuinely touched” by the nominations and support on Friday, Del Rey said, “I in fact only learned this year that you have to submit your own album if you want to be nominated. Even that was out of my wheelhouse, but I did do that.”
Recording Academy members and record companies submit work released during the eligibility period that they believe is worthy of recognition by the Grammys; the submissions for the 2024 awards ceremony had to be released between Oct. 1, 2022 to Sept. 15, 2023. The Academy’s voting members then participate in the nominating process that determines finalists in each category, and later the final voting process that determines winners.
If Del Rey takes home an award at the 2024 ceremony, it will be her first Grammy win.
Del Rey was in Nashville hanging out with Beth and Luke Laird and Nikki Lane, and earlier this week appeared on The Ryman stage to sing backup for Lukas Nelson on “Find Yourself.”
See the Grammys reaction clip from Lana Del Rey’s Instagram below.
What constitutes a new artist? It’s a question that’s likely on the minds of many who have pored over the list of best new artist nominees at next year’s Grammys.
Indeed, this year’s crop — announced along with the rest of the nominees on Friday (Nov. 10) — includes several acts with notably deep discographies. Jelly Roll — one of 2023’s biggest breakthroughs — started releasing a long string of albums more than a decade ago. Victoria Monét put out her debut EP way back in 2015. And prior to releasing this year’s Lover’s Game, Americana duo The War and Treaty already had three albums under their belt and years of experience outside the band before that.
This is far from a new phenomenon. Chance the Rapper, who won best new artist in 2017, had released three albums prior to winning the award. Lizzo had also put out three full-lengths, including her breakthrough smash Cuz I Love You, prior to her 2020 nomination in the category. And the category’s 2011 winner, Esperanza Spalding, had likewise put out a trio of albums prior to taking home the award.
Some of this is the result of The Recording Academy changing the eligibility criteria over the last decade-and-a-half. After Lady Gaga was deemed ineligible for best new artist in 2010 because she’d been nominated for a Grammy for best dance recording the year prior, the academy updated its rules to allow previous nominees to be nominated for best new artist — just as long as they hadn’t actually won a Grammy, or released an entire album.
Six years after that, the academy again updated the eligibility requirements “to remove the album barrier given current trends in how new music and developing artists are released and promoted.” It also required artists to have “released a minimum of five singles/tracks or one album, but no more than 30 singles/tracks or three albums” in order to qualify.
In 2020, the academy updated the requirements once more by declining to specify the “maximum number of releases” an artist could put out before being deemed ineligible. Instead, it stated that “screening committees will determine whether the artist had attained a breakthrough or prominence prior to the eligibility year.” Today, the academy officially describes the category as recognizing “an artist whose eligibility-year release(s) achieved a breakthrough into the public consciousness and notably impacted the musical landscape.” In sum, the definition of “new” has become more open-ended than ever.
That may be why this year’s group of nominees is arguably one of the most head-scratching in Grammys history. Below, we take a look at just how “new” this year’s best new artist nominees really are.
The 2024 Grammy Awards ceremony will be telecast live from Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on Feb. 4.
Gracie Abrams
Image Credit: Danielle Neu
“There’s a party going on here this morning,” a laughing Robert Glasper tells Billboard after learning about his nominations for the 2024 Grammy Awards. Glasper received two nods this go-round — best R&B performance and best R&B song — both for the track “Back to Love,” featuring SiR and Alex Isley.
To date, Glasper has won five Grammys and earned 12 nominations, claiming his first career Grammy for best R&B album for Black Radio back in 2012. But the artist/songwriter/producer/pianist says receiving a Grammy nomination never gets old.
“It feels new every time,” he explains, “no matter how many times I’ve won or been nominated. Because there are so many new artists and producers out here; so much music. So for me to get selected down to only five is always an honor and always, to be honest, kind of unexpected for me. When I say that, people always say what you do you mean?. But like I said there are so many great artists out here that I never take it for granted or never think I’ll be a shoo-in.”
The genesis of “Back to Love” stems from Glasper’s scoring of the Starz original series Run the World: Season 2. Last October, he got a call from the show’s team asking if he could pull off writing and recording a song needed for a specific scene in the season’s last episode. However, there was a catch: The deadline was under two weeks. But it also gave him the chance to work with SiR and Alex Isley, each of whom he’s worked with separately on other projects.
“I’ve always been a fan of SiR and Alex,” says Glasper. “They’re both so effortless in their writing with something original to say that it just made sense to call them. And they got it done so fast. They also have such unique voices. So the fact that we worked on this together means everything. It was just a match made in heaven.”
The artists/songwriters that Glasper is vying against in the best R&B performance and best R&B song categories include SZA, Halle Bailey, Chris Brown, Coco Jones and Victoria Monét. “Everyone in those categories is great. It’s always amazing to be mentioned in that kind of company,” says Glasper. That includes Brown, who earlier this year queried on social media “Who da f-k is this?” after his album Breezy (Deluxe) lost to Glasper’s Black Radio III for best R&B album at the 65th Grammy ceremony. Brown later apologized.
“As a talent, I hold Chris Brown in the highest regard,” notes Glasper. “He’s a great singer and performer. I’ve never had anything negative to say about Chris.”
Glasper’s across-the-aisle genre work with other nominees in the aforementioned categories, including Bailey and Jones, also symbolizes his own version of the six degrees of separation theory.
“I remember going to Chloe x Halle’s first major performance in Los Angeles,” shares Houston native Glasper. “I went to high school with Beyoncé as well as the A&R head at Parkwood. He asked me back then if I’d mind coming to their first show. So to see them [sisters Chloe and Halle Bailey] both blossom has been amazing to watch. I’m so proud of them.
“And that goes for Coco as well,” Glasper adds. He got the chance to work with Jones when he and Terrace Martin scored the first season of last year’s Bel-Air, the reimagined version of the popular ’90s series TheFresh Prince of Bel-Air. In the reboot, Jones played the character Hilary Banks. “I’ve been putting music to her talking for a long time,” says Glasper with another laugh.
This year, country music had a major mainstream moment on Billboard‘s all-genre charts, with four country songs topping the chart: Morgan Wallen’s 16-week No. 1 hit “Last Night,” Zach Bryan’s duet with Kacey Musgraves “I Remember Everything,” Jason Aldean’s “Try That in a Small Town,” and Oliver Anthony Music’s two-week viral No. 1 hit “Rich Men North of Richmond.” Meanwhile, Luke Combs’ cover of Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car” spent eight weeks at No. 2 on the Hot 100, while Bryan also reached the top 10 this year with “Something in the Orange.”
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Dating back to the Hot 100’s 1958 start, the only other calendar year that had four or more country chart-toppers was 1975, when five songs became chart leaders.
Even with country music’s lofty, record-breaking showing on the all-genre chart this year, when the Grammy nominations were announced on Friday morning (Nov. 10), most of country music’s biggest artists of the moment — including Bryan, Combs, Wallen and Lainey Wilson, who just picked up the coveted CMA entertainer of the year trophy in a surprise win on Wednesday evening — were shut out of the four biggest categories: album, record and song of the year and best new artist.
Country’s only representation in the “Big Four” is Jelly Roll (who won new artist of the year at Wednesday’s CMAs) and the country/Americana duo The War and Treaty in the best new artist category. Though The War and Treaty’s music hasn’t gotten traction on mainstream country radio, the pair was nominated for vocal duo of the year at the CMA Awards, and their collaboration with Zach Bryan, “Hey Driver,” reached the top five on the Hot Country Songs chart. But primarily, their awards nods have come in Americana spaces, including a 2024 Grammy nomination for best Americana roots song.
“Unfortunately, country still isn’t given the respect it deserves by some Grammy voters….Stereotypes about country music still exist – twangy songs about my dog and my mom dying — and it can be perceived by some as not as good or influential as other genres,” posits Beverly Keel, co-founder of Change the Conversation and dean of Middle Tennessee State University’s College of Media and Entertainment. “I don’t think many Grammy voters are aware of the popularity and reach of country. While it doesn’t get the attention or respect that other genres do in terms of award nominations, media coverage and perception, the numbers reveal that a large number of people enjoy it.”
Despite his record-breaking sales and streaming year, Wallen was completely shut out of this year’s Grammy nominations, though his massive hit “Last Night” did earn a country song of the year nod (which goes to songwriters John Byron, Ashley Gorley, Jacob Kasher Hindlin & Ryan Vojtesak). Despite his album One Thing at a Time being one of the biggest-selling albums of the year, it earned no nominations in the all-genre album of the year category, or even the country album of the year category. This shutout seems to echo another loss for Wallen earlier in the week, when he was nominated in three top CMA Awards categories — entertainer of the year, album of the year and male vocalist of the year — but went home empty-handed.
Wilson, who picked up five total wins during the CMA Awards ceremony, was noticeably absent from the all-genre best new artist category, despite being eligible. Her lone Grammy nominations were for country album of the year (Bell Bottom Country, an accolade she also picked up from the CMAs this week) and best country duo/group performance, for her collaboration with Jelly Roll on “Save Me.”
Historically, country music hasn’t had an especially strong showing in the winners circle in the Big Four categories. Country albums that have taken home the coveted album of the year prize include Glen Campbell’s By The Time I Get to Phoenix in 1968, the soundtrack to O Brother, Where Art Thou? in 2002 and The Chicks’ Taking the Long Way in 2007. More recently, Taylor Swift’s country project Fearless won in 2010 (her two most recent wins were for her pop albums 1989 in 2016 and Folklore in 2020). The most recent country project to win album of the year was Kacey Musgraves’ Golden Hour at the 2019 Grammys ceremony.
It has been more than a dozen years since a country artist has taken home the trophy for best new artist, with Zac Brown Band winning at the 2010 ceremony. Lady A’s “Need You Now” was the most recent country winner in both the record and song of the year categories at the 2011 Grammys ceremony.
Country has received a slew of nominations in the record of the year category, including Shania Twain’s “You’re Still the One” in 1999, Willie Nelson’s “Always on My Mind” in 1983, with other nominations including Kenny Rogers’ “The Gambler” and “Lady,” Crystal Gayle’s “Don’t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue,” Johnny Cash’s “A Boy Named Sue,” Jeannie C. Riley’s “Harper Valley P.T.A,” and Bobbie Gentry’s “Ode to Billie Joe.” The Chicks won in the category with “Not Ready to Make Nice”; Olivia Newton-John’s multi-genre hit “I Honestly Love You” also took home the record of the year honor in 1975.
In the best new artist category, country winners have included Bobbie Gentry, LeAnn Rimes, Carrie Underwood and Zac Brown Band, while nominees have included Jeannie C. Riley, The Judds, Kentucky Headhunters, Shania Twain (notably, she lost to Hootie & The Blowfish, whose lead singer Darius Rucker would go on to become a star in the country genre himself), The Chicks, Brad Paisley, Lady A, Sam Hunt, Brandy Clark, Maren Morris, Kelsea Ballerini and Kacey Musgraves.
This year, the general field expanded from the Big Four to the Big Six, with producer of the year, non-classical and songwriter of the year, non-classical added to the field. While no country producers received a nomination, both Shane McAnally (Brandy Clark, Old Dominion, Carly Pearce, Chris Stapleton) and Jessie Jo Dillon (Jelly Roll, Old Dominion, Dan + Shay) garnered nominations for songwriter of the year.
In an interview with Billboard on the eve of the nominations, Recording Academy Chief Harvey Mason, Jr. acknowledged that creators in both the Latin and country fields were likely disappointed with the final nominations in top categories. Asked specifically about Combs’ cover of Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car,” Mason noted, “That song, and country in general, had such a great year. [There were] so many really good records and great artists, so it was a surprise.”
He added, “We always feel like we can do better. We have to do more outreach in Latin communities, making sure that we’re representing the music accurately. We’re hearing from them things that we can do; making sure we have the right amount of membership and representation. Same goes for country. So, we have to make sure that we’re getting the right membership, which is something we have to talk about every year. When we look at the results of any given year, we always look and see where we can do better; where do we need to balance; where do we need to grow and evolve our membership. … It’s something that we pay close attention to, so we’ll continue to do work on our membership.”
Even within the country-focused categories, songs and albums that dominated country radio and albums sales over the past year did not dominate the nominations.
In addition to “Last Night,” best country song nominations also included Chris Stapleton’s current radio single “White Horse” and the Bryan/Musgraves duet “I Remember Everything,” which topped the Hot Country Songs chart for six weeks. Other nominees in the category were Tyler Childers’ more Americana-leaning “In Your Love” and Brandy Clark’s “Buried.” Childers’ “In Your Love” also earned a best country solo performance nod, as well as an overall best music video nod, while Childers’ Rustin in the Rain earned a best country album nod.
Other country categories, as is often the case, also leaned toward critically praised songs and albums over chart-toppers.
Projects including Wallen’s One Thing at a Time and Combs’ Gettin’ Old were absent from the best country album category, though Wilson’s Bell Bottom Country earned a nod, as did Bryan’s self-titled album. Other nominations are Kelsea Ballerini’s much-lauded divorce record Rolling Up the Welcome Mat, Brothers Osborne’s self-titled album, and Tyler Childers’ Rustin’ in the Rain.
Combs’ chart juggernaut “Fast Car” earned a best country solo performance nomination, as did Stapleton’s current top 20 Country Airplay hit “White Horse,” while the rest of the category was comprised of Childers’ “In Your Love” (which reached No. 7 on the Hot Country Songs chart, and is currently at No. 51 on the Country Airplay chart), in addition to Clark’s “Buried” and Country Music Hall of Famer Dolly Parton’s “The Last Thing on My Mind,” from the Doc Watson tribute album I Am a Pilgrim: Doc Watson at 100.
The best country duo/group performance category included the Stapleton/Carly Pearce collaboration “We Don’t Fight Anymore,” the Jelly Roll/Wilson collab, and the Bryan/Musgraves collab, with other nods going to Dierks Bentley’s bluegrass-tinged jam “High Note” with Billy Strings as well as Brothers Osborne’s “Nobody’s Nobody” and the Vince Gill/Paul Franklin collab “Kissing Your Picture (Is So Cold).”
Notably, Oliver Anthony Music, whose “Rich Men North of Richmond” was submitted for song and record of the year, after being one of the biggest breakthroughs of the year, received no nominations.
Country music did much better in the Big Four categories at the Grammy Awards for 1975, which, as noted, was the last time the genre sent four or more songs to the top of the Hot 100. Glen Campbell’s “Rhinestone Cowboy,” which topped both the Hot 100 and Hot Country Songs that year, was nominated for both record and song of the year (the latter for its writer, Larry Weiss). Eagles’ pop/country crossover hit “Lyin’ Eyes” was also nominated for record of the year. Linda Ronstadt’s Heart Like a Wheel, which was a No. 1 album on both the Billboard 200 and Top Country Albums, was up for album of the year. And Amazing Rhythm Aces, which had the pop/country crossover hit “Third Rate Romance,” was nominated for best new artist.
See the full 2024 country Grammy nominations below:
Best Country Solo Performance
For new vocal or instrumental solo country recordings.
“In Your Love,” Tyler Childers
“Buried,” Brandy Clark
“Fast Car,” Luke Combs
“The Last Thing on My Mind,” Dolly Parton
“White Horse,” Chris Stapleton
Best Country Duo/Group Performance
For new vocal or instrumental duo/group or collaborative country recordings. (Note: More or less than 5 nominations in a category is the result of ties.)
“High Note,” Dierks Bentley featuring Billy Strings
“Nobody’s Nobody,” Brothers Osborne
“I Remember Everything,” Zach Bryan featuring Kacey Musgraves
“Kissing Your Picture (Is So Cold),” Vince Gill & Paul Franklin
“Save Me,” Jelly Roll with Lainey Wilson
“We Don’t Fight Anymore,” Carly Pearce featuring Chris Stapleton
Best Country Song
A Songwriter(s) Award. A song is eligible if it was first released or if it first achieved prominence during the Eligibility Year. (Artist names appear in parentheses.) Singles or Tracks only.
“Buried,” Brandy Clark & Jessie Jo Dillon, songwriters (Brandy Clark)
“I Remember Everything,” Zach Bryan & Kacey Musgraves, songwriters (Zach Bryan featuring Kacey Musgraves)
“In Your Love,” Tyler Childers & Geno Seale, songwriters (Tyler Childers)
“Last Night,” John Byron, Ashley Gorley, Jacob Kasher Hindlin & Ryan Vojtesak, songwriters (Morgan Wallen)
“White Horse,” Chris Stapleton & Dan Wilson, songwriters (Chris Stapleton)
Best Country Album
For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new country recordings.
Rolling Up the Welcome Mat, Kelsea Ballerini
Brothers Osborne, Brothers Osborne
Zach Bryan, Zach Bryan
Rustin’ in the Rain, Tyler Childers
Bell Bottom Country, Lainey Wilson
Sitting shoulder-to-shoulder in a dressing room in New York City, the members of Boygenius — Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus — cannot seem to stop smiling at one another. It could be because they just finished a rehearsal for their performance on Saturday Night Live this weekend (Nov. 11). Or it could be that they just earned a bunch of 2024 Grammy nominations.
On Friday (Nov. 10), the trio found out that they were nominated for a whopping six awards at the 2024 Grammy Awards, including nods for both album and record of the year for the record and “Not Strong Enough,” respectively. Bridgers, earning a seventh nomination for her work with SZA on the song “Ghost in the Machine,” ties Victoria Monét and engineer Serban Ghenea as the second-most nominated artist at the annual ceremony, with SZA leading at nine nominations.
“It feels like I’m in a simultaneous come-up and come-down from a high,” Dacus tells Billboard, looking to her bandmates with a smile and a confounded expression. The group posted a photo of themselves on Instagram, where all three hug one another after finding out about their album of the year nomination. In their dressing room, Bridgers, Baker and Dacus regularly reach around to grab each other’s hands, still processing the news.
Below, Billboard chats with Boygenius about their six nominations, their preparations for SNL, what it means to be nominated alongside rock greats like the Rolling Stones and the Foo Fighters, and why LGBTQ+ representation at the Grammys matters — but not nearly as much as LGBTQ+ rights.
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Before we even get into the Grammys of it all, how have SNL rehearsals with Timothée Chalamet been going so far?
Lucy Dacus: Pretty good, we have another one tonight.
Phoebe Bridgers: It’s scary, it’s like The Imp of the Perverse.
Julien Baker: Yeah, it’s all really live.
Bridgers: You’re like, “I could do something that people will see across the nation.” Well, actually, that’s guaranteed. But I could do something bad, like trying to drive your car into the median.
Well, congratulations on the Grammys nominations! How are each of you doing after finding out?
Baker: I was like, “If it happens, we’ll get one, maybe.” But no, we got six.
Dacus: Well, it’s seven if you count the sound engineering one [best engineered album, non-classical].
Bridgers: I mean, it’s not our names, but the people who helped make our collective Boygenius project. But yes, we are over-caffeinated, f—ed-up, and I’m gonna take a nap after this.
Baker: You know when you get so excited that you just have to go to sleep? It’s like when a fuse bursts and then there’s just no power. It’s a power surge, for sure.
You’re nominated for record and album of the year alongside artists like Taylor Swift, SZA and Olivia Rodrigo, while also being nominated in the rock categories with icons like The Rolling Stones and the Foo Fighters. What does being in that kind of company mean for the three of you?
Bridgers: Pretty dope. I think we’re gonna have to fight Dave Grohl in the parking lot.
Baker: Yo, we should do that. We should challenge him to beef.
Dacus: Hey, I’ve seen in-person how hard he hits the drums; I’m not gonna fight Dave Grohl. His arms are something else. Like, he’s got the muscle and he’s scrappy.
For Lucy and Julien, these are your first-ever nominations at the Grammys—
Baker: And last! [Laughs] No, this is a thing that is completely not able to be conceptualized. Like, this is a fake dream, almost. You’re like, “One day, I’m gonna hit the big time.” And then we play The Wiltern, and it’s like, “Okay, cool, that seems pretty good and achievable.” And then we got nominated for a Grammy, and I’m like, “That’s actually what people fake aspire to.”
Dacus: Yeah, I feel like I need a whole new bucket list.
Bridgers: It is pretty sick, to have a dream when you’re f—ing 15 that you achieve, and then you go, “What weird sh– can I do next?”
I also want to congratulate you three on leading the pack of LGBTQ+ nominees this year, alongside artists like Victoria Monét, Miley Cyrus and Brandy Clark. What does that mean for you, as a group, to see that level of representation in the nominations?
Baker: It’s cool, because when you’re saying “this class of people,” or “this demographic of folks” … it’s like, if there’s enough people that fit that category within the organization, it stops becoming a novelty.
Bridgers: Yeah, or even just as much of a commodity.
Baker: Exactly, it allows all of those people to be individuated more.
Dacus: It would be so sick if the way all queer people were treated got more normal too. Like, we have a friend that, during Pride Month, said, “It’s cool to see the rainbow on this Shell gas station sign. Why am I still getting looked at funny as a trans woman walking around?” Like, it’s cool that there’s more queer people getting nominated for Grammys, but it would also be super cool if more queer people had their full rights and were treated like people.
These nominations come after a huge year for Boygenius, between putting out the record and the massive tour you just wrapped up. Where do you feel these nominations rank among the other cool things you’ve gotten to do this year?
Dacus: Honestly? I don’t know yet because it just happened. [Laughs]
Bridgers: We haven’t fully processed, and Julien keeps pointing out that sh– keeps happening to us, where you are then confronted with each other or other people being like, “How sick is that?!” Like, I haven’t even had a single private thought about how sick this is yet.
Baker: Right, “Tell us how special this is!” And I’m sitting here like, “Dude, I don’t know!”
Bridgers: But it’s been really cool. We all got to FaceTime special people in our lives.
Baker: Yeah, we FaceTimed Catherine [Marks], our producer, and texted with people who worked on the record. I will say, that felt really nice, because it’s not just a momentary thing. All of the shows we’ve done always feel so sick in the moment, and I’m very much the one who’s like, “I’m just ready to play the gig.” But it’s cool to have so many people who are attached to the physical work, to the master we created, getting acknowledged.
Dacus: For sure, and I’d even say that, even when it’s something like a photo shoot that’s the three of us, we get sick of our own faces. But to have this event that overtly recognizes everyone behind the scenes — like with the engineering award the album was nominated for — that feels even more special.
Latin music may have grown exponentially in consumption at a global scale, but in the 2024 Grammy nominations announced Friday (Nov. 10), it shrank. Quite literally.
Not only were there no Latin artists to be found in the four main categories (album, record and song of the year, as well as best new artist), but the best música urbana album category had only three nominees — a fact the Academy attributes to not enough submissions (“If a category receives between 25 and 39 entries, only three recordings will receive nominations in that year”; best música urbana album just missed that threshold with 37 entries).
In a notable exception, Mexican-American songwriter Edgar Barrera, who has delivered hit upon hit for the past year, scored a nomination in the songwriter of the year, non-classical category, where he will compete against Jessie Jo Dillon, Shane McAnally, Theron Thomas and Justin Tranter. And Gustavo Dudamel, the dynamic Venezuelan conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and soon-to-be conductor of the New York Philharmonic, has two nominations in the classical categories (for best orchestral performance and best classical compendium).
But it’s vexing not to see Karol G’s Mañana Será Bonito — up for best música urbana album — also up for album of the year. Or to not see chart-smasher Peso Pluma nominated for best new artist, even as he’s in the middle of a worldwide arena and stadium tour on his first year out.
The mysteries don’t stop there: While Peso Pluma is up for best música Mexicana album for Génesis, none of his strongest competitors — like Eslabón Armado’s Desvelado or Carin León’s Colmillo de Leche — are in the running, despite having been released during the eligibility period.
In fairness, the Latin categories are otherwise balanced with a mix of at least one commercial success alongside more off-the-beaten-path releases. Colombian indie newcomer Alemor, for example, competes against stalwarts Pedro Capó, Maluma and Pablo Alborán in the best Latin pop category. Colombia’s venerable Grupo Niche is up against Carlos Vives and Ruben Blades in the best tropical album category.
And, of course, the Grammys are about merit, not quotas or obligation. But given the across-the-board success of Karol G and Peso Pluma, from charts to stage, their absence from the top categories stings.
Here are all the nominees in the Latin music field.
Best Latin Pop Album
For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new Latin pop recordings.
La Cuarta HojaPablo Alborán
Beautiful Humans, Vol. 1AleMor
A CiegasPaula Arenas
La NetaPedro Capó
Don JuanMaluma
X Mí (Vol. 1)Gaby Moreno
Best Música Urbana Album
For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new Música Urbana recordings.
SATURNORauw Alejandro
MAÑANA SERÁ BONITOKarol G
DATATainy
Best Latin Rock or Alternative Album
For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new Latin rock or alternative recordings.
MARTÍNEZCabra
Leche De TigreDiamante Eléctrico
Vida CotidianaJuanes
De Todas Las FloresNatalia Lafourcade
EADDA9223Fito Paez
Best Música Mexicana Album (Including Tejano)
For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new regional Mexican (banda, norteño, corridos, gruperos, mariachi, ranchera and Tejano) recordings.
Bordado A ManoAna Bárbara
La SánchezLila Downs
MotherflowerFlor De Toloache
Amor Como En Las Películas De AntesLupita Infante
GÉNESISPeso Pluma
Best Tropical Latin Album
For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new tropical Latin recordings.
Siembra: 45º Aniversario (En Vivo en el Coliseo de Puerto Rico, 14 de Mayo 2022)Rubén Blades Con Roberto Delgado & Orquesta
Voy A TiLuis Figueroa
Niche SinfónicoGrupo Niche Y Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de Colombia
VIDAOmara Portuondo
MIMY & TONYTony Succar, Mimy Succar
Escalona Nunca Se Había Grabado AsíCarlos Vives
The Recording Academy announced the nominees for the 2024 Grammy Awards on Friday (Nov. 10), and it was women who ruled the nods. “I have to say that this representation for female artists is not only exciting, but also [impressive] because so many different genres are being represented across our ballot,” Harvey Mason Jr., the […]